Hawksbill Cabin

Clarendon Construction December 2009

2009-12-11T07:57:00.003-05:00

Here is an early update for this month on the Clarendon construction near my Arlington office. As I was walking by the sites yesterday afternoon I realized I had never put up the concept drawings for the large tower across the street or for the mid-block development, so here they are. Sorry for the glare on the mid-block sign, I'll try to get a better one soon.

Also, progress has accelerated in the last month. Yesterday I realized that the tower crane had been removed from the larger site, while work continues in raising the façade elements at street level, and they are blocking in the walls up several floors. Once this activity is completed, it will be hard to notice progress on the project.

On the mid-block office building, the activities have moved up to the second above ground floor. As I passed by street-level, I remembered that there is a plan to restore the old ground-level facades on this building – they were removed and stored early last year when demo began.

Finally, I was on a conference call in our 8th floor conference room and the tower crane for the mid-block building swung around and was pointed straight at me. The end of the boom was out of site so I walked over to the window to see how far it extended towards us. Pretty close, as shown in the photo.

Recovery Act Impacts in Shenandoah National Park

2009-12-10T08:32:00.002-05:00

Since last Spring as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or the Recovery Act) started making news, I’ve been interested in finding out what projects might be funded in Shenandoah National Park – and how much money was going to be allocated to get them done.

On a recent weekend, as I was making my way home from Bearfence mountain, I saw the sign for a Recovery project at one point on Skyline Drive, which reminded me I wanted to do some more research on this item, so I checked a range of web resources at DOI.gov and the NPS.

A little bit of a detour before I get further into the topic. Mary and I have a “Recovery Act – Like” project going on at Hawksbill Cabin right now. We have finally hired someone to regrade the driveway and do a little work on the uphill portions of our lots to slow waterflow via diversions, culverts and repairs.

The National Park Service is receiving about $750 in Recovery Act funds – there are nearly 800 projects across the system. Now, while there is plenty of room to discuss the expected stimulus effect of the Recovery Act – the NPS projects are designed to “preserve and protect national icons and historic landscapes, improve energy efficiency and renewable energy use, remediate abandoned mine lands, and provide $15 million in grants to protect and restore buildings at historically black colleges and universities.” Apparently there is matching funding coming to improve park roads.

The Recovery Act page lists 37 projects valued at $27-million within the state of Virginia. Of these, I’ve been able to identify seven projects with a total value of about $17-million happening in Shenandoah National Park:

· Installing a waterline and demolishing an old parking area at Thornton Gap
· Painting historic administrative buildings throughout the Park
· Rehabilitating 11.1 historic miles of Skyline Drive
· Tree cutting and removal
· Boiler replacements at Big Meadows wastewater treatment plant
· Culvert repairs and replacements along Skyline Drive

During my May vacation I visited the HQ building in Luray to ask about the projects – at that time, while the project budgets had been developed, and the “shovel ready” list had been sent along to get into the program schedule, procurement activities hadn’t started yet and the program’s total budget and allocations weren’t finalized.

They are now, as indicated by the sign I passed on Skyline Drive recently. I also found an award for paving work going to a small paving company in Fairfax. I’d rather see these programs start with more substantive projects than paving, but since I work in the engineering industry one thing I have learned is that these are the “easy” ones to get started early – one of the key pressures associated with the Recovery Act program is to get quick results.

A Winter Chore for the Pool

2009-12-09T07:52:00.004-05:00

Last year, after pool closing, I learned something important about the pool cover. Since rain falls through it, the level of the pool rises during the winter, so that eventually there is a place in the middle of the pool where the cover is below the water.

Almost anything that falls onto the pool cover will then end up sitting in the water over the winter - at best, the tannins and other chemicals leach from the detritus in the pool, at worst you could have an animal drown there and create a hidden but unpleasant situation for you over winter...not to mention the difficulties all the litter causes during pool opening.

So this year I resolved to do something different. Uncle D's team came out and closed the pool two weeks earlier, before most of the leaves fell, so there aren't a lot of them in the pool in the first place. Then as an accumulation of leaves piles up in the pool area, I have been raking them out as often as I can. And I am using one of the extended pool brooms to "sweep" what falls into the trouble spot out in the middle of the pool away.

This can be a nasty business - the plant material is rotting as it sits in the water, it's usually cold out, and you can't avoid getting a little wet during this task. But it's also rewarding - there's a simple satisfaction from getting the job done, and there's reassurance in knowing what this preventative measure is going to do in the long run until next Spring.

Demise of National Geo's Adventure Magazine

2009-12-08T07:27:00.003-05:00

Last week, on the Outside blog, which is linked in the blog roll in the right hand column, I learned that National Geographic's Adventure magazine is shutting down. I have to confess that at first I was indifferent about this news, but I was interested to see how the journalists that write for Outside reacted to the loss of a competitor (turns out that some of Adventure's editorial staff had worked at Outside in the past), and finally I felt compelled to post a comment.

I wrote, “Some aspects of the magazine had grown on me, mainly gear reviews, but I wasn’t a subscriber," and then I followed up with an excerpt of a July post from this blog:

“I am not a frequent reader of “National Geographic Adventure” magazine. It tends to be a little over the top for my taste – adventure is healthy, but too often this magazine is talking about a safari to Africa, a guided hike to Machu Picchu, or a cruise in Alaska – all trips that cost in the range of $3,000 per person and up.

“I fall squarely in the demographic of their readers, but I am not after one of these “once in a lifetime” excursions that are probably just that because of the cost. I’ll take my adventure a little bit at the time, like biting an apple, thank you very much. Besides, I’ve never been fond of that kind of touring, preferring to come and go as I please, based on research I’ve done ahead of time on my own.”

(For the rest of the post, follow this link.http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2009/07/nine-secrets-to-longer-life.html - as I was writing the original post, a little black bear strolled through the yard and interrupted me.)

I have passed by this month's edition of the Nat'l Geo Adventure magazine on the newsstand a couple of times. Even since learning it is the last issue, it just doesn't attract me to pick it up. Whether that is because I'm in overload from all the media I consume and I just can't regularly pack one more print outlet into my 18-hours of waking moments, or this one just missed the mark for me, I can't decide.

The other journalists that were posting comments on the Outside blog offered respectful requiems for Adventure, and I began to think maybe I was a bit turgid in my comments. Until this morning, when I took another look. Today there was this comment from "Greg," which echoed my point of view (much more succinctly):

"Well,I prefer Outside. NGA was floating around on the NG brand. Ultimately I don't define the "Adventure Life" as paying thousands for trip and pretending that makes you an athlete."

Luray's Outfitters Merge

2009-12-07T07:40:00.004-05:00

Some big news and not a very well kept secret on the business scene in Luray…after six months of planning, Evergreen Outfitters and Appalachian Outdoors Adventures have merged, combining the two stores at the 18 East Main Street location in Luray.

As I was visiting the Evergreen Outfitters store over the course of the summer, Howard and Andy kept me apprised of the progress with this exciting development, as they worked through the details of what stock to carry, which storefront to locate in, and other logistical matters. Finally, the time for talk is over and they’ve been able to complete the merger.

I checked Andy’s Facebook page, and here’s a quote about the opening:

“Evergreen Outfitters has now joined forces with Appalachian Outdoors Adventures. We are at 18 East Main Street in Luray, Virginia. We are all here today: Howard, Andy, Gary and Linda. Come see us! “

Later she added, with regards to the expanded team:

“We are having fun. We all work well together. Each has different strengths. A rockin' team we are! The entire downstairs has been turned into the GEAR area. Almost 2500 square feet on each level!!! Christmas presents galore for every person on the gift list - a one stop shop.”

Mary and I can vouch for this – my mom and sister too – we visited AOA on black Friday and there was a steady stream of customers. Here are some highlight photos of the storefront, upstairs, and the famous gear area in the man cave downstairs.

As a last note, I received an email from the Page Chamber that the new business will be featured on the Tourism Tuesdays radio show with Nina Long - December 8; 12:30 to 1 pm on 95.3 FM WZRV. As much as I’d like to, I can’t listen in. But I hope it goes well.

Best of luck to Howard, Andy, Gary and Linda!

Tech Watch Geek: Maybe the Winner

2009-12-06T20:35:00.003-05:00

I'm not saying anyone is buying me one of these tech watches for a holiday gift. But I saw this one, and I have to say, if I were to buy one for myself, this one seems like a low risk proposition at a very good price:

What sealed the deal for me, besides price? Check out this review by Amazon user Bart Barnack:

"My first one last through 3 assignments in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Half the team wore this watch and the other half the Suunto Vector. Must of us owned both. I found the Casio Pathfinder easier to use. The only issue I had with my watch is sometimes it went into conflict and went through all the modes and would not stop until the batteries were removed. I was the only one that had this issue. We worked in extreme enviroments and the watch took a beating. Sand Storms, attacks of all types, crashes, high heat 125 - 130 degrees. Cold below zero for long periods. All the features were a great asset to all of us. We often compared data with our other instruments like GPS and other sensors we had. The watch was close. The large dial is a plus in the field. I would still have the first one but when I took it to a watch shop for new batteries, it was not sealed properly and on a swim exercise it leaked."

If I were to receive one of these as a gift, I doubt that I would put it through what Bart did. Kind of good to know it could take that abuse, though.

By the way, I checked a bunch of reviews for the Suunto Vector. There seems to be general satisfaction with it as a tool, but there were too many complaints about condensation and getting it wet for my taste...and many people seem to find the Suunto a bit technically challenging to use.

As I've discussed in Tech-Watch Geek before, I've had two Casios - one a pre-cell phone era telephone number database, and the other a G-Shock. That database watch is still running on its original battery - bought in 1998!

...and Around the Corner is Wisteria

2009-12-04T07:24:00.006-05:00

Since we didn’t get back to Wisteria after our trip to North Mountain on Saturday, we decided to go on Sunday as soon as they opened. The vineyard is less than a mile away from the Hawksbill Cabin – we’re just separated by the Jordan Hollow Inn and Hawksbill Creek. It’s great to have a little vineyard as a neighbor.

The wines available for tasting this week were: Traminette, Seyval, Chardonnay, Viognier, Merlot, Norton, Pinot Gris, and Carmine. There was also warm mulled wine available. So we enjoyed the tasting and picked up a couple of bottles, and then took a walk around the grounds.

The vineyard is laid out with symmetrical fields on either side of a little road that leads back to the creek and a storage area. This makes a nice walk during the outing at Wisteria. From this area of the farm, Hawksbill and Stonyman mountains in Shenandoah National Park rise to dominate the view to the east.
As noted on the http://www.wisteriavineyard.com/ website, this is a working farm and vineyard – they keep a flock of natural-colored Romney sheep as well as free-roaming chickens. (Click the pasture photo for a better look at the sheep.) My sister and Mom picked up a skein of oatmeal-colored wool for some holiday projects while we visited.

In this post, I featured a few photos of the Trellises that they use at Wisteria – these are mostly made from cedar that was grown on the farm. Cedar planks also form part of the fencing. I’ve been thinking that the trellises are a good idea that I might pass on to neighbor Dan as a way to support his hops vines next summer (or I might adopt them if I ever start growing them...click the Beaver Run Brewery label for more info about Dan's project, by the way).

On the website, they have included a couple of photos of the farm in winter, including a shot when there was about four inches of snow on the ground – that is a sight we’re yet to see during our time at the cabin, but we are looking forward to the possibility.

Late Fall Visit to North Mountain Vineyard

2009-12-03T07:29:00.003-05:00

Despite the short hours of daylight, we were able to get in a full day of sightseeing in the Valley on Saturday - a sunny day with temps in the 50's. I had a plan to get Mom, Nancy and Mary into Luray for some errands, then a couple of stops on the way over to North Mountain Vineyard in Mauertown.

In Luray, we stopped at Appalachian Outdoors Adventures, where the gang was finishing up on combining stocks and some upgrades after the merger with Evergreen - I'll have a post on that soon. Then we went to Mill Creek Pottery, where Nancy's roaster order was in, plus we wanted to pick up a few more ornaments.

Then on to the day's sightseeing with a stop at the GWNF Storybook Trail, for a view of Page Valley, and onward to the vineyard.

It was mid-afternoon when we arrived, and the place was bustling with visitors, the lot full of Virginia, DC and Maryland tags. There was music in the back room...all of this a surprise to me, as I hadn't checked the website. We settled in for a glass of wine and some of the great snacks they offer - a cheese plate and brie with very tasty raspberry/chipotle preserves on the side.

As the crowd thinned out, we went inside for a tasting, which included some seasonal choices in addition to the standards from this vineyard:

Vidal Blanc
2006 Chardonnay
Claret
Tom's Brook Red
Oktoberfest
Sweet Caroline's Blush
Mountain Sunset Apple Blush
Spiced Holiday Wine

Mary and I picked out a couple of bottles for our "cellar" and Nancy and Mom enjoyed the experience with us. The Chardonnay was described on the tasting card as "This classically made Chardonnay, with subtle flavors of French oak and a citrus finish, will enhance many of your favorite dishes." It only spends about six months in French oak, which keeps it a lighter wine with less tannin. Very pleasant and something it seems we could enjoy with appetizers.

I have a couple of vineyard photos here from the visit - one looking across the vines to West Virginia, and the second, a bit later when I loaded the wine in the car, a view from the vines looking at the moon.

After the vineyard visit I was hoping we'd have enough time for both Sal's Italian Bistro in Edinburg and a stop at Wisteria back in Stanley on the way home, but time and daylight ran out on us. So we enjoyed a big Italian dinner at Sal's, and made a plan to visit Wisteria the next day - I'll post on that tomorrow.

Vineyard Trips Preview

2009-12-02T07:18:00.003-05:00

As a preview to some posts I will put up over the next couple of days about trips the family and I took to local vineyards last weekend (the photo here is of Mary and me in the fields at Wisteria - http://wisteriavineyard.com – near the Hawksbill Cabin), I wanted to make a note about some grape varieties that are grown here in Virginia.

Here are four of the more uncommon ones, with summarized information from their respective Wikipedia articles.

Reds

Petit Verdot-this late ripening red wine grape is typical of French Bordeaux blends, where it is used for tannin, color and flavor. Apparently it is regarded as unreliable in France and has fallen out of flavor there, but it can be used in the US reliably, even as its own varietal wine. It is sometimes used to bolster some Cabernet Sauvignon blends.

Norton-I first came across this varietal at Wisteria, but it is also the “cornerstone of the Missouri wine industry.” It’s often described as America’s native grape, but according to the Wisteria article, there are suspicions that it is actually a hybrid of European ancestry.

Whites

Seyval Blanc-A hybrid white wine grape that is popular at several Virginia wineries, including Linden Vineyards on the other side of the Shenandoah ridge from us. It is also grown in New York (which is likely how it came to Virginia) England and Canada.

Viognier-The final grape of our lesson today, a white variety that originates from the Rhone Valley. It’s origin is unknown but it has gained in popularity since the 1990’s, especially in California and Australia. It is well suited to Virginia’s “Monticello” growing region because of the mild climate there.
Tomorrow’s post will recount the trips we made to North Mountain Vineyard in Mauertown and our return visit to Wisteria in Stanley.

A Denounment of Sorts...and Some Clarifying Comments

2009-12-01T07:35:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, one of the resources I used to keep track of the goings on in Page County closed down - the Page County Watch blog. I truly found the dialog there and the additional insight that Alice, the "watch blogger," offered to be part of a great overall experience being involved with the County. It's my opinion that by raising tough questions for community dialog, she built a mini-community of people who made well intentioned contributions with the desire to make things better.

Since that blog ended, Alice has kindly left a link to Hawksbill Cabin on the old blog page, and we have been receiving a number of visitors from there. If you are a reader who's been referred from Page County Watch - welcome! I definitely appreciate having the chance to get to know more of my neighbors!

As weekenders, it can be challenging for Mary and me to get the full story on a lot of the current issues in Page County. It's just a fact that during the course a week or month, many news cycles come and go between our visits. With a weekly newspaper as one of few news outlets, we may or may not get follow-up information to the information I pass on through the blog.

As a result of the referrals from Alice's blog, I did receive additional information about the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department as a follow-up to two posts I made back in April 2008, just after a wild land fire had taken place near Stanley. Chief Terry Pettit of the Department saw my posts and offered some clarifying comments, so I went back and revised the earlier posts to include the additional information.

The text of Chief Pettit's comments is below, and the two original post links follow:

"Jim, I was looking at your website and noticed a correction that needs to be made reference to the brush fire in 2008 outside Stanley. The Stanley Volunteer Fire Department is an all volunteer department and receives no payments from any call we respond too. Donations are accepted. The Virginia Forestry Department by law has the right and will charge you for the cost of bringing a wild land fire under control and extinguishing it. The money goes to the State of Virginia. During the 30 hours the Stanley fire department was on the scene of the Lucas Hollow fire the 25 members that responded all as always donated their time and the cost of fuel and supplies came out of our budget. The department’s budget is $125,000.00 per year and the county of page supplies $45,000.00 of that total, we have to raise the rest through donations, meals, events, etc. I hope that the people that read your blog understand that we did not receive any money and get the wrong idea that we do on calls. Terry A. Pettit Stanley Fire Chief"

Original posts:
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/04/stanley-fire-update.html and
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/04/moving-on-wildfire-in-stanley.html

A Thanksgiving Day History Lesson

2009-11-30T07:22:00.003-05:00

On Thanksgiving morning after breakfast and before the big meal at the Mimslyn Inn, I took Mary, Mom and Nancy around for a drive. Now, it's not quite the celebration of the first Thanksgiving meal, which is probably a tradition many others observe. And while we were visiting our destinations, we saw a lot of hunters out in blaze orange or camo ("Realtree" appears to be the preferred pattern in this part of Virginia), and plenty of pickup trucks parked along side woods and fields for a morning venison hunt.

Our drive took us by the River’s Bend Ranch – where Nancy likes to bring the family in the summer, by the little landing along US 240 between Newport and Stanley – the water was high from recent rains, and finally to Catherine Furnace – near Newport and a little town called Grove Hill.

The furnace is a 20x20 pyramid, rising 20 feet so that it is 10x10 at the top. It remains standing in remarkably good shape. From http://www.vagenweb.org/shenandoah/hom/S_catfur.html , we know it was built in about 1840, after a couple of years of scouting locations and acquiring the land grants needed to support it – these operations required more than 20,000 acres to supply wood for charcoal to conduct the furnace operations. There is a link here (http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=15892) to the image of the historical marker near the site, just visible to the right in this photo.

Also, I’ve been reading a book “The Undying Past of Shenandoah National Park” – there is an Amazon link below, which goes into a lot of detail about these historic mining and forge operations in the area. Like most early industrial age processes, the amount of human energy invested in the process is simply amazing.
Furnaces were located near good water sources – in these two photos there is a view of the little stream that runs alongside the furnace before joining Cub Run, which was the route the pig iron was hauled along on its way to the river and then onward to the industry at Harpers Ferry. Visible in the woods across the small stream are stone walls and earth works that supported the work - access ramps for hauling charcoal and other materials to the furnace.

With our nice historical perspectives tour all taken care off, we went back to the house for a few minutes before setting out for our meal at the Mimsyn. We all chose the “traditional” main course – ham AND turkey, green beans, dressing, and mashed potatoes. Seconds were available, but none of us took them. For desert, apple, pecan, or pumpkin pie – all varieties were sampled at our table. All in all, a nice Thanksgiving Day.

November 2009 Clarendon Construction Update

2009-11-27T07:58:00.005-05:00

The buildings across the street from my office continue to progress. The larger one, across the block on Clarendon Boulevard, is topped out and they have taken down one of the cranes. The facade work continues.

The time between these two photos is about 10 days, the second one was just taken this week. They did a good job scheduling this project - now that winter weather is coming on a lot of work can go on in the shelter of the constructed building frame - a lot of conduit and infrastructure has already been delivered and is getting installed. Once the facade is complete, it will get harder to track progress.

As far as the mid-block project goes, once again I have two photos taken ten days apart, with the second of these taken earlier this week. This building is slated to be between six to eight storeys tall when it is completed - I will try and get a photo of the project bulletin board up here soon. As can be seen - the crew has progressed out of the ground now and it putting in the forms for the second floor most recently.

On Wednesday I walked by the buildings at ground level. I was near the area where the new pre-fab facade elements are delivered by truck. From here they are lifted off up to the floors where they will be installed.

Also, farther back, there is a truck hauling out scaffolding and framing elements. These were used to hold the forms for the concrete floors, and are removed as the cast concrete cures. This part of the process is pretty close to complete at this stage of the game.

Be sure to click the Clarendon Construction label on this post to see the history of these construction projects since I have been tracking it, beginning in January 2008.

A Morning Routine Remembered

2009-11-25T07:41:00.006-05:00

When I went out for the paper this morning I had a nice memory of Gracie. Sometimes she would get up a little early and come downstairs to wait for me, then go outside with me to get the paper.

When I would get to the living room I would get a flash of the border collie eye and then there was a ritual display of standing up, stretching, and smacking her mouth after a yawn. Then a little tail wag, which would happen just as I was turning the door knob.

Some days, she'd go down into the yard, but sometimes she'd just stand on the porch at the top of the stairs and watch. We have a lot of neighbors who are sometimes out on dog walks at that hour, so I figure that socializing was a part of Gracie's motivation for this.

I'll bet it was just as often that she slept late, like a rock.

Still, that was a nice thought to start the day.

A Page County Ponzi Scheme?

2009-11-24T08:06:00.003-05:00

The second item I saw in last week’s PN&C was an article about a Ponzi scheme that took place in Page County. This one involved the majority owner of a local coffee roaster, which was known as Bean East Corporation. In Luray, it was known as Kiariz – which has been renamed Callao Coffee, and the new owners are “looking to move ahead.”

(Author's Note: I misidentified the building in the photo in my original post. This building housed 58 West internet cafe. They sold Kiariz Coffee there, but were not otherwise associated with Kiariz. The post has been edited to correct the mis-id.)

Here's an old photo of 58 West internet cafe's downtown location, one location where Kiariz was sold. Both Chris and Mary liked this place very much – Chris raved about their lattes, and Mary would enjoy visiting and using the internet in the shop there. The cafe folded up about the same time that the Kiariz story was coming out. It was a disappointment for us all to see it go.

The Ponzi scheme worked by the majority owner promising investors very high rates of interest for loans. The interest rates were justified with bogus contracts for coffee supplies – he even invoked the name of a trusted US brand, Folgers. In a Ponzi scheme, the proceeds from new investor funds are used to pay the old investors, with the schemer taking a substantial amount for himself.

In this case, Moledina, the mastermind, was charged with taking $16-million from 26 people. He has pled guilty to the charges, which include charges of wire fraud and various forgeries. From the PN&C story, there is no suggestion of a Moledina connection with the minority owners or current owners as far as the Ponzi activities go.

It’s hard not to associate this event with the activities of the former Page County Sherriff Presgraves (I haven’t posted on developments in his case in some time, I’m due – check out the ‘Presgraves’ label on the right for past posts). I guess this is because the county has such a small population that these cases always emerge as high profile situations.

As far as an impact on the Page County Economy, Kiariz is gone but there are new owners - I was glad to learn that the business has survived. I’m sure there is a lot of hard work ahead for them to recover from this blow, but I’d like to think they’ll make it.

The bright spot in all of this, also as highlighted in this week’s PN&C…the Brick Oven Pizzeria, which was a landmark in Stanley, has relocated to the former 58 West location in Luray. It’s a bigger location for the pizzeria, and it will offer sit down service. I was very excited to see a local business have the good fortune of this significant opportunity for growth – Mary and I are looking forward to a lunch visit!

Page County Unemployment Rate through September

2009-11-23T07:49:00.002-05:00

We take the Page News and Courier (PN&C) by mail. It usually arrives on Thursday afternoons, so we sometimes take the time to read it and get a preview of what’s happening in Page County over the weekend – this is especially important if we have in mind a festival or an auction. Due to my accident last week we did not get out to the Hawksbill Cabin, but there were two items of interest I’ll highlight in last week’s paper.

The first item is the slow turnaround in Page County’s unemployment rate. This is a topic the blog has touched on frequently in the past – check the “Page County Economy” label attached to this post or in the list in the column on the right. The high unemployment numbers that were reported last spring – 17.4 percent in February and 15.9 percent in March – were especially of interest, as these items seemed to be the motivation for a lot of economic development planning.

A front page article last week, written by Luther Johnson, reported that the September rate had fallen to 9.8 percent – below double digits for the first time since December 2008. Johnson’s analysis reports that the state-wide level is 3.1 percent lower, at 6.7 percent, but that Page County’s rate is the same as the national average rate. The graph below compares Page County’s unemployment for the first nine months of the year with the average Virginia rate for the same period.

As always there are caveats to the calculation of this rate. For example, the unemployment rate traditionally doesn’t count workers not actively seeking work, including those whose unemployment benefits have expired – an ironic effect from the long-term unemployed falling out of the count.

While in the near term, Virginia expects employment to increase, and much of the rest of the country does too, Page County generally sees a seasonal decrease with the onset of winter. Much of the tourist trade falls off during this time and staffs are cut back at those businesses, and construction generally tapers off with the weather.

There’s a near term need to do something about job growth in the county. The Board of Supervisors have an updated 2008 plan – which I’ve also reviewed here on the blog – with a number of short- and long-term initiatives outlined for action. Seems it would be a good idea if the new board went back for a look at that plan and reprioritized their approach to dealing with Page County’s typical unemployment situation being worse than most other areas in the state.

Making the best of an inconvenience

2009-11-22T12:15:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, my car was hit in an accident. Of the three drivers involved, nobody was seriously hurt, which was great. My car had some pretty significant damage as shown in photo 1, and it's been at the body shop since then.

Typical of this kind of experience, I have some vivid slow motion memories of what happened during impact, including thinking to myself, "Now I wonder why the airbag didn't go off?"

Since Mary drives to work a couple of days a week, and I am at Fort Belvoir a few times a week, we couldn't manage the inconvenience. I got a rental from Enterprise, which gave me a discount based on my State Farm claim.

They were going to put me in a Camry, which might have been okay (I've never driven one, and don't know how comfortable I would be in one).

I may not be reimbursed for this expense, somehow we dropped the rental coverage a few years ago. So I figured, with the holidays coming up, and family coming in, why not go a little extra - I picked out this Cadillac crossover for an extra $5 a day. I'm renting for two weeks; should be able to manage on one car after that.

G&H's AT Shake Down Hike - Part 3

2009-11-20T08:10:00.002-05:00

Part 3 - Post-hike Report

After three days, completing a section hike of about 32 miles on the Appalachian Trail, Gary and Howard returned Tuesday night. From the main south bound AT route, Howard said they had made a few side trips to visit trail shelters, where they checked out the log books and signed in with their new “trail names,” which I won’t report here to protect their identities. As experienced hikers, they knew when they set out that anything could happen on the trail and they were ready to improvise if needed, but, as Howard says, “Everything went as close to plan as we could have hoped.”

As they shared their impressions of the route, I began to notice that their descriptions of the experience were similar to those I’ve read about in thru-hiking books such as “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail,” and “Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods.” One of the first things you notice on trail sections like the one they chose, is that even though the route follows a ridge and you wouldn’t expect major climbing, there is a cumulative effect from all the little “ups-and-downs” from short climbs and descents.

They took advantage of their freshness on the first day and did extra miles, so the second day was less difficult. Even so, the body rebels at the out-of-the-ordinary strain, stiffening at each break on the trail, or making it hard to get up in the morning. By the third day, they had begun to settle in to their pace, making the last day the easiest day on the trail for them.

When I asked them about what gear they found the handiest, they agreed that their water filters were the key items in the packs, with headlamps coming in second. Gary said that since the winter days are shorter, they often had to quicken their pace to reach the day’s designated camp site so they could set up before it was completely dark, which made the headlamps very important.

They had carried their water with them on this Spring’s overnight hike on the Massanutten Ridge, so the water filters allowed them to reduce some of the weight in their packs. Water was required for the dehydrated meals they carried – all samples from the selection in their stores – and they heated it on a Jet Boil stove. In fact, all of the gear they used on the hike is available at the stores.

Speaking of their stores, Appalachian Outdoor Adventures and Evergreen Outfitters, Gary and Howard have been planning to join forces for the last few months, and with this hiking adventure behind them, they are set to complete the merger by the end of the year. Gary said, “We had been sending customers back and forth to each other and now everything will be in one location,” so the merger is a natural progression. And both are looking forward to the opportunities to expand their services to potentially include guided hikes and tours.

Gary and Howard are planning overnighters in the Spring, but the next multi-day hike won’t be until next Summer or Fall. They choose routes in Shenandoah National Park along the AT but also adventure into the George Washington National Forest as well.

As for the north district AT section hike, it served as an excellent shakedown for longer hikes in the future, with the added benefit of being able to test out some of the gear they sell. The credibility factor is important in their business, and these hikes serve to build it. That’s going to be an important asset as they complete the merger and continue to serve their customers.

This is the final post of a 3-part series on Gary and Howards section hike of the AT. The previous posts were on Wednesday and Thursday, the 18th and 19th of November.

G&H's AT Shake Down Hike - Part 2

2009-11-19T08:10:00.001-05:00

Part 2 – The Gear and Preparation

Earlier this year, Gary and Howard took an overnight hike along Saw Tooth Ridge and Kennedy Peak in the GWNF, but they have been thinking of doing the full AT section in Shenandoah National Park for some time. So this Fall hike covering the northern portion of the SNP AT is a warm-up for the longer section hike, which they hope to complete next summer.

In the past, Gary has posted helpful lists of gear on the Appalachian Outdoor Adventures Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Luray-VA/Appalachian-Outdoors-Adventures/97338336006?ref=mf), which I’ve referred to for hikes that require more than the usual preparation. So I asked Gary and Howard about their equipment preparation for this hike, and they described their choices of packs, tents and footwear.

For packs, Gary chose Osprey, while Howard used a North Face pack. Their tents were both North Face gear; footwear for Gary was from North Face, and Howard used a new pair of Vasque Breezes. They carry all of the gear they used on this AT section at both stores in Luray, and are planning to continue these lines after their merger next month.

Even the dogs are outfitted for the trip: Martha and Athena will be wearing Ruffwear dog backpacks, which Howard carries at Evergreen Outfitters. Lilly gets a break from carrying a pack – but even so, the dogs will probably do two to three times the amount of walking on this trips as the humans do – they may go as far as 90 miles while the humans walk 30 miles on the path!

Getting back to the motivation for this hike – Gary and Howard recognized that Page County is a hiking and camping destination for people from all over the world. The visitors aren’t just AT thru-hikers coming down into Luray for a “town day,” there are also people who come to sightsee at Luray Caverns or to visit the Shenandoah River. The pair wants to inspire local people to take advantage of the resources in the area. Gary keeps a list of their outings on the Facebook page – trips to GWNF and SNP are the most frequent destinations, and the SNP AT section thru-hike will be next year’s highlight.

We’ll conclude these posts with Part 3 tomorrow – featuring an "after-hike" update on the experience.

G&H's AT Shake Down Hike - Part 1

2009-11-18T08:10:00.002-05:00

Part 1 – The Plan and Some Activities

Luray is getting a reputation as a great Appalachian Trail “Trail Town,” and with miles of hiking trails and plenty of camp sites available in nearby Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest, it’s an emerging backpacking, hiking, and camping destination. Gary Drum and Howard Thompson, owners of two outfitters stores in Luray, decided to set out for a Fall section hike of the Appalachian Trail this week.

Their stores, Appalachian Outdoor Adventures and Evergreen Outfitters, are planning to merge this Winter, but over the last couple of years the two have built a friendship on their shared enthusiasm for all of the outdoor activities this area has to offer. With the number of adventure-seeking tourists in Luray increasing every year, whether they are AT thru-hikers or families heading for SNP campgrounds, Howard and Gary set a goal to hike the entire length of the AT as it passes through the Park, starting with a 30-mile “shake down” hike of the northern section this month.

Joining Gary and Howard on the trip were Luray friends Garrett Johnson and Alan Jones, and three adventure dogs, Lilly, Martha and Athena. The group has done a couple of similar hikes together in the past, and made the “natural choice” to hike from Front Royal to Thornton Gap on the AT (it’s natural because “it’s there,” according to Howard. The group planned to hike about 10 miles per day over this section’s moderate terrain, from Sunday to Tuesday, spending one night camping back country and a second night in one of the campgrounds.

Besides the camping, the group had planned for other activities on the trail. Their families were tentatively planning to meet them on the trail one day, but the rendezvous was nixed due to scheduling conflicts. They are also planning to “taste test” some of the dehydrated entrees and breakfasts that they carry in the shops so that they can rate them and make recommendations to shoppers.

…tomorrow’s post will look at some of the gear Gary and Howard are using on the section hike.

Third Blackrock Hike in the Sun

2009-11-17T07:29:00.004-05:00

Since discovering this hike back in September, it has really grown on me. And I've been wanting to take Mary out to it so she could experience the short but invigorating rock scramble here.

It also makes a nice juxtaposition to the scramble at Bearfence Mountain, which I posted about last week, a scramble that is similar to the longer and much more challenging one on Old Rag.

Here is a picture of Mary picking her way along the path that leads down from the summit of Blackrock. This trail winds down the hillsides in the back ground and can form a part of a longer hike that follows the ridge tops in this view.

Clicking on the photo will show the detail of the rock layer - metabasalt, in fact - that forms the top of much of the ridge in the Park, and of Old Rag. This layer is visible in the little peak directly ahead of Mary.

My Park geology books say that there are as many as five layers of this rock evident on the peaks, with intervening layers of sandstone and limestone varieties. In essence, there were successive volcanic periods and a time where the area was a sea bed, before the continental collisions occured that forced these layers up into the eastern range of mountains. As I learn more about this I will post some follow-ups.

In the meantime, here is Mary in the little gap in the rocks. The stone on Blackrock is quartzite, which is actually one of the sea bed layers, as opposed to the metabasalts of Bearfence and Old Rag. That's part of what makes this one interesting, I guess - that the scramble is over these sedimentary rocks as opposed to the metamorphic, previously igneous layers at the other hikes.

Here is a last parting view of the mountain as we began to head back to the car. This photo is taken from a little stretch of the AT, which hikers can follow down from the summit back to the parking lot. There is also a fire road through this area, so a loop can be stitched together, adding a little variety to the outing.

During and after the fog

2009-11-16T07:03:00.004-05:00

The dregs of that hurricane finally cleared Friday afternoon, so we postponed the drive out to Luray until Saturday morning. While the weather continued to improve, all of the streams in the Valley were swollen from the rain, including our little Beaver Run.

On Sunday morning, Sofie and I went out for a little stroll around the yard around 8am. We were greeted by a very pleasant morning fog, and I snapped a few photos of the scene. Later on, around 10:30 or so, the fog had begun to burn off, so I took some more to compare.

It's interesting what the change in atmosphere can do for some things - I think the fog highlights the red on this shrub - the sun takes away from it.

On the other hand, the sun on the beaver pond highlights that part of the landscape. These two photos are meant to show that it is refilling and has nearly expanded to its old width.

The main purpose of these last two photos are to show how high the water has gotten in Beaver Run - easier to see in the fog. This is from the road looking north where the little stream runs across the front of our property.

When the stream is running this robustly, there is the happy sound of falling water from the dam and from some of the small rapids in the stream.

Tech-watch geek: Outside Magazine's Survival Issue

2009-11-13T07:26:00.004-05:00

Last month in Tech-watch geek I wrote about some hikers who had taken on a Grand Canyon hike that was over their heads with no more preparation than buying some gear, including one of those GPS beacons, like the Spot Messenger. The full post is here: http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2009/10/tech-watch-geek-those-gps-trek-tools.html.

At the time, I had not seen a review in Outside magazine - there is an update in this month's issue, which carries the "Survival" theme. Outside confirms it is a fan, and highlights a "350 rescues in 51 countries" history, in a review of the second-gen tool. Improvements include a safety cover on the "get me outta here" button. (The image will take you to the Amazon page for the gen-one version, where the 80+ reviews of the product are mandatory reading if you are in the market for one of these).

There are two additional compelling articles in the magazine this month - the first, a case study, "Anatomy of a Rescue" tells of a snowshoe outing in the back country near Santa Fe, where an experienced social worker got lost on one of her favorite trails and wasn't found for three days. This article includes a lot of helpful tips - carrying a headlamp, for example (which Chris and I - and our other hiking friends who set out on the moderate day hikes with us - now require as part of our preparation); staying on known trails; and sending text messages on your cell phone, since less signal is required and the messages are more likely to transmit than calls.

A second item in the magazine is "The New Rules for Survival" - which talks about the trend for charging for rescues. States such as Oregon, California, Hawaii, Maine, Colorado, Idaho, Vermont and New Hampshire charge the rescued. The Outside article discusses an example in New Hampshire where the charge was $25K for a rescue - and that in that state, the amounts can be arbitrary, difficult to fight, and will hold up in court if there is any hint of "negligence" - and taking a short cut justifies this. Most of the other states have charges, such as Colorado's $300.

While the article concludes that knowing about these charges will mean that people are more afraid to call for help, so there is the risk of delayed rescue, more serious injury, and a more complicated rescue operation, the true moral of the story is that even in the Northern Virginia region we need to go out prepared for the adventure we've planned.

It's true that many times you can find cell coverage up in the Shenandoah National Park, but more often it is spotty. As they'll tell you on Old Rag Patrols (http://oldragpatrolsbyrsl-blook.blogspot.com/) even there, in sight of civilization, a rescue will generally take at least four hours (a special shout out to these volunteers, by the way, that is awesome work they are doing). So if you're doing anything more than the easiest of day hikes some minimal preparation will be required.

I can't put my hands on some advice resources about what to pack this morning, so I'll do some more research for a few recommendations. The easy ones that come to mind are a basic first aid kit, head lamps, and water to spare. And oh yeah, leaving your itinerary with someone, with expected ETAs. I'll get back to this topic over the next few weeks.

Bearfence Mountain - an Easy SNP Day Hike

2009-11-12T08:06:00.003-05:00

On Sunday we had one of those exceptional Indian Summer days in the Valley – the temperature rose to the mid-seventies, although it was probably a few degrees cooler up in Shenandoah National Park – so I decided to take in another one of the easy day hikes from my guide book. I chose Bearfence Mountain, which was my 21st of the 26 little hikes in the book.

I’ll refer to the Heatwole Guide for a description of this hike, and for the origin of its name:
“Bearfence Mountain, elevation 3,620 feet, reportedly got its name from the palisade-like rocks, resembling a fence, that surround its summit. From the summit you have a 360-degree view; this is one of only four or five places in the whole Park from which you can see all around you. The hike to the summit is fairly easy in that it's short, with less than 300 feet of climbing. It's difficult in that part of it is pure rock scramble for which you'll use both hands and perhaps from time to time the seat of your pants. But the climb is not dangerous if you observe a few simple precautions.”

I was excited about this hike because a couple of friends have endorsed it – Evan, who put together a book of wildlife photography in the Park (see the link in the right hand column) wrote about this hike a few times, and Park Ranger Sally, our neighbor, has told us about leading ranger programs up here. I heard “rock scramble” and pictured something like the Blackrock summit I’ve done a few times recently – this one is more like an abbreviated Old Rag hike.

The photos that accompany this post are of the view of the trailhead across Skyline Drive from the parking area, a very tame deer alongside the lowest part of the trail (it looked at me several times, not at all afraid of me, despite it being hunting season), a couple of the scramble portion itself, and then two from a section of the nearby AT – you can make a circuit hike out of this one and avoid scrambling back down the way you came up, or vice versa.

All of the guide books recommend good hiking boots, and not carrying small children up this one. On my day, it was a popular outing for young families – I got some good advice from kids on the way up about which direction to go so I didn’t make a wrong turn – also, dogs aren’t allowed on this trail. I’m not sure that I would try this one on a day where there was any kind of precipitation, or in fog.

The final two photos are the prize of the day. The summit is one of few places along Skyline Drive where you have a 360-degree view. Although I did not go all the way to the top of the rocks – there was a place where I decided against a chest-high climb without a partner – I found a great spot for a little picnic almost at the summit. These photos are the view I enjoyed on such a near-perfect Fall day.

If you are up for a leg stretcher with a bit of a challenge, this hike is a great choice. I am looking forward to getting back out there with Mary or Chris sometime soon.

A Short Veterans Day Post

2009-11-11T08:12:00.003-05:00

Just a moment to pause and reflect in honor of those serving now and those who answered the highest call in the past. And a note of recognition to the Cold War veterans I served with.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Anniversary of The Fall of the Berlin Wall - part 5

2009-11-10T07:30:00.008-05:00

Since the Wall fell I’ve been lucky enough to get back to Berlin twice – I mentioned the four-day stopover in 1995 on the way to Kiev. I stayed in Kruezberg at a little hotel near where some friends had lived, not too far away from Tempelhof Airport where I had lived. In the ’95 trip I spent most of my time walking around the city and checking out old haunts, including visiting some favorite night spots.

Here are two photos of the Reichstag, one from my ’95 trip, and the second from the trip Mary and I made in 2001. In the 1995 photo, renovations had yet to begin; in fact, I learned that the Christo project that wrapped the building in fabric had just been taken down the previous month. Obviously, in 2001, not only had the building become the home of the German Parliament, but the new Dome was a major attraction in the city. I went up twice during the visit, the first just for the experience, the second to get last views of some of the sights on the horizon from up there – the radome at Tempelhof, and the silhouetted Teufelsberg site up on the hill.

In 2001, Mary and I made our way around the city from our hotel, which was located near Potsdamer Platz (and thankfully near a Tchibb coffee shop). We were directly across the street from Martin Gropius Bau, which was on a street where the Wall had run. After a day or two of walking around the neighborhood, I realized that I had done an early training run through here as I prepared for the 1983 Berlin Marathon – Shybuck and I followed the Wall from there to the Reichstag.

These photos are from a little side street near the hotel - a couple of derelect pieces of the Wall were there, including this demolished guard tower and a slab with some new paintings.

The line of the Wall was marked with cobblestones in the streets and sidewalks, but everywhere, new buildings had gone up as this was now an emerging commercial district, with the Daimler Platz and Sony Centers not far away, and the new groundbreaking for the new American Embassy not too far in the future.

We were also only a half mile from Checkpoint Charlie, which we made a point of visiting. On the short walk, we discovered a stretch of the Wall that had been maintained - here I am near it, disguised as a German tourist.

Interestingly, a series of underground rooms had been discovered here directly under the Wall – these were part of a State Police jail during the Nazi days and had a sinister history.

After proceeding through Checkpoint Charlie and visiting the museum there, where Mary endured my stories of going through the Checkpoint and frenzied shopping tours in the East, we circled back to Unter den Linden, where we enjoyed a very civilized lunch at a café.

It was a very nostalgic visit for me, one with a lot of mixed feelings about personal history that was now long gone. But also, it was hard to miss the impact of the renewal that had gone on since the Wall came down. There are stories about hardships in the East, where some of the towns have struggled to integrate into the new economy. But I hope that everyone is on the road to better off than they had been.

Reading the reminisces of my friends who were in Berlin when I was there, and especially those who were there the night came down – these have been a great experience the last few days. Getting caught up in all of that during those days, it was hard to realize that this really was history - it’s quite a thing to have been a part of.

This is the final post in this series, for now - when I manage to make it to the Wall display at the Newseum, I will post about that. I want to close out with a little anecdote my friend Chris K. wrote about his activities on the day the Wall came down - cobbled together from a series of posts he put up on Facebook yesterday:

"For my Family and FB friends who didn't spend time with me in Berlin, it was 20 years ago today that the Berlin Wall came down. A lot of my friends and coworkers were released from duty and joined the festivities. Michele and I worked a mid shift and as soon as we got home from work we changed, filled a backpack with some Heinekins, grabbed a hammer and screwdriver and headed for the Wall.

"We spent a good part of that morning/day walking along the Wall and chipping pieces from it. I kept a few pieces but most of them we handed out to the Berliners who were stopping to watch. Some even came up to us and asked if we could chip off a piece for them.

"I remember two elderly ladies, who approached but were reluctant to say anything, I asked if they would like a couple of pieces and they nodded. One of them broke into tears when I gave her a fairly large chunk. I couldn't imagine the emotion that she had bottled up inside.

"At one point, a photographer came up and said he had snapped our picture and wanted permission to publish it in the Stars&Stripes. We were afraid to give our names because the Commander had ordered us (sort of) not to join in the chipping. So, the next day, there we were on the front page. Thought I was busted, literally, but nothing happened."