Hawk Mountain shelter

Trail Conditions

Its a beautiful sunny day on the trail. We stopped for lunch by a stream with a bridge and rodadrens. So far so good. We are making good time. We are at least 3 miles from Springer Mountains, which means we hiked at least 4 miles since 10:00 AM this morning.

Sunny Day on the Trail

So far so good. We stopped for lunch about 3 miles from Springer, which means we hiked about 4 miles so far today. Our goal is the Hawk Mountain Shelter about 5 miles further.

Day 1 - The Ordeal Begins

Greetings from the top of Springer Mountain. We are at the start of the AT. There was a 0.9 mile hike to the top, which we will re-hike in mean minutes. We got a 14 mile shuttle ride to the start on forest service roads at maximum velocity. We could feet the wheels sliding as we went around bends in the road.

Baby Bear's pack weight is 15 pounds. Mine weighs 38 pounds. We are going to practise our woofing skills later today, and hopefully reduce my packs weight.

Baby Bear Day 1

Mean Mother's

We decided that Baby Bear's Momma Bear is a mean mother. She only gave Baby Bear 42 pages of home work for the entire trip. We just finished 8 or 10 pages, and we haven't even started the trail yet. We think Baby Bear's Momma Bear doesn't care if her daughter's brain rots away due to inactivity.

Baby Bear doing her Home Work

Hiker Hostel

Baby Bear and I are at the Hiker Hostel near the start of the trail. We are repacking our stuff this afternoon, and plan on being on the trail early tomrrow morning. Baby Bear has a brand new pocket knife and mulipurpose tool. We are learning about knife safety. We decided that you should always cut toward you so you can better see what you are doing. Its also best to keep you face close to your work, which also helps you see your work.

Greetings from Atlanta

We are riding the MARTA train to North Springs Station where we are hoping to have a shuttle waiting for us to take us to the hostile. We are staying at a hostile the first night. I think it would be best to have a place to stay and get our stuff together.

Greetings from Cleveland Airport

Hi everyone. We are in the terminal waiting for our flight to Atlanta, and discussing groundwater geology. We are also working on math problems and estimating when no calculator is available.

Final Training

Heather and I just got back from Las Vegas this evening. Her sister was married there last night. While in Vegas, I continued my physical conditioning with lots of interesting hikes through the wilderness of casinos and shops. This was more gruelling than anything I expect on the trail, and not very friendly for us Slovienians. There were hidden fees for just about everything, and butts on every building. I've never seen anything like it before.

Oh yeah, and we even visited the Cherry Patch Ranch on hour way to Death Valley. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was at least 70 miles from Vegas. The GPS took us right through it on our way to Death Valley.

In our leasure time, we did lots of really cool hikes through Red Rock Canyon, Mount Charleston, and Death Valley.

Mobile Blogging

I,m just testing my phone one last time. I can post pictures as you can see below, but I,m not sure I will be able to post messages so well as you can also see below.

Just testing my phone one last time. My smart phone is way smarter than me. At least I think I have this mobile blogging thing

Baby Bear

The Night Before

It's the night before my Baby Bear leaves for the AT. Her backpack is packed and she is tucked into bed for the night. Her journey into the wilderness will begin in just a few short hours...

.........................................................................................to be continued.

Things to do when a co-worker goes on vacation...

I'm not sure which one would be better...

Here's to You, You Two

I am feeling tingling sensations of anticipation all the way down here in Florida. Rabbit and Baby Bear, May the trail be kind and the adventure a delight. I'll be thinking of you and awaiting the good stories that will be coming our way.

First blog posting for April

I just wanted to make the first post for April. This is my first blog post ever. It takes a lot of guts to leave all the comforts and security of home behind. We're all behind you!