Hiking preparations

I am almost ready for my annual Appalachian Trail hike. (See my pic of the "week" to the left.)I’m driving to Chicago on Friday and then my brother John and I head south at the crack of dawn Saturday morning. Other older brother Jim will meet up with us on Monday. I couldn’t find my hiking poles which is really aggravating. I picked up a cheap one at Walmart for $10, but I’d really like to find my blue pole that I’ve had since year one. If I don’t find it, I’ll have to pick up another Walmart special. I need two for the descents to protect my knees, my weak points. I am borrowing a bunch of gear from my sister in order to get my pack weight down. I set up the tent I borrowed from her the other night. It’s pretty easy to pitch, although I admit I had four stakes left over so I may be missing something… Still, it rained and the inside stayed dry so that’s good. However, yesterday a strong wind storm and I found the tent had been pulled up and flown across the yard. Hopefully, the winds won’t get so strong on the mountain…

I was figuring out food and I’ve decided to go with my brother Jim’s mini-bagel and apple diet. I’ll supplement with some beef jerky, fruit rollups, and candy. I am brining a little stove and some freeze dried food as well as ramen noodles, but I don’t know how much I really need that. I find that while I’m out there, I’m even less hungry than usual. I eat because I know I should, not because I want to. Out there the drink is always water. I am not a water drinker usually. But when you’ve just climbed a mountain, there is no better drink than water from a mountain stream.

Last night, I went to Scheels and learned all about the Therm-a-rest self inflating pads. One of the biggest problems I’ve had while hiking is getting a good nights’ sleep. I’ve brought these foam pads, but they don’t do enough to cushion the rocky ground. My sister had used a therm-a-rest pad and liked it, so I borrowed hers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to self inflate. It’s supposed to be stored unrolled which she hadn’t done. So I went to Scheels and talked to a very helpful salesman who explained how they worked and advised me to pick a particular pad that he had used and liked a lot. I bought it, but I decided I had to check to see if I could get my sister’s pad to work. The guy explained that even if it didn’t self inflate anymore, it could be manually blown up. The pad I bought was $90. Ack! When I got home, I found I could blow it up quickly and easily, so I’m returning the one I bought and will use Jane’s pad. This should lead to a good night’s sleep and better hiking next week.

I can’t wait to get out there!