Monday, February 28, 2011

And They're Off!

Coach and the Professor began the Appalachian Trail at 11:47am on February 24, 2011.




But let's backtrack just a little..

First, please let me introduce you to Manager Mike (pictured with the sleepy hikers). Mike is the Professor's Dad and a major reason why planning for the Appalachian Trail went so smoothly. He is also the point man on re-supply and, well, pretty much everything. He will also be referred to as "Wooden Spoons" on the Trail.
These guys were up late the night before preparing their drop boxes, a typical one contains the following: Grits or Oatmeal for breakfast, Summer Sausage, Tuna and Pita for lunch, CLIFF bars and for our main course we went with Alpine Aire. On our gear test we tested the Alpine Aire meals and found them to be the best value in terms of taste, quality of ingredients and calories. Black Bart Chili is the best.
After the early morning picture was taken (by the Professor's Mom who was kind enough to help document!), Manager Mike drove Coach and the Professor to Springer Mountain. Here they are in the parking lot:

From here, everybody hiked up Springer Mountain to begin the AT (yes, they had to hike to get to the start):





They reached the beginning of the Appalachian Trail:









They checked out the view and posed for a picture:












And came to the first of 90,000 white blazes that will guide them from Springer Mountain (Georgia) to Mt. Katahdin (Maine):















And then they struck out and waved farewell:











and vanished....


**Report from Manager Mike aka Wooden Spoons:



  • Thursday, February 24 (15+ mile day):Arrived at the Springer Mountain parking area on US Forest Service Road 42, one mile from the top of Springer. The Professor, Coach, and Manager Mike ("Wooden Spoons") and Doc ("Hell Hound") hiked to the southern terminus of the AT at Springer, snapped a few pictures then returned to the parking area. From there the Professor and Coach struck out on their immense journey. Wooden Spoons and Hell Hound drove to Neels Gap and dropped off the first re-supply box. Weather was cool and windy but mostly sunny, a perfect day for hiking. They originally had planned on staying at Hawk Mt but continued to Gooch Mt arriving around dark. Thunder storms during the night.

  • Friday, February 25 (approx 14 miles):Stayed at Blood Mt shelter. Amazing sunset reported.

  • Saturday, February 26: Report received from Neels Gap indicates they plan to stop at Whitley Gap today and nurse some chafing and minor blisters. Spirits high. Weather remains mild with highs near 60 and lows near 30.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Coach's blog post in an email...no manipulation...

Capps,

Here is my final gear list and gear test report. I also included a little deal on why I am doing this hike and my motives. So how ever you want to manipulate the two reports on the blog is fine with me.

After hours of research and gear test with snow and single digit temperatures, I present my final gear list for the quickly approaching thru-hike of the AT. I will start with the pack itself, since it will be carrying everything for this adventure. After narrowing down my pack choice to Gregory Z55 (the professor's choice), the Osprey 60, the Deuter Futura 50, and the Deuter ACT Lite 50, I decided to go with the Deuter ACT Lite 50 due to its weight 3 lb 8 oz and its comfort. The Z55 was also a consideration, but being quite a bit shorter than the professor I didn't like how the Z curve suspension of the pack shifted the weight away from my center of gravity. It also has a separate sleeping bag compartment, which is a nice feature that I like.

For my sleeping bag selection, I went with Marmot's 0 degree Lithium bag. I am really happy with this selection and the gear test with its single digit temperatures proved to me that the bag was worth it. The first night when the temperature was in the mid teen's I actually had to vent the bag because I got hot. The next night when the reported low was 7 degrees I was pretty comfortable with only wearing my base layer. I also went with Marmot for my tent and got EOS 1 person tent. The tent seems like it is going to do the job.

The other major gear purchases make up my layering system. The base layer is a Smartwool long sleeve shirt and pants. I will also bring an additional Smartwool top and bottom for sleeping and to always have a dry set. The next layer will consist of REI quick dry pants/ shorts and a soft shell jacket. I once again went with Marmot's Gravity Jacket. The jacket is heavier than other options I could have gone with, but after the gear test I have to say that I love this jacket and its versatility. To me it is well worth its extra weight. Most of the gear test when we were actually hiking I wore it with a base layer and was really comfortable. As an additional insulation layer, I went with the Professor and got a Montbell Down Jacket. My Montbell is lighter than the Professor's but at the cost of pockets. I would rather have the pockets for the additional ounces, but hindsight is always 20 /20.

For rain gear, I initially decided to go with Integral Designs Event Rain jacket and pants. I really liked the jacket, but discovered that I couldn't get the pants over my boots. I have returned the pants and gotten a pair of Arc'terryx Alpha SL Rain pants to replace them.

Like most thru-hikers one of my biggest concerns is my feet and footwear. Once I knew that we were going to do this adventure, I already knew that I was going to go with a MERRELL product based on my previous experience with their footwear. Back in 2007, I was searching for a trail running shoe for rock scrambling on St. John and ended up purchasing one of MERRELL's trail running shoes. I put these shoes through hell all over that island. Later I used this same pair for some roofing work due to their gripping ability. These shoes basically sold me on the quality of MERRELL's products. With the exception of some dress shoes and work boots, I have always gone with MERRELL for my footwear. Therefore, it made sense that I go with them on this adventure. Since we are starting so early, I thought it would be better to go with one of MERRELL's light hiking boots over one of there lighter trail running shoes. I decided on the Phaser Peak Light Hiking Boots. I have already gone on several hikes besides the gear test and they appear to be broken in and ready to go. If the weather warms up, we will hopefully be able to drop some pack weight and I will be able to move to a lighter trail running shoe later on the trail.

The last piece of gear I will discuss before providing the list of the smaller items is my gloves. I made a painful discovery on the gear test that I have poor circulation in my hands and that my glove choice was nowhere near good enough. I went with a KOMBI ultralight windproof glove. They were more than adequate when hiking, but as soon as they got wet they basically became useless. My biggest complaint from the gear test was when these gloves got wet and my hands were freezing. Therefore, I purchased two more pairs of gloves to supplement my hand protection. The first pair was a set of possum down liner gloves. These gloves got excellent reviews and I am looking forward to seeing if they are as good as everyone says. In addition, I also bringing a waterproof shell glove made by Black Diamond. My hands were basically my biggest and only complaint from the gear test, so I hope that the corrections will do the trick on the thru-hike.

The following is the rest of my gear list:

Black Diamond Spot Storm Headlamp
MSR Pocket Rocket Stove
Spyderco H1 Pacific Series Knife
MSR Titanium 0.85 L Cooking Pot and Titanium Spork
REI Pack Cover





As the departure date for this hike approaches, more and more people have been telling me I am insane. Although they might have a point, it has made me ask myself more and more why am I doing this hike. The basic reason is because when a good friend of mine, the Professor, told me it was one of his life dreams to thru-hike the AT, I thought it was an awesome idea and we agreed to do before we turned 30 years old. So about a decade ago I agreed to this adventure knowing little more than the fact that the AT went from Georgia to Maine.

Over the years, I started looking more and more into the Appalachian Trail. As I learned more and more about the trail it quickly dawned on me how big a challenge and accomplishment this trek was going to be. As the start date approaches, I have become excited for two main reasons. First, I am excited to help my friend fulfill one of his dreams and second to really push my body physically. I really like challenges and this is certainly going to be one.

I would also like to thank my friends and family. It is certainly their support that allows me to go on these adventures and I look forward to keeping them updated.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

17 Miles...30 pound pack

On Sunday February the 6th I went for another Knobstone Trail hike. I felt pretty strong, and I was determined to live up to my sixteen mile challenge from the previous week. The day started out cold with the sun just peeking over the hilltops. There was a half-inch dusting of fresh snow on the ground and immediately I noticed I was not the first to be scurrying about in the southern indiana Knobs this winter morning. There were fresh animal tracks all over the place! It was actually really fun to try tell them apart and guess what was what. I kind of started becoming obsessed with taking pictures of all of them, so because of that, I will share them with you...


















Less than two miles into the hike two hunting dogs came charging down the trail hot on the tracks of some woodland creature. They hesitated only for a split second when they saw me (just long enough to determine my threat level I guess) before they continued on their hunt. Here are the tracks I followed for the next two to three miles or so...





If you look closely, you can see the dog tracks next to (what appears to be) turkey tracks...Has anybody ever heard a dog kill a turkey? When you're alone in the woods, and your mind and senses are already on high alert and wandering into potential survival situations...disconcerting becomes a light term to describe how the sound makes you feel. I did my best not to think of what the details of that graphic scene must have been and pressed on, wondering what it feels like to be preyed upon. I have a feeling the Appalachian Trail will humble me.



Around noon or one o'clock the weather started warming up and the trail turned into a muddy disaster! I swear I was hiking with five pound weights on my feet. I was really glad to have my eVent gators and regardless of the muck, my Keens held up well. My feet stayed dry and no mud in my socks!











Halfway through my trek, on the shady side of a knob, I saw these tracks...



Deer....











Then I saw this warning right on the trail... I decided it would be best to turn around and 300 yards later, almost as if on cue, I heard 4 rifle shots... thanks for the sign guys...














It was a good day of training out in the Southern Indiana Knobs and probably my last before Coach and I leave for the AT. I am grateful for learning about the Knobstone Trail. It has proven to be beautiful and quite a challenge, a good precursor to the AT. I hope to return here for future hiking and camping trips, although, I will pay a bit closer attention to deer season.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Gear Part II




On Sunday morning I hit up the Knobstone Trail again for some more training and a mini gear test on a few things I've purchased thus far. In a previous post I mentioned I was going to try to make this day a 16 miler, but due to some time restraints and other Sunday afternoon chores I had to shorten this slightly. It was a great day though, I was on the trail by 8:30 as the sun slipped over the Knobs and the sky was a crisp blue. It was cold starting out, and as far as clothes were concerned, I had on my Smart Wool base-layers, a Patagonia R-1 Fleece Pull-Over, Patagonia LW Glove Liners, and the Patagonia Men's Gi II
Zip-Off Pants.

I'm really glad I had the glove liners. They were perfect for hiking in. On our first Knobstone Trail experience I only had my heavier Black Diamond mid-weight Polartec Fleece gloves. I like them because they are wind resistent, but they got too hot to hike with, and with nothing on, my hands were cold...the liner gloves solved that problem perfectly. I've been told by a few people that I should forget about liner gloves, but I'm going to take them anyway after my experience this past Sunday. I'll probably send them home after a month, or more likely, I'll keep the liners and send home the heavier gloves.

I'm not sure about the Gi II pants yet. I like the idea of having zip-offs, and these had good reviews especially because they are quick-dry, durable, and relatively light, but two things of note: I didn't even use the bottom halves on this hike (even on the previous hike which was colder I only had shorts on with a baselayer), and secondly these pants fit baggier than I was hoping. I haven't given up on them yet, but time will tell.

The Patagonia R-I Fleece Pull-Over...LOVE IT!!! Its light weight and the breathable while you sweat, but still holds its insulating value! This was a tough hike with steep inclines and descends. I held a good pace with a 25 pound pack and covered 12 miles over the course of 5 hours in and out of snow, sun, and gusts of cold winter winds and I DID NOT TAKE IT OFF ONCE. Even with a pack on my back, the way it helped manage my body heat was
incredible!

Other gear items of note from this hike: eVent Shortie Gators, Black Diamond Flick Lock Trekking Poles, and Keen Targhee II Mid hiking shoes.

The eVent Shorties are lightweight, water proof, and best of all a good price (only 25 bucks)! They live up to their eVent name and I also like the extra inside patches where any rubbing and
ware may occur.

I was skeptical about getting trekking poles. I've never really used them in the past and I wasn't sure If I wanted to start now. Two things that I took into consideration with this purchase. First, it seems that most Thru-hikers these days use them (that's gotta account for something right?). Secondly, after Lindsay and I hiked the Knobstone Trail the first time through 4 inches of slippery ice and snow (which will
probably be typical for at least the first month on the AT), I was pretty convinced that trekking poles would have given me better balance, aid in any slipping, and an increased vote of confidence in my step. I feel like these reasons would lead to a faster paced and safer hike. On Sunday I used my new trekking poles and really liked them. I did develop blisters on the inside of my thumbs, but in time these should callus over.

Hiking shoes/boots: For obvious reasons this was and still is a big concern of mine. I tried on a lot of different brands (Vasque, Scarpa, Merrell, Montrail, Lowa, Salomon, Keen, and more) and read many reviews, but when it comes down to it you just need to go with what feels good on your feet. I decided to go for a more trail style shoe than heavy boot because honestly that is the trend these days, and I don't have a lot of time to break in a new pair of stiff boots. In addition, the technology in trail shoes is so good that a traditional boot is becoming a thing of the past unless you are doing some serious mountaineering. I found out from talking with people that a Thru-hiker will go through 4-5 pairs of trail shoes or 2-3 pairs of boots during his/her journey. I decided to go with the company Keen for these reasons: larger toe box (I have wide feet), extra durable patented toe protection, and an overall feeling of a slightly more durable construction than some of the other trail shoes. I also went with the mid style shoe as opposed to the lower cut for more ankle support, and protection against potential snow. I may
switch to a lower cut later on when it gets warmer and my feet, ankles, and calves get stronger.

I have to admit, I was sore as hell after the hike on Sunday, most notably my rear-end, shins, and ankles. It was muddy and slippery in the sun and icy in the shade. I did not have any hot-spots or blisters on my feet and it was a good day of training. With the recommendation of my Cross-Fit trainer I took Monday off. I was hobbling around like I had been put through the grinder, but I would prefer to experience all of this now while I have a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. Hopefully all of this training is getting some of the worst soreness out of the way. I am really stoked about something though, after loading my pack up with all the gear I currently have, 2 liters of water, and 3 days worth of food it was still only 25 pounds! I'm pretty confident that I will be able to keep my final pack weight to 30 pounds or less. Hopefully this will decrease as I become smarter at weight management and the weather trends get warmer.