Pack Weight

It looks like the final weight of my pack will be about 18 pounds without food or water. I put everything in it last night. That weight includes a notebook, maps, and a book on botany. I still may be able to reduce the weight slightly by getting another fuel bottle and replacing my nalgene water bottles with something lighter. I will be able to further reduce that weight when I ship home my cold weather gear.

The weight of my pack will be exceptionally heavy the first 10 days when I hike with my 13 year old neice, Baby Bear. I will have a heavier tent and I will have to carry her food. I do not want her pack weight over the 12 to 14 pounds we estimate it at now. I'm guessing this could bring my pack weight to about 35 or 40 pounds. We will go slow while we get in shape.

I'm currently working on making Joe's trail outfit.

The cape is made of feathers and will be his source for spiritual power and tie him to the universe.

I Can't Believe that I'm Doing This!

In less than 24 hours, I will be completely free of my burden of work. I have to go to Heather the Rule Maker's sister's wedding in Vegas this weekend. It will be nice to finally meet her sister. I think we might even get to meet some of the members of the Black Eyed Peas at the wedding. Although, I hear that Fergie is too big to have anything to do with the other group members anymore. While I have no great desire to see Vegas, it will be interesting. We are talking about possibly going to Death Valley or the Grand Canyon while we are there. Then, I'm off to the trail.

I've been thinking about doing the trail since at least 2003, when I started reading about ultra light weight backpacking. I started calculating the weight of everything I would need and thinking of logistics. The idea of doing the trail became more and more intense over the last few years until about a year ago when I knew I had to try it. I was originally going to do the trail in 2007, but Ben said that he wanted to go. Ben could not go until this year, but he joined the Peace Corp instead of doing the trail so I will do the trail alone.

The whole idea of doing the trail seems so overwhelming. I have no idea if I can do this thing. All I know is that I really want to try it to know what it's like. I would very much like to make it all the way to Mount Katahdin, but I'm under no illusions that I can or will make it. Anything can happen in the 2175 miles between Spring Mountain and Mount Katahdin. I'm just going to try to focus on making it day to day, and if I can somehow make it all the way to Katahdin, that would be great. If I do not make, I want to make sure I enjoy every moment on the trail because the chance to do it again may not happen.

Delicious Recipe References

I highly recomend "The Eat a Bug Cookbook". It features some salubrious and mouth-watering recipes.
Here are a few examples:
Cream of Katydid soup
Curried Termite stew
Three bee salad
Ant jemima's buckwheat-bug griddle cakes
Cockroach a La King
Sweet and Sour silkworm
Pest-O

Enjoy!

Trail Map for N Carolina & Georgia

Ken Yokoyama found a series of AT maps. These are the best over view maps I've found. It looks like they came from a US Park Service map. I will have someone post more maps when I am on the next one. The complete series of AT maps are in the links on the left.

Vital Statistics for Office Pool

The following are the vital statistics that Ray Banary requested for the office pool. My coworkers are taking bets on how far I will go on what they have called the "Appalachian Death March."

• Pack weight: ~ 17 pounds without food and water / ~ 30 to 32 pounds max weight
• Estimated distance per week: ~ 110 miles or 15.7 miles per day assuming no days off the trail.
• Tent: 2 pound solo tent
• Shoes: Keen size 13 low top gortex with Teva sandals for stream crossing and wearing at camp. I will bring three pairs of treking smart wool socks.
• Food: I have not yet weighed my food. I will have oatmeal and tea in the morning, plenty of trail mix, snickers, bagels and peanut butter, and roman noodles during the day and at lunch, and Bear Creek soup mixes (~1,500 calories @ 11 ounces), mac and cheese, bean burritos, and vegitarian chili and stuff like that for dinner. All of this stuff you can get at Giant Eagle, and I hope to find at other grociery stores.
• Water: I have two quart bottles for water. I will use either a water filter or water purification tablets.
• My Height & Weight: 6'3" at ~ 189 pounds (been trying to bulk up before the trip on a beer diet)
• Hiking Experience: Moderate +. I do at least one fairly long distance canoeing trip per year with a total distance of 60 to 100 miles by canoe and portages trail (~20 to 50 portages ranging from a few feet to a mile + in distance). I've done several 5 to 7 day long hiking trips at a total distance of 50 to 80 miles.
• Physical Condition: I can comfortably run 5 miles in 37 minutes, and have been running up to 10 miles at one time. I have done no hiking with my pack, and expect the first week or two to be slow.

Joe

Baby Bear's Pack Weight

Baby Bear (a.k.a. Squiggly Snake) has all of her stuff except for a nice soft and light weight ground pad that her mom ordered for her yesterday. We need a scale to weigh her pack, but we were guessing that it will weigh about 10 to 12 pounds without food or water. I'm still hoping that she will carry the metal chair that I picked out and looked so comfortable. I need a chair when sitting around the fire at night.

We also learned how to use algebra to calculate the weight of water in water bottles and the number of calories per pound of snickers bars. We even applied some logic in an attempt to substitute snickers for vegitables at dinner. We decided that food with lots of calories per pound is better than food with fewer calories per pound, and that snickers have more calories per pound than vegitables. Therefore, snickers is a better food than vegitables. However, Baby Bear's Momma Bear was too clever. She countered our arguements using the nutrient label of the vegitable bag. She believes food with more nutrients and less calories is better than food with fewer nutrients and more calories.

Posting by Mobile Phone

It looks like I will be able to post pictures and text from my phone. However, it also looks like a lot of other crap will be posted with the picture. See my experiment below. That's my neice, Cheeta Girl, doing the splits on Easter. I might have to have someone clean up my posts after I post.

I wish I would have looked at an Iphone. This windows based phone is way to complicated and non-intuitive. I had no idea what I needed or what was available when I started looking for phones. The reason I did not look at Iphones is because you need AT&T, and Alltel had better coverage.

Testing

Testing. Attached is a photo from Easter.
Alltel has no control over, and is not responsible for, the content or use of this picture or the accompanying personal message.

New Mobile Phone

I got a new mobile phone over the weekend that has internet. The phone does so many different things that each button has multiple functions. I can't begin to tell you how confusing this is. For example, when you follow the instructions, a button can do multiple things depending on how long you hold it. There is absolutely nothing in the instructions to tell you this, and you have no way of knowing what you are doing wrong.

I just learned how to set up my voice mail yesterday. Tonight I would like to learn how to download my work contacts from outlook. I still need to learn how to post on this blog. I will probably work on that this weekend.

Therm-a-rest Matresses

Does anyone have any experience with the different types of therm-a-rest matresses? Their website lists about a dozen different types. It looks like I can lose about a pound and a half by switching matresses, but I have no idea how thin I should go in a matress. I'm thinking of the Prolite 4. Has anyone tried this matress?

Pack Weight

I put everything in my pack this morning. It looks like the final weight without food or water will be between 17 and 18 pounds. I think I can lose a little weight by taking less fuel in a lighter bottle, by getting a lighter ground pad, and by getting lighter water bottles. If I do these things, I might be able to get the weight down to between 15 and 16 pounds. I can't see what else I can do to lose weight. My tent is incredibly small, and barely fits me.

My fuel bottle weighs about 1.2 pounds as near as I can tell. I could probably reduce that weight by half by taking less fuel. I can see how fast I'm using fuel on the trail, and make adjustments as needed.

My biggest weight savings could be found in changing my thermorest sleeping pad. Its very old, and as near as I can tell, it could weigh close to 3 pounds. Because I will be sleeping a third of the day, I want something that is comfortable. I will accept an extra pound or two if I can sleep better. I need to check the weight of new thermorest matresses. New materials might have resulted in less weight.

I also see that I need to buy a new tent for the first week and a half while Baby Bear is with me. There is no way we can both fit into my tent.

Looking for High Calorie One Pot Receipes

I need some good receipes for stuff I can make in one pot within 10 minutes of boiling. Fuel is weight so I'm not going to bring any extra fuel for stuff that needs to be simmered a long time. Someone suggested making speggetti using powdered tomatoe soup mix. That actually sounds great.

One of my favorite boundary waters meals is soup over mashed potatoes. I can probably pour off some hot water for the mashed patatoes before making a soup mix. I can probably also substitute other kinds of dried potatoe mixes for mashed potatoes.

Powdered milk is another good backpacking food. I'm sure it will work well with cerial, but what else can I do with it? There has to be a lot of creamy sauces that I can make with pasta.

What type of bean needs the least amount of cook time? Someone suggested that I could soak beans during the day, and they will cook quickly for dinner. Has anyone ever tried this?

Plane Tickets & Shuttle

I got one way plane tickets to Atlanta today for Baby Bear and myself. I also made reservations with a hostel for a shuttle ride from the airport to the hostel, and then to the trail in the morning. We will be leaving Cleveland at 9:00 AM on Tuesday April 8th.

The hostel looks like a pretty cool place. I'm going to try to stay in at least one a week so that I can do laundary and take a shower. It looks like all of the hostels also accept mail for hikers, which can save a trip to the post office.

http://www.hikerhostel.com/

Anxiety

With a little less than a month to go, I'm feeling both excitement and anxiety. I remember reading other people's posts and journals last year, and wondering why anyone would feel anxiety before the start. After all the time and effort spent getting ready, why would anyone feel anxiety?

I suppose that for me, I have absolutely no idea if I can do this. All I know is that I really want to know what it's like to do a long hike like this. This desire is so strong that I've risked not having a job when I return. Also, except for the first few days when I'm with my niece, I will be alone. The universal answer to anyone posting a search for a hiking partner is don't worry about it, you will find plenty of hiking partners along the way. I tend to be somewhat shy and introverted. I've read that most people who complete the trail also tend to be introverts. I'm looking forward to finding out who I will meet along the way.

There is also so much to get ready and so many other uncertainies. I have most of the stuff I need now, and I think I can find just about anything I'm missing along the way. I still need to get a new cell phone. I really wanted to do that this weekend, but about 30 inches or more of snow put an end to that task. The snow finally ended this morning (Sunday), and I spent at least two hours with a couple rests digging our cars out. After that, I decided to empty the maple sap buckets so that I'm ready for the next run. I would still like to make at least 2 gallons of maple syrup this year before I leave. I would normally make at least 4 gallons or more, but I will not be able to take off early from work. I need all of my PTO for my trip.

I put all of my stuff into my pack for the first time today. My pack feels about as I expected. My goal is to keep the weight under 15 pounds without food and water. I don't have a scale so I do not know what the actual weight is. I need to buy a scale this week. I decided that 17 pounds is my actual limit. I will do what ever it takes to get the weight under 17 pounds even leaving my botany books behind.

I've also been looking for a trail map for Georgia and North Carolina. It looks like that map is out of print, and will be until about the third week of March. I've been trying to decide on whether I should take maps or a GPS. I think I'm leaning toward maps. After all, I am a geologist. I don't think I could give up completely on maps.

I keep wondering what else I could be missing. I suppose that I will not know until I actually get started. I think I can make do with what I have. I've been running a lot and feel like I'm in fairly good physical condition now. I should be able to walk to where ever needed in a worse case sceniaro. Besides, unlike the Boundary Waters, there should be pleny of people around, and roads should not be more than a few miles away.

Joe

Returning to civilization

Four and a half months of hiking the Apalachian Trail sounds too challenging of the likes of an ambling bastard such as me but I'm sure you are up to it. However, before you get too full of yourself and your anticipated accomplishment I'd like to remind you of Shoichi Yokoi. Shoichi spent three decades hiding out in the jungle on Guam after the end of WW II. He was finally caught in the mid 1970's and eventually returned to Japan as a local celebrity. What did Shoichi have to say about his ordeal on Guam? "It is with much embarrassment that I have returned alive."

I am confident that your adventure will only scrape the surface when compared to Shoichi's but I am also sure that it you'll find the adventure much more enjoyable and satisfying as well. I hope you will not be too embarrassed when you return alive and well.

I too will do the Appalachian Trail

Solely off land I shall live. With my BARE NAKED hands I’ll collect berries. I will carry only a knife as I complete the trail on my Segway. Yes, I’ll be roughing it to the extreme. It won’t be easy watching movies on my tiny I Phone screen. Finding hotels along the way without reservations will be terrifying but this is what I must do. Why? Why am I doing the Trail? Peer pressure. I don’t want people to think I’m just a prima Donna that sits at home while her sweet man Rabbit is out there alone in the wild single handedly shooting bears and monkeys. This is just another example of my infinite selflessness. My name shall be Tarzanna.

Oh I almost forgot. Baby Bear, my mom is going to send me care packages along the way. Would you mind going into the nearest post offices and pick them up and bing them to me on the trail? That would be so sweet of you, thanks. Tarzanna

AT Gear

My Uncle Rabbit and I went shopping today for AT gear. We went to the Appalachian Outfitters in Peninsula, Ohio. They had everything we need for our hike, but some of their prices were high so we bought some things there and decided to buy other things on-line. We bought North Face hiking pants, Smart Wool hiking socks, eating utensils, a toothbrush, and Gatorade powder packs. Later, we bought a backpack (2 lbs), sleeping bag (2 lbs), and a backpack rain cover from www.backcountygear.com. We are trying to stay under 15 pounds for all of my gear. While we were shopping today, my Uncle Rabbit suggested that I buy a 30-pound iron chair to carry for him on the trail in case he gets tired and wants to rest. What do you think?

Stove Experiment

I did an experiment this weekend to see how fast different stoves can boil a half liter of cold water.
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My alcohol stove can boil cold water in a 4.5 inch diameter pot in 30F weather with fairly strong winds in about 8 minutes using about 2 ounces of fuel. A white gas stove can boil cold water in the same pot in about 6 minutes.
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The white gas stove weighs more than a pound not including the assessories, which add at least another half pound. I was not able to measure the volume of fuel it burned, but have read that white gas stoves take more fuel than alcohol stoves. I'm not sure I believe that, though. I need more data. My alcohol stove weighs about 2 ounces, costs nothing to make, and fits inside my cooking pot.
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I noticed that my alcohol stove will burn about 2 ounces of fuel for 30 minutes or more when there is no wind, but will burn for only 15 minutes or less when there is wind.