Adventures with BeeGee

Backpacking Goodwater Loop Today’s trip report will cover Team Adventures With BeeGee’s second time at Good Water Loop in Georgetown, TX.  On our first trip, Jack and I tried to mountain bike the trail and failed and you can read about it here .  This week’s team consisted of BeeGee (her first big trip of the season), Jack (my brother), and Dustin (my cousin).    Goodwater Loop Trailhead at Cedar Breaks Park Originally, our group planned a biking/hiking trip to Matagorda Island, but bad weather forced us to switch up plans at the last second.  The trip started onthe evening of Friday the 19 th of September and ended at noon on the 21 st .   For being a weekend trip, this turned out to be one of the harder hikes I’ve ever done. The Background Location: 2100 Cedar Breaks Rd, Georgetown, TX 78633 Admission: $5 admission and $20 campsites Elevation: 790 to 950ft Weather:  Sunny and hot, 84 to 96F Difficulty: Difficult Website:  http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.

Flipped Stomachs in Dogs On our most recent trip at Goodwater Loop , be ready for the upcoming trip report on Monday, BeeGee had a little bit of a scare.  For a few minutes, I thought her stomach had flipped.  A flipped stomach is also known as bloat or Gastric Dilatation Volvus (GDV).  Thankfully, this wasn’t the case, but I thought I would post about it to raise awareness for dog owners.  What is GDV GDV is two conditions happening at the same time.  The first being that the stomach distends or fills up with gas and fluids.  The second is that the stomach rotates and pinches off the passage to the esophagus and the intestines.  This prevents the dog from moving gas and fluid from its stomach to its intestines.  Also, the dog can no longer burp or vomit.  The enlarged stomach can result in multiple problems, but one of the biggest is the reduced circulation of blood.  A bloated dog: look at the increased size of the abdomen. Courtesy of GSRNE.org Possible Causes

A Gear Review on the Crank Brothers Multi 19 tool (M 19) After travel days, a long weekend trip, and a little recovery, we finally have a new post.  Today I will be reviewing the Crank Brothers Multi 19 tool (M 19).  I bought this tool shortly after buying my mountain bike and have been using it on rides ever since.  I have used smaller multi tools as well, but decided the M 19 had all the tools I needed and more.  You can find the M 19 at   REI.com .     The M 19 Multi tool and the carrying flask The Background and Design It seems like every outdoor activity has a unique multi tool, just think of the iconic Leatherman or Gerber, and mountain biking is no different.  The M 19 weighs just under 8 ounces and is 3.5 inches in length.  The M 19 is made from stainless steel, so it won’t rust or corrode.  Furthermore, it is a flip design that has all the hex wrenches on one side and all the other tools on the other side.  The M 19 includes the following tools: chain too

Mountain Biking Texas (State Mountain Biking Series)  1st edition The Background Mountain Biking Texas (State Mountain Biking Series) 1st edition is a FalconGuide book by Christopher Hess.  As I’ve stated before, FalconGuide is a reputable outdoor publishing company which usually produces helpful, high quality books.  For this book, FalconGuide took a chance on Hess, as this is his first and only book.  Hess is nowhere to be found on the internet and the only information I could find was in the “about the author” section.  According to this section, “Christopher Hess is a copyeditor of educational materials, music writer for the Austin Chronicle and a wildly enthusiastic mountain biker.” There are very few mountain biking books about Texas, so I picked one at random and hoped for the best.  This book is only average in my opinion.  My intentions for this book were to help me discover new trails in my area and across Texas.  Unfortunately, this book should only be us

Keeping Your Dog Hydrated Just like people, our dogs need to stay cool and stay hydrated.  In BeeGee’s case, this is extremely true because of her thick coat and dark color.  She just absorbs all that Texas heat.  One of the best ways to ensure your hiking partner is getting enough water is to set up hourly water breaks or to provide water every time you drink water.  This includes providing plenty of water before the hike, after the hike, and in camp.  To keep your dog healthy and hydrated it is essential to carry along a water system for them as well.   BeeGee panting to keep cool on a hot day Dehydration Dehydration is a negative fluid balance, which is caused by water loss or decreased water intake.  Water can be lost in multiple ways such as panting, vomiting, diarrhea, salivation, and infection.  Whatever the cause, dehydration leads to less blood to circulate and fewer intercellular fluids.  The big issue is that cells will not receive adequate oxygen and

Outdoor Research Sparkplug gaiter:  A gear review on minimalist trail gaiters Today’s post will be the blog’s second gear review.  The piece of gear under review is the Outdoor Research Sparkplug gaiter.  Gaiters have become an important part of the clothing system I wear.  While I don’t wear gaiters on every trip, I wear them when there is a high risk of getting ticks on me or uncomfortable objects in my shoes.  You can find the Sparkplug gaiters at  REI.com . Wearing the Sparkplug Gaiters The Background If you were like me, you have no idea what gaiters are.  I didn’t learn until recently after doing research into what Soldiers were wearing on their legs in movies like Band of Brothers.  It’s that khaki colored that covers the shin and some of the boot.  Leg gaiters are used to keep, snow, water, and debris out of your shoes or boots.  They also keep your body’s heat trapped, keeping you warmer.  The gaiters I wear are made by Outdoor Research , a Seattle based gear

Basic Bike Maintenance 101 Today our post will be a continuation in our mountain biking series .  This post was inspired by a reader question, “how do I get my mountain bike ready to ride after not using it in a while?” However, this quick guide will be beneficial to both road and mountain bikes.  In addition, the trail I ride is extremely dusty so a good cleaning is in order. Getting your bike ready All the steps covered here will be easy enough to perform yourself.  However, if you find any issues out of your ability range or don’t have the time, there is always the option of taking it to your local bike shop.  Your local bike shop will charge you around $60 for a basic cleaning/tuning job.  If there is a repair issue, it could get more expensive. Our required tools for the job: towels, mild detergent, and a toothbrush (if you have fancy bike cleaning brushes, use those too).  If you have one, using a bike stand will make all the task easier.  If you don't have a

(Video) Firearm Cleaning 101 With Jack Today Jack  is back with another post.  He has created a video detailing how to clean a bolt-action rifle and a pump shotgun.  I hope the video shows you a few tricks and you enjoy the presentation. A Picture of Jack and BeeGee at Palmetto State Park Firearm Cleaning Video Or you can check out the video on The Adventures With BeeGee YouTube channel .  We also have a pistol video if you are more interested in pistol cleaning . Transcription Jack : Hey guys this is Jack with Adventures With BeeGee. We're gonna do a shotgun and bolt action rifle 101 cleaning real quick. Jack : So first thing you guys are gonna need is some eye protection number one, always. And then you are gonna need some sort of firearm cleaning lube.  I've got some Hoppes here, but my favorite happens to be some CLP. It’s made by Break-Free. Another good one out there is Frog Lube.  A little expensive for my taste but great stuff. Pretty m

Trip Report: Mountain biking; Goodwater Loop, Georgetown, Texas Today is the second mountain bike trip report for Adventures With BeeGee.  Unfortunately, it is still too hot out for BeeGee to be out on adventures, but I did grab Jack  for the trip.  This trip had problems from the beginning and I made a few mistakes. The first issue being I didn’t prepare fully for the horrible traffic while driving across Austin.  We left from Lockhart around 6:30 AM and the heavy traffic resulted in a 2-hour drive instead of the normal 1 hour.  The second mistake was not researching the trail fully.  I read that the trail had some rocks, but I completely underestimated how rocky the trail would be.  This made the trail extremely technical and required a lot of leg strength to ride up and down all the rocks.  The final and biggest mistake was that I took Jack to ride a difficult trail for his first real mountain bike ride.  It is essential to ease riders into the activity and ride at a level y