Loser and Cluck Journals, Volume III

“Loser (Geobeet) and Cluck (Creek Dancer) held a rendezvous (in the Mountain Man sense of the term) at Stuart Campground in the Monongahela National Forest from July 17-20. Loser had to attend a West Virginia Highlands Conservancy board meeting in Elkins on July 19 and did a survey of the Backbone Mountain windmill installation on July 17 on the way in.

On Friday, we hiked a short distance of the Otter Creek trail. In spots, the trail goes through primeval forest. We found a stream crossing for an old railroad grade in a meadow where we stopped for munchies.

Rhododendron was in full bloom here, brilliant white and pink blossoms all along the trail.

We had an encounter with a not-shy deer yearling. I approached to within six feer of her. We were worried that she might have become acclimated to people, a dangerous thing for a deer in an area where hunting takes place. So I scared her off after taking photos.

On Friday night, Cluck began to get her "strange hankerins." We had gone down to a picnic area along Shavers Fork, and there was a "beach" area where swimming is allowed. It was nearly dusk, and Cluck took off shoes and socks and waded into the cold stream.

She pondered it for about 10 minutes. I expected clothing to come off at any minute, but she ultimately decided that the water was too cold and the venue too public.

True to her Creek Dancer moniker, Cluck eschewed taking a bridge over Otter Creek. She got a wet foot for her troubles.

We also climbed the rickety observation tower on Bickle Knob, which offers sweeping views of the mountains all around.

On Saturday, while Loser attended the board meeting, Cluck drove off to Parsons and Thomas for some adventures of her own.

Friday night, by the way, we got a thunderstorm with heavy rains. The Tarp Mahal Lodge and Conference Center kept us and all our gear dry.

Sunday we parted and drove home. I had a large lump in my throat. It kept growing larger the farther north and east I drove.

One note: There are large tenting areas in this wilderness area where people have cleared the bottomlands for up to 100-yard stretches. These tentsites are well within the 200-foot range of both the stream and trail.

Photos will be posted to Websites later, perhaps as late as tomorrow afternoon.”

“Here is a site Creek Dancer might be interested in:

Swimming Holes East”

“Link doesn't work!”

“Works for me, what message do you get?”

“Here's the address in plain text:

http://www.swimmingholes.org/”

“The page cannot be displayed
The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please try the following:

Click the Refresh button, or try again later.

If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.

To check your connection settings, click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Connections tab, click Settings. The settings should match those provided by your local area network (LAN) administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).
If your Network Administrator has enabled it, Microsoft Windows can examine your network and automatically discover network connection settings.
If you would like Windows to try and discover them,
click Detect Network Settings
Some sites require 128-bit connection security. Click the Help menu and then click About Internet Explorer to determine what strength security you have installed.
If you are trying to reach a secure site, make sure your Security settings can support it. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section and check settings for SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, PCT 1.0.
Click the Back button to try another link.”

“The link works for me.”

“'Rendezvous'? Tha's Frainch, ain't it? (in the Mountain Man sense of the term)


Roll on, roll on Monongahela....”

“Geo, it may have simply timed out. This can happen for a multitude of reasons. The site exists, the link is good, try again.”

“I still haven't gotten through after several more tries. I don't know what the problem is. The computer could just be goofy today!”

“Are you at work or at home? If you're at work, your employer may be using a filter that will disallow this site, since the site does have the term "skinny dipping" on its main page. Most filter of that type will display a message saying the content has been blocked, but others may simply display the message you saw, which basically says the site isn't responding, or doesn't exist.”

“Nope, no filter. I get worse than that in emails all the time.”

“OK, well there's no other explanation than "The Internet doesn't like you, Geobeet."

Sorry.

lol.....”

“I got the link, but of course I probably paid someone to let it come up on my computer, right Geo? Nice report, man. You made it sound like CD was going to get nekkid there for a minute. hehe...

sounded like you folks had a good time. good report...”

“That must be it. I didn't pay off a judge!”

“From my el cheapo digital camera:

Link to Photos”