We have hiked the 459 miles necessary in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to make Virginia. The next 500 miles are in Virginia. We spent one last night in Tennessee on Sunday night when we ran out of gas after 17 miles. We camped just short of the state line then hiked the 6 miles into Damascus, Virgina on Monday morning. The plan is to leave here on Wednesday morning. We are spending time today (tuesday) trying to lighten the load.
Just a few pounds lighter makes a big difference on feet, knees, and hips. When we leave town tomorrow we will have around 16 pounds of food between us. We are learning to carry less water, 2.2 pounds per liter, but that means spending more time locating and preparing water for use. So we are also looking at possible ways of treating water.
We sent our water filter home from Elizabethton, TN. It weighs about 2 pounds so we went lighter and tried to treat the water chemically with bleach. Supposedly 3 drops of Clorox per liter of water is sufficient. Well, it may kill the germs but it leaves my thirst unquenched and leaves Jen with an "alum" taste in her mouth. So we have decided against that. We have a few options such as other chemicals and some higher tech methods, we just need to determine which is the best for us.
Hopefully you have checked out our photos on Nathan's web site. I am sending him some more, this time with printed captions since something in his education failed to teach him to read handwriting.
Amy is posting my journal to www.trailjournals.com, she is probably having as much trouble with my penmanship as Nate. Remember, I am writing in a little tent, with a headlamp, after a long day hiking, with Jen bumping my elbow every time she moves. No wonder they can't read it.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. God bless each one of you.
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7 comments:
Rodger, if I remember correctly there is a "doctor" someplace in your title and if I remember correctly "doctors" are notorious for their lack of civilized penmanship? 'Nough said. Glad to hear all is well and you are having such a great time - I'm anxious to read Jen's diary - may get me home a little earlier this summer to do just that. Love you both...Cindy
Hey Guys:
Good to hear that things are moving right along - almost a quarter of the way through - what an acomplishment! You should pause for a Twinkie or something. . .
Dave and I hiked what we were certain was 10 miles yesterday, reality was it was only 6. No bears to watch out for along our path, but we did have an adventure in that we came across an old abandoned cemetary vault storage facility! The sun was just setting behind the buildings and we laughed about how it would have been a great setting for a scary movie. Jer & Tay didn't believe us, so we'll have to convince them to walk with us next time. Keep us updated on your adventures - miss you very much!
T.
I actually am fairly good at distinguishing your handwriting after multiple summers of typing old sermons for you. It's just trying to figure out what your sometimes not fully completed thoughts mean, and if i should just post them anyway, such as "two hikers just arrived" and that's it.
Soon i will post more, i haven't been close to my PC except at work or late at night, and i'm not sure they want to pay me for posting your journal and i have to sleep sometime. For those of you wondering if i am ever going to complete it, i will try and get all the ones i have so far up by the weekend as there are more coming. Sorry for the delay :)
-A
The old Iodine tablets work fine for water and a bottle of them is small and alst a long time- the taste never has bothered me but I'm a hunter. A few years back there was a new thing called Safewater. It was a regular water bottle with it's own filter inside-real light. My hunting partner used one- filled with water from a stream and then drink it. When done pour out water so you were never carrying water- if you have plenty of water sources a great way to keep down weight. For me the water camel in my hunting back pack works great because water weight is in middle of upper back.
Great to hear you have made it to Old Virginia. Think of us this week in executive board starting tomorrow.
Rob Lee
Roger,
Where have you gone? Hey brother, it's me, Don Woody, I'm in the hotel after a long day of Executive Board meetings... and I wondered where you were. I did not know you resigned, but I'm so very excited for you and your wife and your adventure together. Believe it or not, my wife has talked about hiking that same trail for years...she wants it to be a family event before the kids leave the home. I can only imagine how long it is going to take. I will have to get some information from you when you return. Thanks for the blogs...thanks for your service in Utah and Idaho and thanks for your inspiration and testimony to a younger preacher. Love ya brother and God bless
Don Woody
press on my dear friend, press on
Rodger:
John Berryhill here-I met you a few years back in Utah. The golf clubs are working great though I don't play as often as I used to. I am totally excited that ya'll are hiking the Appalachian trail-I have often dreamed of doing the same. May the Lord richly bless you in your journey!
JB
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