This video shows how to change the tail lamp in a 2011 Ford Taurus SEL. The car provides no alert if the brake lights are not working, so check them periodically.
To get to the lamp requires removal of the tail light module / enclosure. This is done by removing the trunk liner behind the tail lamp and removing four (4) 11mm nuts.
An 11mm deep socket, ¼ ratchet, and a #3057 tail light for each side is all that is needed to do this job.
The lamp holder twists out of the enclosure and is a little tricky to get it to let free. It rotates counter clockwise for removal. Nothing needs to be forced.
This was a great hike ~20 miles one way from Pine Grove Furnace State Park to Caledonia State Park. We stopped half way at Birch Run Shelter. This is the second half of the hike from Birch Run to Caledonia. We rested at Quarry Gap Shelter – the most beautiful shelter in the universe! Parking is plentiful at Pine Grove Furnace. To park overnight, you need to fill out a pass which is available in the plastic box next to the front door of the office. The pass goes in the mail slot after you fill it out. Parking is just down the hill and there is a restroom right there where the Appalachian Trail crosses the parking lot. Very nice! For this hike, I teamed up with Backwardshatforwardthinking who is doing a through hike this year. He is in the process of tweaking his gear and wanted to get out a few more times prior to departure. He is also blogging for The Trek. His blog can be found here: https://thetrek.co/author/lance-ness/ https://www.facebook.com/backwardshatforwardthinking/ https://www.instagonline.com/@backwardshatforwardthinking
This was supposed to be an easy hike – split the cars, hike one way, and drive back. What neither of us realized was that were was recent snowfall in the area that has partially melted and then refroze with freezing rain on top. The icy, slippery, crusty mess was very difficult to hike on. Fortunately, I had left my pair of Hillsound Crampons in the back of the car from another trip. They were a lifesaver. The hike would have been near impossible for me without them. I also learned that hiking through snow is much slower and wears out a different set of muscles than what I was used to using! I also learned that when you have two pairs of socks, keep one set dry at all costs – hike in the wet ones the next day. After day 2, all my socks were wet. If this were a longer hike I would have been sad the next night with no dry socks.
From a hike perspective, there were no good views along this section of trail. There was ample water, and the shelters were extra nice! The trail also passes by the Pine Grove Furnace Store, famous for the half gallon ice cream challenge and the cool Appalachian Trail Half Way sign. This is the 2nd part of the hike and shows Birch Run Shelter to Quarry Gap Shelter.
This was a great hike ~20 miles one way from Pine Grove Furnace State Park to Caledonia State Park. We stopped half way at Birch Run Shelter. Parking is plentiful at Pine Grove Furnace. To park overnight, you need to fill out a pass which is available in the plastic box next to the front door of the office. The pass goes in the mail slot after you fill it out. Parking is just down the hill and there is a restroom right there where the Appalachian Trail crosses the parking lot. Very nice! For this hike, I teamed up with Backwardshatforwardthinking who is doing a through hike this year. He is in the process of tweaking his gear and wanted to get out a few more times prior to departure. He is also blogging for The Trek. His blog can be found here: https://thetrek.co/author/lance-ness/ https://www.facebook.com/backwardshatforwardthinking/ https://www.instagonline.com/@backwardshatforwardthinking
This was supposed to be an easy hike – split the cars, hike one way, and drive back. What neither of us realized was that were was recent snowfall in the area that has partially melted and then refroze with freezing rain on top. The icy, slippery, crusty mess was very difficult to hike on. Fortunately, I had left my pair of Hillsound Crampons in the back of the car from another trip. They were a lifesaver. The hike would have been near impossible for me without them. I also learned that hiking through snow is much slower and wears out a different set of muscles than what I was used to using! I also learned that when you have two pairs of socks, keep one set dry at all costs – hike in the wet ones the next day. After day 2, all my socks were wet. If this were a longer hike I would have been sad the next night with no dry socks.
From a hike perspective, there were no good views along this section of trail. There was ample water, and the shelters were extra nice! The trail also passes by the Pine Grove Furnace Store, famous for the half gallon ice cream challenge and the cool Appalachian Trail Half Way sign. This video shows both Toms Run Shelter and Birch Run Shelter. I’ve split the trip into two videos. The second half of the journey will be posted soon and includes the Quarry Gap Shelters.
I want to thank Flying Squirrel Outdoors for tagging me to show my 5 favorite pieces of gear. A number of them are ‘old school’ and considered ‘Vintage’ when listed on eBay. It makes me feel old to see my favorite gear listed as vintage.
Favorite 5 Pieces of Gear:
Kelty White Cloud 3400
Garmin eTrex 20
Copper “Moulder” Strip Canister Stove Hack
Coleman Peak 1 Model 400 Stove
Coleman Peak 1 Model 222 Lantern
BONUS GEAR – Black Rock Gear Down Beanie
This was a great hike ~22 miles in and out from Caledonia State Park to Tumbling Run Shelters. There is not really any good water source between these two points on the AT. The guide says there is water 0.5 miles downhill at Rocky Mountain shelters but it was too far for me to investigate. The tent sites are a hundred yards or so downhill from the Rocky Mountain shelters. About a mile north of Tumbling Run Shelters is Chimney Rock. This formation has the only great view on this section of trail and well worth exploring. There also appears to be a lot of tenting in the Chimney Rock area. Tumbling Run Shelters are the most beautiful shelters I’ve seen between Shenandoah at I64 and here. The spring, located on the other side of the river, is awesome at Tumbling Run Shelters. Rocky Mountain Shelters - 7:07 Chimney Rock - 11:48 Tumbling Run Shelters - 15:50
This is my Kelly Kettle chimney type water boiler. It's a
little heavy to take on the trail for any distance but is fun on quick
overnights or messing around in the back yard. It boils water very very quickly
and burns pretty much anything that is lying around. I wanted one really bad so
my wife got me one for Christmas a couple years ago. It's one of those things
you absolutely must have until you have one. In this video I'm burning pine
cones as fuel - and almost part of my back yard by accident. This is the small
aluminum version and it holds about 20oz of water.
The view at Little Calf Mountain is outstanding, as is the easy 1 mile
hike to it. There is ample parking at the Beagle Gap parking area in-between
mile posts 99 and 100. There is no view at the Calf Mountain Summit but there
is a disc inset marker just south of a large rock pile marking the summit. The
distance from the parking to the rock pile is 1.8 miles. I thought the shelter
was a lot closer (it is as the crow flies and how my GPS indicated) but the
trail circles far North before the side trail cuts back to the shelter. It is a
full 2.7 miles to the shelter from Beagle Gap. The spring appeared to be
working well. The approach to the shelter and the trail North of the Calf
Mountain Summit skirts private property and some interesting hunting dwellings
/ structures. There were cars present at some of them. At one point on the
trail there was a large sign indicating the property was up for sale. The
shelter was only a couple tenths of a mile from the park boundary and the
shelter showed signs of poor maintenance and maybe homeless activity. Given it
was the cold of winter and I was hiking alone, I chose to hike back to the
parking and end my journey for the day.
