Why Walk

Why would anyone go out in the woods and walk 2,185 miles in the cold wind, freezing rain, blowing snow, and the heat and thirst of the summer when you are about to turn sixty six years old?  And don't forget sleeping on the hard floors of open shelters, or on the ground of a tent so small you have to decide which side you will sleep  on (I'm a side sleeper) before you crawl in!   Well, as they say, "You don't have to be crazy, but it helps!"

As mentioned earlier, I first saw the Appalachian Trail in the summer of 1970 on the way to climb  Clingmens  Dome  in  Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I knew nothing about it except what I read on the interp board.  A 2,000+ mile trail starting in Northern Georgia and following the the backbone of the Appalachian Mountains all the way to Maine.  I remember saying to myself, and anyone standing nearby, "I going to hike this trail some day!"

So, why wait forty three years to do this?  I guess I could give a lot of excuses, but I don't really  have any.  Sure, things go on in life that dictate what you may or may not be able to do at different times in you life, but there were many times in the last seventeen years since my retirement that would have been a great time to do this.

I retired at the age of forty seven.  IBM made me an offer I just couldn't refuse!  They moved me from South Florida to North Carolina on June 01,1995 because they needed me so much.  By October of the same year...  not so much!  I spent three days in despair.  How could they do this to me after nearly thirty years?  Then I got over it and looked at the great opportunity it afforded me.  I told them if they let me stay on for three more months so I would have my full thirty years in and leave the building fully retired and not have to come back to do all the retirement stuff, and move me back to FL, that I would go quietly!  They offered me a 'lifetime achievement award'  of fifteen thousand dollars to cover my return to Florida and six months severance pay.  So, on January 31, 1996 I left the building with full benefits and my first pension check in the bank!  And I can honestly say, "I never looked back!"

I started seriously thinking about AT at this time.   In 1998 I started planning for a '99 Thru Hike.  I started packing food for mail drops and ordered a pair of hiking boots that must have weighted in near five pounds each.  I never would have made it with those heavy boots even though walking through the rain while breaking them in during my training walks made them fit like gloves and were comfortable on my feet,. They were just too heavy.  Those boots were $200, and was the only real money I had spent in prep for the hike, but I was walking seven miles every two or three days with a day pack filled with water bottles for weight.  I carried water for weight just in case I got too tired I could just pour the water out and lighten the load!  I used this same strategy last year for my initial training.

Early in 1999, my brother, J.T., said he was planning a trip to Alaska and offered my other brother, Jim, and I the used of his truck and fifth wheel trailer if we would like to join him.  He had just bought a forty foot motor home!  So much for walking 2,000 miles!  This was a no brainer! The AT was relegated to the back of my mine once more!

The '99 AK trip settled down the wanderlust in me for a while and I settled down to sedentary life style until late 2000, while surfing the net and looking at the National Parks web site, I discovered the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the possibility of a seasonal job there as a fee collection ranger!  I applied for one of the positions, sent in my resume,  and waited for the word.  All applicants that were hired for the positions scored 100 points for eligibility!  Turns out that because of my military veteran status, I was credited with five extra points, for a total of 105 and I was the first one hired.  I  was to be there  on April 22, 2001 for training.

I went to The Home Depot for a 'For Sale' sign and placed it in the front yard of my town house and had a contract on it in less than three weeks.  I had bought a small travel trailer the year before and would live in it while working at the park.  The next few weeks was spent moving every thing I owned into a storage unit.  

That summer was one of the greatest summers of my life!  I was out in the woods, being paid to walk the trails in the high mountains of AZ.  I loved it, and I lost fifty  pound doing so!  The day after I arrived at "The Rim" Margaret moved into the site next to me in the employee camp ground.  Over the summer we grew to be good friends.  She left the park a few days ahead of me headed east and I left with the intent of "catching" her.  She cheated!  She called and told me where she was each night!  We got together after a few days, and as they say,  the rest is history! 

We traded in my small trailer and her Class C motor home for a thirty three foot Class A and we lived on the road, traveling north to Alaska, and south for the full length of Baja!  What a life! 

We were constantly being drawn back to Arizona and in 2005 Margaret rented a small home in Clarkdale, AZ while I returned to the North Rim for another season.  In early 2006 we moved into current home, a double wide on four acres in Paulden, a small rural community located in north central Arizona.

Last year I was talking about the trail and Margaret gave me the encouragement I needed to start planning my adventure,  and so, the journey soon begins!

My first night on the trail should give a good view of Comet Pan-STARRS
The weather looks to be clear with a near new moon!

http://news.yahoo.com/comet-pan-starrs-dresses-night-skies-visible-naked-193717048.html
------
..."Northern Hemisphere sky-watchers will get their chance to see the comet beginning on Thursday, though the best views may come later in the month...

...The comet should be visible in the direction of the setting sun just after the sun slips below the horizon. Twilight and moonlight may make viewing the comet difficult. The best opportunity to see it may be on March 13 when the comet appears just beneath a thin crescent moon, astronomers said...."
-------
What a send off!

 For those who would like to keep up with me on a map, go here -

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/find-a-hike/interactive-map

Click on Shelters just below the map and all of the shelters will appear.  zoom in for details!

H

Ready to hike already!

Still in training. Pack weight just under 30# with no water and a few little things to add to it.
Wheels up one week from today. Looking at the weather for Northern GA and it looks like perfect hiking weather for a start of 13MAR13. High of 60 and low of 38-39 for the first three days. Couldn't get much better than that for a start! Looks like the last few day have been kinda rough for the now on the trail!

Looking at start dates of the journal keepers and I guess I won't be alone... for the first day any way. May lag behind after that. Maybe the ones that start after me wont pass me by too quickly!

Funny thing, last week I had my anxious moments dreams two night in a row. First one I was within 20 miles of the trail head and all the other hikers left without me, and for some reason I couldn't start! Figure that one out! The second one was airline related, missing flights and losing luggage and that kind of thing. Looks like at my age I would know better!!

H

Carrying the load!

02MAR13

I have been walking four miles each day with my pack.  I did two days with 18+ pounds, and two days with 23+ pounds.  Amazing the difference five pounds make!  Will add another five pounds in the next few days.  My aim it just to get my muscles used to the load and elevation gain so they will not get so sore when I start the trail.  I'm counting on getting my trail legs and building up my stamina in the first two to three weeks on the trail itself. 

  Not many days left until I head to PHX on the 11th then fly to ATL on the 12th, and start my hike on  the 13th.  I have twelve boxes of food that weight in at around ten pounds each ready for drop shipping and one box full in my pack.  Just have to get the kitchen and clothing in the pack and it's ready to go.

Been working getting things at home ready for my departure.  I sprayed Weed Impede today.  We get very little rain here and the only things that grow are the weeds.  We have gravel around the house, or what I like to call Arizona Sod.  Helps keep the dust under control, but the weeds come up very quickly because of the mulching effect and retaining what little moisture there is. 

Our domestic water tank is topped of and I will do that again just before leaving and leave a load on the trailer that M can transfer after two or three weeks.  If she need more water she can have a tank full hauled in and that should last until I get home.

Everything seems to be coming together for an on time departure.  Now if the government can just keep the shy from falling until after my flight to ATL everything should go as scheduled!

H

The Freezer Saga continues

The Freezer Saga continues:

A year or two ago the Freezer Door Ice Dispenser was having problems which finally lead to the auger breaking.  I decided since we were putting water bottles in the top of the freezer they were causing the melting so we started putting them lower in the freezer.  This helped for a while, but not for long. The ice was melting and refreezing in big chunks that the auger just couldn’t handle.  I replaced the auger and was now making ice!  Lower in the compartment it is 18* F.  Frozen, but it is not as cold as it should be.

  Also, the dispenser door started clogging up with the cubes not falling free which caused more problems and ever few weeks we had to dump the ice bin, and free it of globs of cubes.  Finally discovered that I had missed something when replacing the auger and so I took it apart and   reassembled it properly this time.  This helped a lot, but it was still having problems. 

After more trouble, we decided that we should lower the freezer compartment temperature and that this would help keep things colder and prevent the thawing and refreezing.   And that worked for about two weeks!  

Then the door water dispenser stopped working!  Read up on it, isn’t the internet wonderful, and decided that the lower temperature setting had allowed the coiled water tube in the refrigerator to freeze up.  Hair drier and a few minutes later water is running!  

Two days later we noticed a major temperature difference between the top and bottom of the freezer.  Freezer Gel Packs in the top were still just gel, not frozen, and a water bottle in the top of the door was almost warm, and the ice maker was not freezing.

Back to the net.  Hints were to look for frosted evaporator coils.  This morning I noticed a major frost buildup on the inside back panel of the freezer.  Everything I read indicates an intermittent Defrost Limiting Thermostat and I have located one locally and will install it this afternoon.   Here’s hoping!

Went to the local repair shop, located in the home of the owners, and got the thermostat.  While describing the symptoms  to the very knowledgeable  lady of the house who has been in the business for many years, she suggested that the problem was most likely the  defrost heater as there was a known problem for my model  and a new two element heater had replaced the single element in mine.  The thermostat was under $10, the heater was $40 something.  She said if the thermostat fixed the problem to just bring the heater back for a refund.  
 

After emptying the  freezer and removing the back panel I found the coils completely covered with ice.  Out comes the hair dryer again and some time later all the ice was gone.  With all the time and effort to get this far, I decided to just replace both parts so I would not have to redo the job.  It would take weeks to determine if in fact the thermostat solved the problem and in less than a month I was heading out on a six month hike of the Appalachian Trail.

*** Note  May 09, 2013: Ended my hike early and am home.  The freezer and ice maker are still working fine with no problems.  Glad I replaced the heater unit as I believe that was in fact the problem.

 

MRMs (Meals Ready to Mail)

16FEB13

Working this week on MRMs (Meals Ready to Mail).  Looks like I have about eight drops of six meals each, with around 3,000 calories per.  Lots of repacking and sealing.  Each drop weighs it at about 9.3 pounds.  I added one of those to my pack today for my first training hike with a backpack.  The backpack also had my sleeping bag, pad and tent and came in at 9.3 pounds also.  It was the first time I had actually weight my base gear together.  Was very pleased with it as my goal was to be under ten pounds. 

So, with 18.6 pounds, I did my four mile training hike which is just 1.5 miles and back, but I looped on the one short hill section and extra four times to make it four miles total.  I was surprised that I did it in the same time as without the pack, one hour and ten minutes, but I am lots more tired.  I have been doing four mile every other day for a couple of weeks now.

My old dumb phone died last week, or maybe I killed it, anyway we each ordered new touch screen phone, not real smart phone, but, not really dumb either, and are going to give Tracfone a try.  If it works out it will be lots cheaper.  Will activate them on Monday, or maybe Tuesday due to Presidents Day.  Mine has Wi-Fi and will not be so bad on batteries as my Nexus 7 for checking e-mail and such.  It also has camera so I can take grainy low light photos and post them on FaceBook. I think there must be a rule of some kind on FB that requires that!  (It’s a joke, people, don’t get upset,)

All for now, I’m tired!

H.

Short timer

Looks like it is down to one month, and a short one at that. Twenty eight days. I am walking about four miles every other day now and will add a pack in the next few day. I have been making up MRE day packages in freezer bags consisting of listed items for mail drops.   Looks like they weight in 17 ozs and 1600 calories. I know I will need about twice that amount per day. Still looking for ideas. I will take five or six to start and have the first Mail drop sent to Fontana Dam and by the time I get through the Smokies, I should have an idea of I need to change or keep the same. (Did I mention how much I hate planning?) I plan to buy most of supplies on the trail but as of now have no idea of what all that will consist of. Guess that is what on the job.
        MREs     (Mail Drops)                  
        
Item            Calories    Carbs        Fat gs        Protein gs
                               
Nuts               300          138                27             6
Gatorade        125          125                 0              0
Gatorade        125          125                0               0
Noodles        380           234               14            10
Fig Bars        220           164                 5              4
Potatoes        180           153                0               3
Tuna               70               0                 1             16
Oats               100            56                 2               4
Oats               100            56                 2               4
                                
Totals           1600         1051              51              47


H.

Another Government Fee!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will implement changes to its current backcountry reservation and permitting process early next (this) year.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/parkmgmt/index.htm

Short version:  $4/night/person...but, Thru hiker's permit will be $20 good for 38 days (most do it in 5 days).  Sure hope I can make the 72 miles in the 38 days.  If not, I may have to change my plans for the summer!


Personally, I have no problem with the fee itself, but think that it may cost more to administer than it collects! If 2,000 thru-hikers enter the park, that's $40,000. You can't do much for that! And, two less permits per shelter cuts into the weekender fees collected! But I guess this is done all in the name of fairness!

H

Inked In

Calendar is inked in!  Flight to ATL on 12MAR13 and reservations at the Hiker Hostel to begin my hike on the 13th.

I had planned to go to KY first, to visit family,  but decided to do that after a couple of months on the trail for a little rest and let everyone tell me how much I stink!

Backpack is getting organized and preloaded and weighed (shooting for sub 30, 35 will be the upper limit) to make sure everything fits and I can still lift  and carry it for 2200 miles.  I am hiking four miles every other day now for training and will step it up to every day with pack a week or so before heading out.

I now have March 20, 2013 penciled in for my hike to begin. 

Tentative itinerary  

March 11(?)  Fly to KY and visit for a few days. 

March 19  Fly to ATL,

March 20  Begin

Walk 2200 miles to Maine (5 to 6 months).

Fly to AZ.