Sorry, no Sprint reception again, so no pics. I may need to have M send me my card reader so I can upload directly to the site next week!
Another week, another break from the trail. The last six days have been great... and tedious. Crabapple and I are still walking together and we've developed a bit of a rhythm in our step. I usually wake first, around 6:30 and crawl out of my hammock to the chilly morning air, birds chirping, water gurgling from a stream or spring. Walk over to take down the bear bags and give Crabapples tent a little nudge to wake her up. Then pack up my gear, eat breakfast and head out on the trail. We walk separate, only meeting up at the end of the day to make sure we're both alive. Make dinner, head to the hammock read a bit, write a bit, and fall asleep.
In between there are a few little adventures. Two days ago I was walking just below a ridgeline when I heard a little yelp 15 feet to my right. I looked over and saw a black bear cub. He stared at me for a second, and scurried up a tree. Man! Those little guys can climb. Before I knew it he was a good 30' up. I pulled out my camera and snapped a few pictures. Just then Crabapple caught up to me and two more cubs scurried up a neighboring tree. Wow! Three bears in one day! By this time I was getting a bit worried. We'd been there for a good minute and there was no sight of Momma.
Not a second after the thought crossed my mind, I heard a rustling to my right along the ridgeline and saw momma's head pop up and look down at us with this concerned look like "just what are those naked monkeys up to down there so close to my babies?!" We knew better than to provoke her and hurried on our way, bear spray in hand.
I didn't have much time to fret on bear encounters, because the next day we had two rattler sightings. One 6 footer sunbathing on the trail, and another one that someone had encountered earlier and crushed it's poor head in with a rock. Some hikers can be really cruel.
I'm going to end it here, because there's a bit of a line waiting for the computer. Tomorrow I head in to the Smoky Mountains and the highest point on the AT. It should be grueling fun! Won't be back in to civilization for a good 10 day stretch. My feet are tired. Tonight's rest will be well deserved!
Miles Trekked This Week:
6/21 - 11 miles
6/22 - 11 miles
6/23 - 5.7 miles to the NOC and whitewater rafting in the afternoon! Woo!
6/24 - 6.8 miles
6/25 - 15.2 miles
6/26 - 5.5 miles in to Fontana Dam
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Franklin, NC
Just pulled in to Franklin today after a cold and rainy 5 days out. My first solo hiking went off well and I met a buddy on the way! Sorry, no pics this week, there's no Sprint service in the area and that's the only way I can get the pics on to the site. Hopefully next week tho...
It's been quite a workout, and I am starting to really feel it. My feet are blistered and battered, but still rarin' to go! Hopefully tonight's rest will give them the break they need to continue on to the next town. My second night out I stopped by Plumorchard Gap Shelter and ran in to "Crabapple". Named after the teacher in Simpsons, DOH! She's solo hiking to Virginia as well, and so we walked the last three days together. Well, it's not really like we walk together, it's more like we know we'll be ending up at the same place every evening. It's good to feel like someone is keeping an eye out for you just in case you fall down a cliff or run in to a bear or something.
I think we'll continue on for a little while like this and then probably part ways. She's a fast hiker and I'll want to take it a little easier coming up. Yeah, I'm a whimp.
Most hikers on the AT end up with a "trail name" like Crabapple. The folks at the shelter last night were starting to plot on giving me one, but it was cold and rainy and we all crawled into our bags early. I have a feeling sooner or later it's gonna' happen, but I'm happy with my own name either way.
The weather's been nice during the days and sopping wet at night. My trusty little hammock shelter's been doing a fine job, but my back has been getting awfully cold, so I just bought a sleeping pad at the outfitters here in town and will see if I can rig it to work in the hammock. Hopefully this will solve the problem since the smokey mountains are coming up in 30 miles or so. Lots of 6000+ sites that will get awfully cold if it starts raining. Already I've passed two other hikers using the Hennesy Hammocks and they both love them, so pretty confident it'll work out fine.
Okay, next pit stop is in five or six days at Fontana Dam. With a little luck I'll be able to post some pics then!
Here's a rundown of mileage over the past 5 days
6/15 - 9 miles
6/17 - 10 miles
6/18 - 11 miles and crossed from GA to NC
6/19 - 14 miles
6/20 - 9 miles and in to Franklin
It's been quite a workout, and I am starting to really feel it. My feet are blistered and battered, but still rarin' to go! Hopefully tonight's rest will give them the break they need to continue on to the next town. My second night out I stopped by Plumorchard Gap Shelter and ran in to "Crabapple". Named after the teacher in Simpsons, DOH! She's solo hiking to Virginia as well, and so we walked the last three days together. Well, it's not really like we walk together, it's more like we know we'll be ending up at the same place every evening. It's good to feel like someone is keeping an eye out for you just in case you fall down a cliff or run in to a bear or something.
I think we'll continue on for a little while like this and then probably part ways. She's a fast hiker and I'll want to take it a little easier coming up. Yeah, I'm a whimp.
Most hikers on the AT end up with a "trail name" like Crabapple. The folks at the shelter last night were starting to plot on giving me one, but it was cold and rainy and we all crawled into our bags early. I have a feeling sooner or later it's gonna' happen, but I'm happy with my own name either way.
The weather's been nice during the days and sopping wet at night. My trusty little hammock shelter's been doing a fine job, but my back has been getting awfully cold, so I just bought a sleeping pad at the outfitters here in town and will see if I can rig it to work in the hammock. Hopefully this will solve the problem since the smokey mountains are coming up in 30 miles or so. Lots of 6000+ sites that will get awfully cold if it starts raining. Already I've passed two other hikers using the Hennesy Hammocks and they both love them, so pretty confident it'll work out fine.
Okay, next pit stop is in five or six days at Fontana Dam. With a little luck I'll be able to post some pics then!
Here's a rundown of mileage over the past 5 days
6/15 - 9 miles
6/17 - 10 miles
6/18 - 11 miles and crossed from GA to NC
6/19 - 14 miles
6/20 - 9 miles and in to Franklin
Friday, June 15, 2007
four days down, 46 to go!
Hello All you peeps out there! M and I just arrived in Hiawassee, GA. A small town just south of the Georgia-North Carolina Border. The last four days were full of backpacking fun-ness. The trees down here are mucho big. I guess that's what lack of clearcutting will do to the vegetation. It's great to be back on the trail after a two year break!
It's been a stormy three nights. The first was just a sprinkle, The second has us a little skittish with thunder roaring to the south, and the third night it hit us hard. Luckily we were camped by a shelter and made refuge there while the worst of the storm blew through. It's great that the area's getting some rain. The whole region is in a severe drought at the moment and it's desperately needed. Most of the water holes on the map are completely dry, or little more than a trickle, making planning our hikes a little more difficult. Most of the time, we end up packing a lot more water than comfortable just to be sure we'll have it when we need it.
Other than that, the trip was pretty chill. Nice little 5 mile jaunts through the forests followed by beautiful and relatively clean campsites. I'm amazed at how good the sites look especially now, right after most of the thru-hikers have just passed. They're a clean and careful bunch!
Tonight we're spending the night in the local Holiday Inn Express. Special thanks to Lindsay and Dan for shipping out the first of my food packages. The applesauce exploded in transit, but other than that, all is good! Tomorrow morning M will be heading back home to NYC and I'll continue on the trail... Hopefully ending somewhere in Virginia. That is, as long as the trail loneliness doesn't set in!
One last note: Sprint service isn't all that reliable in the forests here so I can't check e-mail very regularly. If you want to get in touch quickly, the best way is voicemail to or text message to my cell phone.
It's been a stormy three nights. The first was just a sprinkle, The second has us a little skittish with thunder roaring to the south, and the third night it hit us hard. Luckily we were camped by a shelter and made refuge there while the worst of the storm blew through. It's great that the area's getting some rain. The whole region is in a severe drought at the moment and it's desperately needed. Most of the water holes on the map are completely dry, or little more than a trickle, making planning our hikes a little more difficult. Most of the time, we end up packing a lot more water than comfortable just to be sure we'll have it when we need it.
Other than that, the trip was pretty chill. Nice little 5 mile jaunts through the forests followed by beautiful and relatively clean campsites. I'm amazed at how good the sites look especially now, right after most of the thru-hikers have just passed. They're a clean and careful bunch!
Tonight we're spending the night in the local Holiday Inn Express. Special thanks to Lindsay and Dan for shipping out the first of my food packages. The applesauce exploded in transit, but other than that, all is good! Tomorrow morning M will be heading back home to NYC and I'll continue on the trail... Hopefully ending somewhere in Virginia. That is, as long as the trail loneliness doesn't set in!
One last note: Sprint service isn't all that reliable in the forests here so I can't check e-mail very regularly. If you want to get in touch quickly, the best way is voicemail to or text message to my cell phone.
Monday, June 11, 2007
You have new Picture Mail!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
You have new Picture Mail!
Friday, June 8, 2007
You have new Picture Mail!
M and I are staying with our friends Stephen and Erin in Atlanta tonight and then heading up to a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. Well, it's more like a vacation home on a hill than a cabin. Hot tub and all! Although, with the 90 degree weather we've got here right now, I'm not sure how exciting a dip in the hot tub will be.
Tuesday will be my first step back on the trail since M, Y, and I completed the first 30-some miles a few years back. I'm getting pretty excited! A little nervous, but more just psyched to start this journey!
Leaving tomorrow... I mean today!
What time is it?I've been running around non stop for the last two days getting everything in order... and I think I'm finally ready.
50 days worth of food is no easy purchase. Especially when you're carting it all back on the subway. But it's done now. All packed away neatly in 7 little boxes ready to be shipped out to me on the trail. Filled with dehydrated and dried goodness. Mmm. I wonder if I'll ever be able to eat couscous again... I bought enough of it for something like 18 dinners. All the bills are paid, I left some blank checks with M, and all the rest of life's little randomness has been sorted out... I think.
This pic was taken after my first grocery run. It's only about 2/3 of all the food I ended up buying. Hmmm. When you look at it like this, it doesn't really look like that much. Hmm... I wonder if it really IS enough...In the past week, I had a chance to do a bit more testing on stoves and have decided that the original design is still the best. So I'm sticking with the Pepsi-G. Bought a few more loose odds and ends. A Platypus water bag here, a clip there. But with all the shaving of oz's on my pack and gear, It's still at a comfortable 20.5lbs without water, fuel or food. Not bad. I think I'll probably be weighing in at between 27-29lbs fully loaded.
It's like moving to another city... times twenty. Really, I mean, at least when you move to a new city you can buy Tylenol if you forget some. But on this trip, once I've left, that's it. There's no surviving something like "oops! I forgot to pack three meals!" or "bills? didn't I write a check for that before I left?!"
Aww, heck. I'm probably being paranoid. It's probably the drowsy lack of sleep in my brain right now. I'm not even really sure if I'm making sense. And I need to get up and catch a plane in three hours. Maybe I'll set one more alarm clock. Yeah, I can use the one here on my desk... Aaaaannd.... There! Okay. Four alarms should do the trick, right?
Well, maybe I should set my watch alarm as well. Just to be sure.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Saying goodbye to everyone I know
Chaa chaa chaa..... Well, It's not like I'm leaving forever or nothin' but there's still a lot of people to say goodbye to. After all, 50 days is a long time. Last night My buddies Kate and James had M and I over. They always do the dinner thing up right and this time was no exception. They cooked up an awesome seafood paella which M and I stuffed our faces with before stuffing our faces again with mangoes and ice cream! Mmmm... Just getting my energy up for the trail... Yeeehaaa! I also have to give them a warm Thank You for the solar panels from the previous post. It was a group gift. So, THANKS!And speaking of the solar panels, there's a little update on them. I've been testing the setup on and off this past week, and here's the scoop. It looks like charging batteries with it will work great. I've had no problems getting a full charge in to my AA and AAA NiMh batt's with half a day's worth of sunlight. I've also tried hooking my cell phone up directly to the solar panel with less success. It appears that the connectors I have don't do the trickle charge thing too well, and it actually DRAINS power if there is little or no sunlight! So, I'll probably go the AA battery route and pick up one of these things to fuel the phone. It shouldn't be a problem to work it out this way, and I'll also be able to charge my phone with disposable batteries in a pinch. Naaaaice.
Tomorrow I'll be going to Campmor or EMS to pick up some delicious dehydrated dinners. Yummm. They're pricey, I know, but they're also really easy to eat on the trail. I figured in about 20 of em' for my trip. The rest will be home made concoctions of noodles, rice, lentils, and the like.
Friday, June 1, 2007
The lightest weight tripod around
On my never ending quest for lighter and multi-multiple use gear, I came across this little gem hidden inside the pages of instructables.com. It's an ingenious technique of using a bit of string or rope as a tripod. Perfect! Now I can add one more use to the ever growing list of things to do with my bear bag rope.Just attach the string to your camera, loop it below yer' feet, back to the camera, and then tie the end off on a tree. It'd probably take a little getting used to setting it up, and it's not quite as stable as a real tripod. But it's definitely a nice little trick to keep in mind when you want to get that long exposure of your campsite after the sun's gone down beyond the ridgeline!
There are also diagrams of simple monopod and bipod string techniques too. You can find them all right here.
Oh yes, and the 9V LED light is another cool little project on the site that's perfect for the beginner-electronics chap in need of a nice build-it-yourself light.
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