Appalachian Training

Today I finally started training for my Appalachian Trail hike. For the past three years, I take a week out of the summer and hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail with my brother. Last year, my other brother and sister came along so there were four of us. This year, there will be three as sis didn't want to go back. It's not easy hiking. In fact, every year something has happened to cut short our hike. The first year, my knee gave out. I was hobbling out of there. In year two, we got caught in a terrible rainstorm. We got off the trail for a day thinking we might get back on, but once off, a crazy idea involving a drive to New York took hold. In the end, I drove to the Big Apple and my brother hiked a portion of the trail much further north from where we started. Last year, my sister was having a hard time and wanted out. I volunteered to go off the trail with her since it would involve hitchhiking and we didn't want her to do that alone. The plan was I'd meet my brothers the next day and we three would continue hiking while sis went to a spa or something. Well, there was a lot of heavy rain and we got a frantic call late that night indicating our brothers needed saving. I drove through winding mountain roads in pitch black with pounding rain and furious winds all around. We found the brothers and got them out there, although they weren't as bad off as we had been lead to believe. However, they didn't want to hike anymore, so I didn't get to return to the Trail. That was really disappointing as I was feeling good and really wanted another crack at it.

Today, I put Sami in the backpack, got a bottle of water for me and one for her, grabbed Shadow's leash and the three of us headed to Linder Point.



It's a great little hiking trail because unlike much of the midwest there are some ascents and descents. Nothing like what you get on the Trail, but it's as good you'll find out here where the tall corn grows. Sami screamed when I put her in the backpack but once we got moving, she calmed down and seemed really interested in the area. And then she fell asleep; that was good since she hadn't had a nap today. Shadow loves it out there. He chased a couple of squirrels, sniffed a lot, and made sure he was always leading the way. He refuses to follow. Even when he's obviously very tired, he'll still push himself so he's staying ahead of me. We walked a little over 4 miles today. Not a bad first day, especially considering the fact that is 90 degrees today. Next time I need to add some weight to the backpack as Sami only weighs 20 pounts and I'll be carrying closer to 30 when we get out there.

Just for fun, here's a shot of me atop Albert Mountain in North Carolina from 2003.