The Longest Night

With under three weeks to go until departure we really needed to try out the equipment. With our schedule we didn’t have a lot of choices as to when that shakedown campout would happen. So on Friday we left Salt Lake City in a snowstorm that didn’t quit as we went south as we hoped. As a matter of true fact it worsened.

There was some talk of abandoning the trip, but hardheaded as we are, we left the truck at 3:15 in a snowstorm to hike Eagle Canyon to a drop off where you can only continue with ropes. It was 32 degrees. My pack was 39 pounds, Jen’s was 23. We hiked the three miles in two hours. The last half mile or so the wind was howling in the narrow canyon so we started back looking for a side canyon where we might be able to get out of the wind.

With darkness chasing us we finally decided on a spot and hurriedly set up camp and got some supper cooking. With a little difficulty we got the tent up. The stove worked perfectly. By the time we finished eating night was upon us and with night the wind didn’t slow down and the temperature dropped.

It was too cold to look at stars under a sky that was beginning to clear. So we climbed into the tent into the bags. It was 7:20. It was 23 degrees. It was a long, long night. Finally the night faded into dawn but the cold didn’t fade into warm. We crawled out and made coffee. We were too cold for breakfast so we packed up and headed out. It took only an hour to hike back to the truck where we headed for breakfast at Denny’s. It was 11:45 when we pulled into Salina. It was 27 degrees.

What we learned.
1. We can sleep out in below freezing weather.
2. We can carry our packs.
3. Jennifer needs a new plan for gloves.
4. Rodger needs a new plan for upper body clothes.
5. The level ness of the tent is paramount.
6. It is important to set up camp, cook and eat dinner before it gets dark.
7. 2183 is an awful lot of miles.

Pictures:
1. The campers.
2. The canyon drop off.
3. The Tent
4. Morning Coffee

Mapping The Trail

I spread out all the maps on the kitchen table. They are in 11 packets, 3-5 maps per packet. The AT is meticulously mapped. If Lewis and Clark would have had maps as good they could have cut a year off their journey. Each set of maps also has a guide book with mileage between roads, shelters, water sources. Very convenient. But who wants to carry all those maps and guidebooks with them? Not me and Jen won’t do it for me either.

So I spread them all out, separated them into sections, found the nearest post office to the beginning of each section and made a list and a mailing label. As we approach these 10 post offices Amy will mail the next set of maps to us. I have also torn the Thru Hikers Handbook into the same sections and included them with the maps.

I guess it is ok to say we are on an adventure. It is even ok to say an outdoor adventure. But it is definitely not a wilderness adventure.

All 1274 miles of the AT is marked with the white blaze. This picture is one of the white blazes we followed when we hiked in New Hampshire in 2003. So hiking from Georgia to Maine is easy. Just follow the white blazes.

The side trails are also marked with blazes, but these are colored blue. Jen thinks that is the origin of a phrase. Whenever you miss a turn and find a blue blaze instead of a white blaze you say, “What in the blue blazes am I doing here?” I thought that was pretty astute of her.

Equipment Shakedown

As we near the date of departure, now less than 6 weeks away, we are spending time trying to exorcise the demons of doubt that creep in to our minds during short moments of sanity.

First, we practiced loading our packs to see how loaded down our mule team would be. We were pleasantly surprised. My pack weighed 10 pounds less than I expected. With just a few sundry items left to pack, it weighed in at 25 lbs. Jen’s weighed in at 22. We will do some readjusting to even it out a little, maybe mine at 30 lbs and hers at 20. In any case, that is about 20 lbs less than I was thinking we might have to carry.

Then we put the pads and bags out on the floor and tried to sleep on them through the night. Jen made it til 2:30. She said she gave up because there is too much light in our living room. I managed to 3:00 before heading back to the comfort of the bed. That being said, the pads work great. They are self inflating pads. You just open the valve and lay them out and in a few minutes they are 90% inflated. You blow in the valve two or three times and you have a nice sleeping pad. They were surprisingly comfy.

Third, we took a trip up the mountain to try our stove out on the trail. We hiked 2 ½ miles up a snow packed trail, stopped and made a pan of red chile, poured it over some fritos and had frito pie, hot on the trail. The two pictures are of Jen making the red chile.

The trail was 5 miles up and down. We hiked for 3 hours and 15 minutes. We walked from 7500 feet up to 8900 feet where we ate. That is 1400 feet gain in elevation for 2 ½ miles in distance. The first day’s hike on the trail is 2500 feet gain in elevation. However we have 8.8 miles to do it. See how a trail hiker thinks?

We hiked 5 miles in 3 hours, we should be able to do 9 miles in 7 hours. See how a trail hiker plans?
We came home and slept in our nice comfy bed. On the AT we will sleep on the ground and get up in the morning and start another 10 mile day. See how a trail hiker dreams?