Lovers Leap - Hot Springs, NC
Hot Springs, NC was a really cool place. Check out the Hot Springs Resort and Lover's Leap.
Left to do for my Private Pilot Certificate
Remaining Requirements:
- More Dual Cross Country – (Lewisburg Cross Country, Will get tower controlled TO&Ls as well as hopefully be ready for solo cross country)
- A little over an hour of instrument work
- Night dual cross country and TO&Ls (This can all be done in one night by going to Mountain Empire, Hillsville and back, 108.4nm total)
- Solo Cross Countries (5 hours minimum, at least one that is 150nm with a straight leg between airports of 50nm)
- Practical Preparation (Lots of studying, oral review and in flight review)
- Practical Exam
Tonight I am going up with my instructor for my first stab at night flying, and that will prepare us for our dual night cross country of 100nm+.
Thursday it is off to Lewisburg, WV for more dual cross country practice and 3 Take offs and Landings at a Tower controlled airport.
If I finish, I can do this…
See this…
And this…
Let me out!
Soo, I rode my bike over to the Tee Hangars today to take some more pictures. They turned out pretty well as can be seen below 
However… I think the gate is activated by weight when a car pulls up to it and I was not heavy enough. So… I broke out of the airport by scaling the fence, and then used my access card to open the gate and rescue my bike and backpack.
Cessna 150 Cockpit
Piper Cherokee HDREver Been to Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Virginia? You should go.
Heritage Park is beautiful. They just finished a new bridge there back in January and you can ride all the way to Pandapas Pond. My goal was to get back to the top of Horse Nettle Trail where I was this past Thursday. I was successful and managed to make it up and down while avoiding the rain. I found it very peaceful to be up there on the trail because when you stopped, you heard absolutely nothing. Ahhhh… So great.
I took my new wide angle lens and went at it! Here are some pictures of Heritage Park before and after I hiked up to the Horse Nettle Trail. I used Photomatrix to create these HDR shots and they turned out pretty decently.
HDR makes everything better
Trail in Heritage Park
Abandoned Building
View From the Gazebo at the Entrance to the Old Farm Trail that leads to Horse Nettle
Stream, Cows, Field, Clouds
Mountain Bikingat Pandapas Pond – Put a Leash on your Dog!
Well, it’s slightly confusing. Best bet is to use a map… and I bought one at East Coasters for $2.50, but you can get it from other places around Blacksburg that are listed on DXHiker.com.
This past Thursday I hit up Pandapas Pond with my Mountain bike to check out what there is to be seen. I did a loop of Poverty Creek -> Snake Root -> Horse Nettle -> Lakespur. It was a nice ride (walk at times).
Poverty Creek Trail
As I was coming up Snake Root, I kept looking for a good place to take a picture, but there were too many trees to ever get a clear shot.
Snake Root Trail
This is the best shot I got, and I treked around a while before deciding to “settle” for it. Today definitely gave the argument for getting a telephoto lens 10 points.
Best Photo I Could Get From Snake Root Trail
Once I got up to Horse Nettle, I found a huge tower that was installed for Cell Phone Service. The last time I was up here (within the last 2 years), it was not there, and it was actually an abandoned house or something. Odd..
The Big Cell Phone Tower
View From the Tower (Standing on top of the gate)
It was getting closer to sunset and was time to get back down to the car. I took one of my favorite roots onto Lakespur so that I’d come out at Pandapas Pond. About 1/2 way down the trail I hear growling and barking coming from behind me, and it freaked me out. I was shaken up at first, then got to a more calm “NO!”, “Go.” This dog had a collar, but it didn’t seem very friendly. I got it to go away, and went down to the pond to get some pictures. However, once down at the pond the dog came out again, but this time with another dog! They both were barking and growling loudly at me as I stood by the water’s edge. I consistently said “NO! Go! (And Waved)” This time he was less reluctant to leave but finally did. I didn’t have my bike with me at this point so I felt a little more vulnerable.
I saw two ladies walk by and asked if they were their dogs. Of course not. A few minutes later a lady emerged from the trail and collected her dogs. What a crappy pet owner. She never appologized, and said the dog was young. I said “did you hear someone in the woods yelling ‘No!’?” and of course she had, but she didn’t really get it. If you have dogs, make sure you have them in sight if they are not on a leash, please.
A Washed out shot of Pandapas Pond
Sunset From the Parking Lot