Potential Credentials

I mentioned I use my watch to gauge progress towards my next checkpoint. If it's 4 miles to the ridge where I'll eat lunch, I'll get there in 2 hours. That's barring any extended breaks and maybe a little sooner if the terrain is agreeable. I'll glance at my wrist, see that an hour has passed, and that means I'm about halfway there. There's a smart little two letter abbreviation of the day of the week on my Casio's face, and that's the only reason I ever know what day of the week it is. Or I know it's Sunday because the post office and everything else in town is closed. Occasionally I know it's 1pm on a Tuesday. Sometimes I'll think, "man, what would I be doing in SF right now?" Probably at work, getting ready for a work meeting at work. However, sometimes I look at my watch and wish I was back in California. Like 4pm on a Friday. I imagine spinning in my office chair in that sun drenched We work office. I'm probably making ...

Pt 1 Once you get off trail and stop hiking for the night, your mental gears grind to a halt. It's disarming. It's the first time you think "what should I be doing?" The answer is almost always shower or laundry. There's a rooster crowing in Franklin NC and it's 7:30 am. I thought they were up earlier than this. I've been the first one out of camp each day. When the sun rises, so do I. People who lay around all morning are wasting the day. Bums, all of em. Just kidding, I still sleep in on trail and my breakfasts take a long time. Hike your own hike (it's a very common saying here). (Franklin NC motel in the morning, pre rooster crow) I told everyone the first few weeks would be full of adjustments, and those would be the difference between the finishing class and hopefuls. I didn't know what that would look like for my hike, but I was wishfully thinking some strap tightness tweaks or maybe a new shoelace scheme. Maybe I had nailed ever...

I'll keep it a buck, I have sensitive skin. My reactions to bug bites are impressive and I burn easily. I'm currently sporting a rash of unknown origin. Benadryl and a quarter tube of hydrocortisone I scooped from a hiker box. The trail provides. See above the top of the approach trail hike at Amicalola  By late February, everything was packed -my hiking bag and a 2 day duffel for the trip down. My base weight was over by 20%, and my knee was stiff. Hopefully just the cold Buffalo air. The night before leaving for Chattanooga, I stayed up late to watch tv and eat ice cream, and thought about the distinct possibility of failure. Are ideal conditions unrealistic expectations? The hiking routine has symmetry, which pleases me. Wake up, eat, pack up, hike, set up, eat, sleep. My body speaks to me in many ways, and I acknowledge these voices out loud when I'm hiking alone. The blogs and books don't talk about the joint pain nearly enough. If I validate my pain ma...

About a week out from departure, I woke up from a 12 hour nap, and things felt a little more...serious Maybe it's because I've passed the time horizon of my normal Buffalo stay. Maybe it's because my "final" to do list has only grown. Maybe it's because I realized just how cold it's going to be in Tennessee (well below freezing). I know from experience that freezing in your tent overnight is a bad time. I upgraded my sleep system so I don't fall on my face right out of the gate, but I have no choice except to welcome the uncomfortable situations I'll find myself in.  Otherwise, this is not going to be fun at all. For 11 months, I've made list after list of what to do next in order to be as prepared as possible. W hen I got back home, I made what I thought was a final list of preparatory tasks. Predictably, but to my annoyance, that just exploded into more things to do. Dehydrating food turns into buying a vacuum sealer turns into buying boxes t...

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