The Big Decision

            I have reached the summits of two more mountains and made it all the way back to my home in Virginia since I last wrote.  There have also been some hard decisions that I have made since then, but we will get into that a little later.  When I did write last I was in North Carolina on my way towards its high point near Asheville. 

            My dad actually drove down and met up with me so that we could hike to the top together since neither of us had ever climbing Mount Mitchell before.  It was a good thing he did come down too because due to parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway being closed down my assault on a bike would have failed miserably.  As it worked out we had to drive an extra 40 miles around the mountain to reach the parking lot to hike up.  And those were some very steep windy roads we had to take.  Some I would say would have been pretty much impossible to ride up on my fully loaded bike.

            Eventually we did make it to the parking lot though and set off on our 12 mile trip to the top and back.  There were some spectacular views along the way and we only passed two other groups all day except for at the top.  Since you can drive almost to the very summit there were quite a few people up there checking out the sites when we made it.  Overall, a very pleasant hike and a great day for the weather.

            Next up on the agenda was Mount Rogers in my home state of Virginia.  It was only a couple days of riding to reach the Grayson Highlands State Park.  It is still considered the off-season there so the campground was closed down and didn’t have any running water and the restrooms were locked up.  Neither of those were a big concern for me since I am not overly picky about my locations for sleeping.  One thing that was nice though was that there was a little stream running of the mountain just a half mile away so I was able to fill up there and then purify everything as I went.  This was another relatively long hike being about 11 miles round trip.  So I ended up camping for two nights. 

            This is another summit I had never been to even though it was only a two-hour drive from my house.  But the Virginia highlands turned out to be another spectacular area that I got to visit.  There were a lot of great views from the very start and there were also quite a few wild ponies just hanging out next to the trail in some areas.  The summit failed to have much of a view although it’s surrounding were pretty cool.  The last half-mile was a drastic change from the rest of the hike as you entered a moss covered forest. 

            After Mount Rogers it was only a two-day ride to get back home.  At this point my body hated me since I had not taken a rest day since leaving Columbia.  But, I didn’t want to stop so close to home so I pushed on through.  I have been home for almost a week and a half at this point just relaxing, recovering, and thinking about the future. 

            The main thing I have been thinking about was whether or not to continue my journey on into the northeast section of the US.  This is a decision I have been struggling with making for some time now.  On one hand I have thoroughly enjoyed my trip from the start.  I have seen many awesome things and met a ton of great people along the way.  I was able to cut my life down to the bare essentials and do what I enjoyed doing while being able to avoid some of the stresses normal life creates.  Most importantly I was able to raise money and awareness for a very worthy charity.  The Big City Mountaineers characterized a lot of the attributes that I feel very strongly about as they helped give opportunities to youth that have helped turn some of their lives around. 

            On the other hand though there were certain things I have struggled with most of the trip.  I am usually fine being by myself and sometimes prefer it to hanging around with a crowd all the time.  However, even though I was meeting new people almost every night the days have become very lonely.  If the weather was nice and I was in a scenic area the ride would be easy.  However, when the weather turned bad or the scenery was not exciting or even if the roads were in bad shape the day would never seem to end.  When left with only your thoughts of misery to console you they can lead you to unhappy places which I’m sure most people have experienced at some point in their lives. 

            Another major factor was all the things in life I missed.  While I may have been doing something I enjoyed there was a lot more I had to give up in order to continue this one task.  One activity I missed a lot was rock climbing.  This was the first activity I found since graduating high school that worked as an outlet for both athletics and competition even though that competition was usually within myself.  This grew to become one of my favorite things to do and something I would participate in 4-5 times a week.  Another thing I missed was, knowing where I was going to sleep every night.  While on the trip it was fairly common to not have anywhere to sleep at the end of the day.  While riding I would be calling people in the town ahead of me trying to get something lined up.  Traveling is fun and the unknown can also be exciting but there is usually an end in sight where you can go back to normal and relax in the known. 

            So after debating on what to do for a long time I have decided to not continue my journey past my home in Virginia.  While I have enjoyed my journey and wouldn’t go back and change anything, it is time to move on to something else.  For everyone that has helped me along the way I want to thank you.  I couldn’t have made it this far without you.  After spending 182 days on the road I managed to travel 6,118 miles by bicycle while averaging 11.99 MPH. This required me to spend over 505 hours in the saddle.  Finally the one stat that I know everyone paid the most attention to is that I had 67 dogs come out and chase me all over the country.  Now if anyone has gotten excited about going out to do their own little cycling adventure to any high points let me know.  I’ve done a lot of work and planning for the trip and would be happy to talk with you about it and pass along any information that may help. 

We are still in the process of wrapping things up on our end with finances and will be making another donation to the Big City Mountaineers once we get it all together.  In case you might have been holding on to a donation till a certain point in the trip I would ask that you please go ahead and make that donation through our website if your still interested in doing so.  Here is a video from the charity about how a trip turned around one youths life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ucfDRD54yo.  I know that I will still do what I can to help out this worthy cause and I hope you will to. 

Thanks again for all your support over the past 7 months,

 - Michael Hunter

A Long Awaited Update

            It has been over a month since I last wrote a blog and a lot of things have transpired since then.  I have reached two more summits and then got to spend a week and a half back in Columbia, SC while taking a break.  Not to mention some pretty exciting moments while just riding across the country. 

            From Arkansas I continued south into the state of Louisiana for my next high point.  It was pretty cool just crossing over the state line because there was a fairly substantial change in the vegetation along the side of the road that gave a very different feel to the ride.  The state was pretty nice to ride through because there was not much traffic and the roads were in good shape most of the way.  Although I did hit some roads that were in terrible shape and made for a very uncomfortable ride.  The highpoint itself required about a mile hike in to it but even at the top you could not see anything around because the high point is only 535 feet about see level.  That makes it the 3^rd shortest high point in the country. 

The Bridge crossing the Mississippi River.

            My next target was Britton Hill in Florida and to get there I would need to travel back through Mississippi and Alabama.  While crossing the Mississippi river at Vicksburg, Mississippi I had one of the scariest moment of the trip while riding.  Due to the size of the Mississippi river there are very few options for crossing it.  When I first crossed it heading west I had to take a ferry across the river.  This time I only had one option.  That was to ride my bike across a bridge that was also known as Interstate 20.  As I started across the bridge I thought it was going to be all right because there was a pretty good shoulder.  However, that soon became pretty much worthless since they had installed drainage grates all along it with there slots running in the same direction I was travelling and they were big enough to eat a tire up if you strayed into it.  This left me about a foot between these grates and the speeding traffic on my other side.  There was also another issue.  The bridge had multiple expansion joints across it.  Most of these were not an issue but there was one that seemed to have spread out almost a foot.  I didn’t notice it till the last second and I thought I was done for upon seeing it.  Some how though I was able to make it though with only a dented front rim to show for it. 

            Eventually I made it to the high point in Florida, which was only about a mile over the border from Alabama.  Britton Hill is the lowest high point in the country coming in at a whopping 345 feet above sea level.  After making it to this high point I was pretty excited because it meant I was headed back to Columbia to finish up the first leg of the trip and I was going to be able to take a couple days off and rest. 

            Another thing I was very excited about was that when I got back to Columbia we were going to have a fundraising event at the Public House, which is a local bar in Columbia.  We ended up having 99.3, a local radio station broadcast live from the event.  There was also a raffle and silent auction in order to raise money for the Big City Mountaineers.  Not to mention having a wing buffet and some drink specials with proceeds also going to the charity.  All in all we made $2025 that went directly to the charity.

My bed back in Columbia.  It got a little crowded.

            After the fundraiser I was able to hang out in Columbia for 1 more week just hanging out with some friends and completely shutting down.  Now I am back on the road and headed towards Mount Mitchell for my next high point in North Carolina.  The next time I write yall I will be back home in Virginia for another extended stay in order to try and recharge some batteries.  Until then make sure yall don’t forget to move your clocks forward on Sunday and get outside to enjoy the extra our of daylight.

-Michael Hunter

Back in the Hills

            Last time I talked to yall I was near Dallas, Texas and waiting out a crazy storm.  In 36 hours we received almost 5 inches of rain and some of the lakes in the area rose over 6 feet.  They really needed the rain though since the entire state has been in a pretty bad drought for the last year.  Lucky for me though I had some relatives in the area that I was able to stay with.  Eventually though I had to keep moving on.  I was headed up to Oklahoma and then into Arkansas for my next high point. 

            I was lucky to have another set of good weather after the storm and as I headed north I had a pretty strong tail wind every day but one.  The big difference I started to notice was that I was starting to get back into more populated areas and the hills were starting to return.  The terrain was still relatively mild and it was a good warm up before I got to Arkansas where some real climbs showed back up.  I could definitely tell that I had only been riding in flat areas for the last couple weeks.

            It felt could though to be suing my muscles a little differently though and it was also nice to have the change in going up hill and then a little coasting down hill.  This allowed me to stand up a little more often to stretch out and rest.  It was also nice to have a constant change in scenery.  While riding across Texas was pretty easy it could get rather boring seeing the same thing day after day. 

            After about a week I made it to the town of Subiaco in Arkansas, which was pretty much at the base of Magazine Mountain.  The next day I went for the summit and for my first real test of a big climb on the bike since being in Colorado almost 2 months ago.  It was slow going but I just kept puttering along all the way up and eventually made it to the Visitors Center.  It was a good climb except for the fact that it was almost 100% humidity and near the top I was actually in the clouds riding so I couldn’t see hardly anything. Lucky for me though there was hardly any traffic so I didn’t have to worry about getting hit by anyone too much.  By the time I reached the visitor center I still had not found a place to stay for the night but I met someone there who was on their way out and they offered to buy me a room at the lodge on top of the mountain.  I was thrilled by this and was even able to go check in and change clothes before hiking to the summit from the lodge.   The clouds even cleared up enough for me to see a little of the valley below.  Thanks to the University of South Carolina Study Abroad Office for sponsoring this summit.

            The next day saw an incredible amount of changes to both the weather and my mood.  I started the day on top of Magazine Mountain and in a very thick cloud.  It did not take to long though for my descent to take me below the cloud and where I could see.  The rest of the ride down was a ton of fun and at the perfect time of day.  It was a pretty ride and with the cloud up high there was water dripping off a lot of the rocks and tress.  With the sun being low and in the southern sky it shown off the droplets to make for some fascinating sights on my way down.  Sorry to say though that I was a little caught up in the ride itself and did not stop to take any pictures. 

            The next couple hours were pretty uneventful other than the fact that I noticed some bugs flying around and annoying.  That was one thing I have not missed over the last couple months.  Eventually I started to climb over a pretty good-sized set of mountains.  As I climbed I could see some dark ominous clouds rolling in behind me.  About halfway up I could here the thunder start to roll around in the mountains.  With no towns and no shelter in sight I just kept riding hoping it would pass another direction or just wouldn’t be to bad.  As I got to the top of the mountain the thunder had grown both in frequency and had become much louder.  At the top there was a guy sitting in a truck who told me there was also a hail warning in effect and that they were expecting quarter sized hail to fall in the storm.  He then mentioned that at the bottom of the mountain there were some bathrooms I could probably hide in till the storm passed.  So I hightailed it down the mountain looking for these bathrooms he mentioned.  I hit an intersection and stopped to check the map on my phone to see if I could tell where the campsite and bathrooms were.  I figured out they were just around the corner as the first drops of rain hit me.  I was able to get under a picnic shelter just as the storm let loose. 

I sat there for almost 45 minutes waiting for it to pass and saw some hail but luckily nothing the size of a quarter.  Eventually I hit the road again because I still had about 30 miles to go before reaching a town.  As I road the rain would come and go.  At least it was in the 60’s so I never got cold except for during a descent every now and then.  Finally I reached the town of Hot Springs Village where I given a room by the Village Inn.  A great place to stay with an awesome staff in your ever in the area.  As I got to my room and was getting organized I received a call from the owner of the hotels brother.  He actually ran an Italian restaurant next door called Italian House and Grill. He invited me to come over for a free dinner.  The restaurant was small and cozy with a great menu for very good prices.  It was probably one of the best dinners I have eaten this entire trip.

Now as I sit here writing this blog I am waiting out the weather once again.  Nothing like the last time in Texas, but still a very miserable day to be out riding.  When I start up again tomorrow I will be headed towards Louisiana for my 15^th summit of the trip.  Until then . . .

- Michael

Everything is Bigger in Texas

           This last segment of my trip has been a lot of fun.  Most days the weather has been great and I have had an opportunity to meet some awesome people on my ride through Texas.  Lets start where we left off though.  Upon leaving El Paso I went towards Guadalupe Peak with Mark Brooks who was also the sponsor of the summit.  We arrived at the parking lot around 3pm.  This only left a couple hours before sunset and the hike was going to be 8.5 miles round trip.  The rangers mentioned that there was a little snow and ice on the trail but we figured we would just give it a go. 

            The first 2 miles or so were very straightforward and the trail was clear.  But, that’s when we started to hit the patches.  At first they started as little patches that sometimes were a little icy.  But as we continued the snow got deeper and took up longer sections of the trail.  Some of the sections had also become pretty icy.  Lucky for us though there were a couple people that had gone to the summit before us and the trail was already broken. 

            Mark and I arrived at the summit just before sunset, which proved to be a nice view although it also meant that we were going to have quite the hike down in the dark.  We got about a mile behind us before the light really died out and we had to start using our headlamps.  Upon starting up the trail we thought we were going to have a full moon to help us down but not so much.  The sky had become pretty overcast so we had no extra light other than our headlamps to see by.  Thankfully the trail was very well defined so it was not hard to follow.  The icy sections in the dark were a little tricky but otherwise the hike went well.

            I took the next day off and went to check out Carlsbad Caverns, which was fairly close to Guadalupe.  The cave was very impressive to see.  There is a self-guided tour where you can hike down through the natural entrance.  It was a little over a mile long and took you down about 800 feet below the surface.  Once down there I was free to wonder around the Giant Room.  Just to walk around this one room was another mile and a half.  After going on these self-guided tours I went on another tour that was off the trail and was guided by a local geologist.  This one lasted 3 hours and took us to a deeper part of the cave that did not have any artificial lights.  We were able to get a much closer look at a lot of different formations in the cave.  The guide also had us experience what it felt like to be in complete darkness 900 feet underground.  It felt a little oppressive being down there with no sense of sight to comfort you and knowing there was hundreds of feet just sitting above your head. 

            After leaving Carlsbad and continuing my journey east across the state of Texas I was very lucky with the weather.  Every day has been over 60 if not 70 degrees.  One or two days actually got up into the 80’s.  It also seemed like I had a tailwind almost every day, which was awesome.  While the riding was comfortable and easy do to the flat landscape I do have to say that it got a little old because there is not much going on in west Texas other than oil fields.  All this meant for me though was that there were a lot of trucks and oversized trucks going back and forth on the roads all day.  Luckily though there was a really big shoulder on most of the roads I was on.             

            While the terrain was not overly entertaining I did get a chance to meet and stay with a lot of awesome people all across the state.  Well as I am writing this in Denton, Texas, which is just north of Dallas, we are getting pounded with a lot of rain.  Texas has been in a pretty severe drought this is rain is much needed although there are a lot of flood warning for much of the area now.  Well here is to hoping that the people in Oklahoma and Arkansas are just as nice as the people in Texas. 

            In case you have not heard I am trying to get 500 people to like the Cycle for the Summit facebook page by February 15.  IF we reach this goal a 65-liter Jansport backpack will be raffled off to one lucky person who has liked the page.  We still have 75 people to go by then so tell you friends and family to check it out.  It only takes 30 seconds to do.  Here is the link for those that may not have been there yet.  http://www.facebook.com/cycleforthesummit

- Michael

On the Road Again

             It’s been quite a while since my last blog but I actually have a respectable reason for it this time instead of just being lazy.  I actually took almost 2 weeks off around Christmas and New Years to go home and see my family and some friends.  But, I’ll get to that in a little. 

            When I last left off I had just gotten to New Mexico and made the decision not to go to Wheeler Peak because of all the storms that were about to come through the area.  Turns out this was a good idea because by the time I made it to Las Vegas, NM, a huge storm came through the area.  I ended up staying in a one of the nicest Super 8’s I had ever seen.  They had a great breakfast and they also had soup and salad every night for dinner that the manager made herself each day.  But I was there for 3 nights trying to wait for the storm to pass and then the roads to clear up.  This just wasn’t going to happen though.  I only had a 2-day window of decent weather before another storm came through the area. However, the roads were in no shape for riding.  I would have had to take a highway with all the snow piled up on the shoulders. 

So I decided to just take a bus to Santa Fe where I stayed with an awesome couple who had been very involved in the cycling community there for a long time.  The next day he was actually heading down to Albuquerque anyways so I was able to get a ride with him before the other storm blew threw.  When I got to Albuquerque I still had 2 days before my flight but luckily my old NOLS instructor lived in the area.  It was cool to see him again and to have those 2 days to just hang out and relax.  While I was there he was actually getting ready to leave for a month and go to Nepal.  He is travelling there to help teach the local porters mountaineering skills at the Kumbu Ice School.

Eventually the time came for me to fly home on Christmas Eve.  It was great being home for 10 days and not having to worry about where I will be sleeping the next night.  While I was home I also went down to Columbia, SC for New Years with some friends which was a ton of fun and I actually had the chance to go sailing for the first time.  It was a pretty windy day, which made it that much more exciting to learn on the fly.  All good things must come to an end though and on January 4^th I flew back to Albuquerque to restart my trip. 

My first 2 days back on the road were awesome.  It was sunny, no wind and the perfect temperature.  Not to mention some good roads to ride on. I kept them both between 40 and 50 miles in order to help get my legs used to the process again since it had been about 2 weeks since I last rode my bike.  The 3^rd day though was just brutal.  I had to go 75 miles just to reach the next town called Truth or Consequences and I had a stiff head wind the whole way.  I ended up being on the road for over 11 hours that day which meant that I rode for 2 hours in the dark.  Luckily though it was a clear night with an almost full moon and the wind died off completely.

That night the Desert View Inn put up.  I decided to take a rest day the next day because I was hurting from the previous ride.  That night the Charles Motel and Spa put me up which was awesome.  The area is actually known for their hot springs and at the Charles Motel you get a free mineral bath if you stay there.  So of course I took advantage of this and it felt great. 

After a very relaxing rest day I took off the next morning for another 75-mile day, which I had, an awesome tail wind the entire way.  With one more 72-mile day I was able to make it to El Paso, Texas.  This is where I am going to meet a friend and sponsor of Guadalupe Peak, which is the highest point in the state of Texas.  Together we are heading out for the Summit tomorrow morning.  So next time I write to yall there will be one more state checked off the list.

- Michael Hunter