weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

a moment of panic

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Things have really picked up around here, hiking wise. I’ve got everything I need (and more). We have made plans to slackpack the first week of our trip, and have made hotel reservations for our partners (who are kind enough to take time off work to drive us around!). I have come up with the perfect after-dinner dessert (equal parts vanilla protein mix + nesquik) and have made a list of 46 dinners to dehydrate and/or assemble.

I am going to try to do mail drops for meals – at least for the first half of the trip. We will be coming home for a few weeks in June – OWL had a already-paid-for vacation planned – and so that will be plenty of time to figure out what I want to do for the second half. The plan, as it looks right now, is oatmeal (homemade with chocolate chips, peanut butter powder, and coconut cream powder) for breakfast. Snacks (gorp, honey wafers, goo bars*, cheez-its) through lunch. Hot meal for dinner.

*goo bars are a special combination of peanut butter, bacon grease, chocolate chips, evaporated milk, coconut flakes, and dried fruit. Basically a homemade energy bar. They are delicious!

Most of the planning left is making the meals (so all Em. has to do is assemble the mail drop boxes), and figuring out where they should be sent to. Sort of waiting on the 2013 guide to get here. (I’m using AWOL’s guide because I like the elevation profiles).

I had a moment of panic this morning. I’ve 4 days off this past week, and have been basically piddling around the house the whole time. Went urban hiking (with backpack) one day and put up the tent in cold and wind – just to practice. Have fiddled with my gear a little bit, and went walking today for a few hours. Other than that I have just been lounging…it has been wonderful! But I did have a moment of doubt. Is hiking from GA to ME really what I want to do? Couldn’t I do something more … comfortable with my brave new world? Like maybe go teach English in Costa Rica, or learn to surf or something? What am I doing??

The reality of it is – I want to hike. Part of why I want to hike is purely the challenge of the trail. Am I strong enough – mentally and physically? What will I learn about myself, from myself? How will I handle being cold and wet and exhausted when my sleeping pad decides to spring a leak? (I know, I know, don’t speak it into truth). The truth is – I don’t know. That’s part of the challenge. I want to learn how to rely on little to nothing. I want to prove to myself that I can finish what I start. I need some time to re-evaluate my career. I need to refocus on being awesome, instead of just focusing on being awesome at my job.

I know that it will be hard, but I also know that I can do it. I am not attempting a thru hike. I am thru hiking. I think there’s a difference.

I wrote my letter of resignation last night. Maybe my moment of panic has more to do with that than anything else.

Boots!

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I think I have finally found a pair of boots! Merrell Moab Ventilator Mids. This is very exciting because I was getting a bit nervous that I had tried on all the boots in the world without finding a pair. They are not waterproof, so I am going to have to hike a bunch in January & February to make sure my feet will stay warm in the cold temps. (I think they’ll be fine).

I’m wearing blue superfeet insoles for now. Still trying to get them broken in.

I need to start walking more.

ShakeDown Hike: Lessons Learned

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I certainly learned a lot about how awful blisters are, and how important footwear is to a successful thru hike. I had a pair of waterproof lightweight hiking boots that I *thought* I really liked, but it turns out my feet sweat too much to be comfortable in waterproof boots. (What keeps water out also keeps water in). I also wore a pair of SuperFeet insoles that may have contributed to my blisters. I also forgot my liner socks (it’s the trifecta of blisters).

Since the trip I’ve tried on 10+ different pairs of shoes and boots, trying to find TheOnes. I think I have finally settled on the Moab Ventilator Mids – they are very comfortable. I need to make sure to hike plenty in January & February, so if I need less ventilation during winter, I have time to break in some waterproof boots.

  • When I *first* feel a hotspot, I need to take care of it immediately instead of waiting until I get to camp.
  • If I can get out of camp just after sunrise, I can cover more mileage.
  • I don’t need a trowel or a full sized moleskine notebook.

Time will tell whether L. and I end up being compatible speed-wise. I fear that she will get frustrated with my slower pace. I hope I can get into shape quickly so her frustration is minimized. Even with awful blisters my average speed was 2mph – not too shabby for starting off.

I was surprised at the amount of cell coverage I had. I thought about getting a personal locator beacon or a SPOT device, but think I will hold off for now. If I end up doing the trail by myself I’ll get one.

I learned that I am ready to do this, and I am capable of doing it. I want to hike the AT so badly I am willing to do it alone, if I need to.

ShakeDown Hike Day 4: AT Approach Trail (Springer Moutain to Amicalola Falls State Park)

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I slept awful in the Springer Mountain shelter. There weren’t mice or anything (that I heard) – but it was the warmest night we spent on the trail, and I kept waking up. I unzipped my bag halfway on both sides – then I got too cold. Back and forth, all night long.

We had decided to get up before sunrise, to get an early start on the longest hike of the trip (8.8 miles from Springer Mountain; 9 miles from the shelter). Of course the blisters did not heal themselves overnight, but I didn’t feel too bad. We were up early enough to cook breakfast before the sun came up, and we ate during sunrise. Put my boots on and started walking.

One small complication was that we didn’t have a map or guide of any kind to this section of the trail. We were just walking. We walked through the recently burned-out section of the trail. It was crazy to be walking through an area that was on fire just days before (The Black Gap shelter was totally fine, by the way, contrary to the report of the hiker from Day 2). I thought a lot about how this forest was now changed forever – and wouldn’t look anything like what it used to for another 20 years. (Hopefully the same will be true of me after my thru hike!).

We walked past the Hike Inn trail, and saw a sign indicating we had five miles left. My feet started hurting (as expected) so I started doing the ZagShuffle(tm). We reached the boundary of the state park about 4.5 hours from when we started – the sign said average hiking time was 6 hours so I was feeling pretty good about myself. But man, the last mile through the state park facilities was a killer! When I saw the sign I thought I didn’t have far to go – but there was still more than a mile of hiking on pavement (and a few hundred stairs down to the falls) left.

I hobbled the entire last mile. I was so glad to get the truck and take my boots off! My feet had blistered again – blisters on top of blisters – and I did minor surgery on my feet again before delicately changing clothes by the side of the road and settling in for the 4 hour ride home.

P.S. A bottle of Fat Tire beer has never tasted so good!