Go State!

While visiting the skating rink the other night, I spotted a guy standing along wall on the ice a couple of yards from me wearing an NC State sweatshirt. Unlike the other universities in the Triangle, people usually don't wear NC State gear unless they actually went there. So I flashed the Wolfpack sign and shouted "Go State!"

He turned my way and gave me a rude look. His expression changed though when he saw my Wolfpack sign. He laughed, and said to me, "Sorry, I thought you yelled at me to 'Go Skate!'".

Go State, Go Skate!

Art Loeb Trail up Black Balsam Knob

In December, I took a short hike up Black Balsam Knob along the Art Loeb Trail. Black Balsam Knob is accessible off the Blue Ridge Parkway, 37 miles southwest of Asheville. Coming from Asheville along the Parkway, you turn right onto Black Balsam Knob Road. Drive 3/4 mile up the road. Trail heads off on the right. The map (from this site on the entire Art Loeb hike), shown below has the Black Balsam portion shown at the bottom. It's a quick hike, but you break the tree line halfway up, and can see for miles around at the top. Without trees at the peak, it can get very windy.

In the pictures below, shows the terrain at the base of the trail when it's still in the forest and the black balsam trees as you start your climb. Further down is the rocky trail as you start reaching the tree-less portion of the bald, and the view around.

Jughandles in Asheville

Visited Asheville a couple of weeks ago, and came across a couple of jughandles of interest. First, at the base of Black Balsam Knob on the Art Loeb Trail, I came across a jug of water with my name on it. A bit creepy actually.

Asheville also has a Jersey jughandle in the westbound direction on Patton Avenue at the intersection with southbound Clingman Avenue. Excited to see this intersection type outside of the Garden State.

One does not simply...

One does not simply walk into Mordor either.

Hiking on Ramanessin Brook Greenway

My friend from nursery school told me about this hike he really likes to take in Holmdel, NJ. It's mostly on the Ramanessin Brook Greenway Nature Trail, which on the maps appears to be part of Holmdel Park (but far from the spot where the State Cross Country course is). It was a 4 mile hike that went from the trailhead on Holmdel-Middletown Road across from the elementary school. You can park along the west side of the road. The trailhead is marked with a giant sign with the greenway's name.

The greenway along the river for the first 3/4 mile is inside the forest. It follows the river over a few footbridges, before breaking out into the open on a farm road. Follow the farm road around the field. There are some side hikes down to the river along the way, as well as an old red farmhouse. The road will turn north, cross the river, and head around a farm growing shrubbery.

After rounding the shurbbery farm, head north on the farm road for another 1/2 mile until you reach the turnaround spot, an old fallen down farmhouse. You can walk around it and check out where its kitchen, stables, and bedrooms were. There's an old chicken coop about 30 yards to the south. Walking back along the same route to the trailhead gave the total of 4 miles for the hike.

Light and Eye Experiment

My junior year of college, I took a class called Color and Light. This class was talked up to me by friends of mine on the rowing team, and I took it mostly because I heard about this experiment the teacher runs with the class. Although I could've done the experiment on my own (and I suggest you should try it), I took the class anyway.

THE EXPERIMENT

We walked into class one day and the teacher handed us each a bunch of cotton balls and bandanas. The windows were covered with blankets. He tells us to hold the cotton balls over one eye, and strap them to your head with the bandana. The other eye is left open and able to see. He then lectured as normal for 30 minutes. With about 10 minutes left in class, he turned off the lights in the room and had us remove the blindfolds. The eye that had been left open was struggling to see, while the other eye, now dark-adjusted, saw everything. It was a crazy feeling.

Try it yourself!