The tough part of "The How."

Just look at this thing! This is most definitely a life-long pursuit! My first 2 years of going will barely get me out of Georgia. This is going to require tremendous dedication.Continuing my comments about what I have and do not have. What I need and what I want are obviously in 2 totally different categories. I found it a very difficult task to separate the two. So let's start with my perceived needs.

In my last post I listed the items that I needed and already own.

1. One item that is a MUST is a sleeping system. The main thing is a shelter. I don't have one! Not for 1 to 2 people. I have one that sleeps 5-8 comfortably but not 1. I have researched this extensively. I have field tested sleeping bags, tents and pads/cots and other sleeping/shelter options. I have discovered that I don't sleep all that well on the ground. I slept well when I had an air mattress but I won't have one of those at the top of Springer Mountain in the last week in August. Instead I am going to try out the Hennessy Hammock. My Dad has one. My parents are moving to Crestview in August and when they come they will be bringing it with them. I will field test it to see what my sleep is like. If it works well this will be an excellent lightweight shelter. It comes fully bug proof and has a rain fly to boot.
   
2. Sleeping bag. I have a wally world bag. It's reasonably light but bulky and doesn't compress much. I might be able to squeak by on this for a year, but I see this as a long term weight and space saving item. Problem is a decent lightweight bag is around 85 bux and up. Because this is an item that will go with my Hennessy Hammock I will use the less compressible and more water resistant/dryable synthetic bag. They tend to run heavier but late summer is not an issue so I can go for a 45 degree bag and then add a fleece liner and or a home made silk or cotton liner to add layers of warmth.
3. Backpack rain cover. This is pretty self explanitory
4. Titanium pot for cooking
   

Next up. . . HOW?

The how is somewhat tricky, because I don't know yet. It is about 350 miles from home. . .

So assuming $5.00/gal gas and 32 gallons needed for the round trip at 22mpg it's gonna cost around $160 bux.

What I have that will work and doesn't need replaced. This is not an inclusive list.

1. A 4000 cubic inch North Face internal frame pack. It's a dual compartment, not the lightest but it has worked well before and has a lot of good features. It's about 10 years old but in good shape.
2. Water filtration system. I can drink any water from anywhere with the one I have. It's a water bottle with a basic filter and then a 2 micron filter. I drop an iodide tab in and squeeze it through the filter and it removes all the iodine flavor. Tastes like purified water. I have tested this in the river close by.
3. Boots. . . . A hiker's most important asset. Also North Face. I researched this for months. I read reviews and ratings from magazines. In the end when I was teetering between the ones I bought and some other highly rated Marmot's I went with these because I found an ebayer selling them for 50 bux off. I have field tested these and they are excellent. My only complaint is that I live in Florida and these are a tad warm. They have the new Gortex and are water proof. Either way they are excellent. I just used them for 2 straight days here at a scout camp in 95+ degree heat and humidity. They were outstanding. The heat had me in my crocs any time I wasn't hiking, just kicking it around the camp site. They are fully waterproof. I stood in a running stream in foot deep water for 4 minutes and no leaks. Overall very pleased.
4. Maps, I've got em for the first 3 legs of the trips. I've google earthed the first 3 trips. I purchased these maps at a hiking outfitter.
5. Misc. Items: First aid kit, hand made from various lists that I have read about on the web made light for backpacking. It is surprisingly extensive but compact. All of it is zipped in a ziploc bag a backpackers best friend. Rain poncho, hiking socks, smart wool, and liners. Bear bag for food and para-cord. Long story short. I have a lot of misc. stuff. I just don't have everything I need just yet.
6. Cooking system. This one is only partially true. I could get by with what I have but I don't like the one I have. I have a Walmart Coleman propane canister and portable stove. I have a "stick free" aluminum frying pan and that's it. I also have a small alcohol stove that could be used too. It is not an energy efficient version. It's more like a sterno stove. The good part is that it is very compact and the fuel is relatively cheap albeit kind of heavy. What I like about the Coleman Walmart stove is the accessibility of the fuel, and the variable rate of cooking temp. What I hate about the stove is the weight and the not so compact or conveniently stored, cooking surface. This is where an MSR ultralight or a Jetboil would be handy. I like the Jetboil but am not sure if I like the one temp thing. I suppose if I had to just warm something up I could just put it over an open fire for a minute. I feel an upgrade coming here if the funds are there. This brings me to my next section. . . . . What I don't have and must be purchased prior to the trip and the wants

Next is the WHY. . . .

I have been thinking long and hard about this and I have determined that my near obsession with the Appalachian Trail represents, more than anything, a reconnection with my past. I grew up in an agricultural home. Our garden and fruit orchards alone were 10 times the size of the land that I currently own. Not because of necessity, but recreationally I hunted and lived off the land, ate mushrooms and blackberry's out of the forest, caught, cleaned and ate my own fish, squirrel, quail and deer. I grew up 15 miles from the bluffs of the Mississippi River. In a way my childhood was a lot like The Adventures of Huck Fin playing in streams and catching crayfish. Although I didn't know it, I was living in a dream world where play and work were kind of intertwined. How was it that I was able to so easily mingle work and play? There are two main reasons. First, because from age 8 to 12 there is only so much that you can responsibly do on a farm, making my work load easy compared to that of my older brothers. My tasks were often mundane, but important like collecting the tops off of wild garlic and Johnson grass (weeds that choke out the crops and are detrimental) and burning them, feeding and tending tolivestock, assisting the fencebuilder, being the fresh egg collector, garden cultivator and so on. The other and most important reason I feel I was it was so easy to mingle work and play was because of my earthly surroundings. While I was doing those mundane chores, I would be walking in a bean field and find a big rock and decide to move it out of the field so it didn't damage the farm equipment. Well when I would pick it up a snake or a worm or some creature would be lurking underneath creating an opportunity to explore my world. The farm was heavenly for me and my brother Cary. Our woods were like something depicted in Robert Frost's, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. It was the most peaceful, quiet, place on earth. It's where I connected with God and became interested in Him. It's where I felt closest to Him despite my immaturity. I remember walking through fields of mature winter wheat on my way to a swimming hole at Dry Creek feeling like the world was so big and that life was easy and good and innocent. Ronald Reagan was president and the Cardinals would go on to win the World Series a few years later. Life was at it's finest.

It is unrealistic to think that life could go on so simply, so surreally as it did on our farm. All of those experiences were beautiful and wonderful, but the years flew by and responsibility and reality caught up with me. I joined The Church of Jesus Christ, served my mission, married the wife of my dreams, went to college and got a job, and have a family of my own. I go to work each week and return to my cul-de-sac each day to smiling faces and baseball in the front yard. I have returned to cultivating and gardening and yardwork in a way that I would have never dreamed possible as a kid. All that mowing and weed eating was a chore then. Now, once again I supposeit is a way and a window back to what I was taught was important. I am immensely blessed and could not be more grateful for the life and blessings afforded me by a loving Heavenly Father. I believe that more than anything my job is what drives this yearning to be free and out in the woods. Even so, these current chapters are as natural and important a part of life as the chapters of youth. My youth was sheltered from the world and insulated from some of the less appealing qualities of sitting in front of the television and indoors all day long like a lot of city kids do. As a kid, our rabbit ears and tin foil contraption basically just got channel 11 and outside of a few cartoons after school, it was news or baseball. Unfortunately for us and our posterity this simplicity no longer exists. While we don't have cable in our home (and don't need cable) the world of mass media and mass information engulfs us. There seems to be little refuge and no "place" for peace but in the Lord. The internet which is our primary source of information these days is carefully snared with traps and pop ups and SPAM email which seem to consistently tend to be inappropriate. The burning question that I have for myself is, "What am I doing for my wife, childrenand myself to keep that innocence and that connection with the world andthe wonderment of nature and God alive?" I contend that trips like this one, away from this hustle and bustle provide that window to once again remember what it was like in 1982.

Perhaps most importantly I think of the AT as an Iron Rod and a way Home. I don't think there is any coincidence that God the Father and His Son made themselves known to Joseph Smith in a simple and splendid grove of trees,it was made by HIS hands, not by the hands of men. Out on the Trail I willbe able to climb upward toward Him and connect with Him. Last year Jan andI ran a 4.5 mile run across a large bay bridge from Destin Florida toNiceville Florida. It was our "Kathryn Run." We had a great time and Iremember feeling, "I just have to keep going for Kathryn. I know she'swaiting at the other end." It pushed me and helped me focus. I feel thatif I follow this path, 50 miles or so a year for the next 30 years I willbe more likely to stay in shape and build eternal memories with my familyand close friends than ever while taking time each year to commemorate hershort and marvelous life. It could be our sacred Kathryn journey andpilgrimage each year in which the cell phones will be shut off and theconnection with the outside world will not really matter. In time all ofmy children and hopefully my wife will join me and the event will becomesingularly a family event. Until then I will welcome all family and friends who want to get out and enjoy all that Father has created and aview of what He has given us. Late August/September 2009!

First things first. . . . the questions of what, why, how and who. . .

WHAT?. . ."AT" is the moniker attached to the APPALACHIAN NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL, a 2175 mile long ribbon-like foot path that traverses 14 states. In the past 6 months or so I have been firming up plans to begin a major undertaking. I am 33 years old and plan to section-hike this trail. I am not an avid hiker, which is to say I don't regularly hike yet. . . I hike to and from camp sites and to fishing and hunting locations, but hiking in that sense is a byproduct of some other event. What I am planning is something very different. The hike itself in this case is the event and it is long, very long. From Springer Mountain in Northern Georgia to Mt. Katadhin in the middle of Maine is a massive daunting distance. I will attempt to do the full length in my remaining lifetime in 50-70 mile chunks at a time. I can't help but think that somewhere down the road before Sterling goes on his mission, I will have more than a week or so to go and so I could potentially do more than a hundred miles in a given year, but I just need to start by getting to the trail and getting some experience I will get into the why a little later, but understanding what the AT is, is as important as understanding all my motivations. The AT is part of the same National Park System as Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Great Smokey Mountains. As such it enjoys a great deal of Federal focus and protection. The trail leverages that power to override states that would encroach on AT lands and otherwise diminish its significance. Even so the AT is a trail maintained by hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer maintenance and patrolling as well as wealthy benefactors and enthusiasts. As you can see in the graphics it is a mountainous trail. Elevations dip to a few hundred feet and climb over 6000 feet at Clingman's Dome. On this trail you are either climbing or descending a mountain with rare exceptions. It is simply the nature of the trail. There are gradual climbs over mile after mile, and there are lung busting ascents in very short distances. It is the most biologically diverse National Park in our country. It has a place in the national identity. The idea of the trail was first conceived in 1921 and was completed in 1937 and has become increasingly organized and maintained than ever. A wealth of information about the trail, and a unique perspective on a failed "thru-hike" which is an end to end trek, can be found in a book called, a Walk in the Woods. I recently read it and it reads like a travelogue loaded with factoids about the trail. It is quite humorous, especially when the author starts talking about buying gear and his section about bears. Thru-hiking as the author attempted and failed, usually takes between 5-7 months. He ended up logging around 900 miles out of 2175 and in the end was section hiking from his New England home. The trail is an amazing space. One of the things that stands out to me about the book that I read was that you can imagine a very crowded space because the "park" aspect of the trail makes the attraction a path only 3 feet wide. In reality the trail is relatively quiet and is surprisingly not busy, (most of the year and in most places). According to the author during parts of his hike you can walk for days and not see anyone. It is remote. Cellphones and Blackberries are better off at home. That I suppose, is one of my big draws to the trail. More on that later. . . The purpose of this blog is to talk about it, to talk about my preparations and to act as a journal of sorts. I honestly don't care if anyone else posts but me. But it is kind of a way of looking at preparations and ideas. I will list my gear and plans and maps and other things. If you are interested in the trail there are a number of great sites out there. Here's a start. . .

• http://www.nps.gov/appa Take a look at the map! --Wabamm!!! 2200miles!!
• http://www.appalachiantrail.org The trail is managed by volunteers andhiking clubs that live near their particular section of trail. This is theofficial AT site that organizes their efforts. Just as states manageroads, volunteers along the AT manage their particular section. This isalso the best source for all things AT in terms of current news/trailconditions and maps etc can be found.
• http://www.whiteblaze.net Perhaps my favorite site. It is a wealth of news and info. This is a newsgroup and blog for AT enthusiasts. Very family friendly. Primarily for thruhikers but great for section hikers too. Good reviews on gear, what to take what to leave, data and schedules, topo maps, pictures and a ton more.
• http://www.backpacking.net/27-pound.html This is a good starting place when it comes to acquiring the right gear. Not that this is a definitive AT list. I just stumbled upon this and found it useful. I have a substantially different set of gear already. He's a tent user I am a hammock guy. He's going for the $280 sleeping bag. I will not etc. Either way it is anexcellent list. The guy has obviously thought this through and has experience.
• http://hikinghq.net/hammock/hammock.html This guy is a pretty regular guy on whiteblaze.net. I will be using a Hennessy Hammock if trial runs go well. My Dad has one I'm either going to swipe from him or just use to try out. I think this guy helps moderate the whiteblaze.net site as well. Take a look at his excel spreadsheets hiking plans and info on the hennessy hammock. cool stuff. some of the links are old/dead

A phrase that I loathed as a child actually applies here in this case. ". . .like my Daddy always used to say, a job worth doin, is a job worth doin right." Man I hated hearing that. But I suppose the message is clear, if you are going to do something, go all out and make sure you do it right. I applied that kind of thinking to my research and interest.