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.

 

A little more trail prep.

  Yesterday I bought a Marmot Approach Jacket.  Looks great for wind, rain, and cold.  Should work great for layering as I got it large enough to fit over my fleece vest.

Also, I got in some Memory cards and adapters for my camera.

Still need to get going on my training.  Promise to start just after the New Year begins.  That will give me two and a half months.  Hope it's enough.

H

Got a new Nexus  a few weeks ago so thought I would try it on my blog.  It works' but Instill have to keep my other fingers off of the screen.  A little easier than the Kindle Keyboard.  Should work great on my hike.

Now to get back into training.

H.

Real Shoes this time

Shoes mentioned in the previous post are actually a pair of knockoff Crocs from Walmart for $9.  They are very light weight and should make good camp shoes for the hike.

On Friday we drove to Phoenix, out of boredom mostly, and I bought a pair of mid cut hiking boots.  They are higher that my others by just a little, are waterproof, and weight in about five ounces heavier for the pair.  After my walk yesterday I could feel the result of the extra weight!  Both are Merrill’s, and are the same style, Moab Ventilators, just a low vs. mid cut.  The boots are waterproof and that should be helpful on the A.T.  I sure don’t waterproof boots in AZ.  

Also, on a resent trip to Costco, I picked up another pair of the carbon fiber hiking poles.  There is a good chance that I will need to replace at least one pole, if not both, somewhere on the 2,200 mile A.T. next year, so I thought a couple of spares would be in order.

My hiking/training  regiment has suffered since I returned from my trip east.  I have done the four mile walk three time in the last couple of week, without the pack, but that's all.  Maybe my enthusiasm just peaked too soon!

H.