Judge Not

(From Ellie's journal, April 3 - Friday)

I've been noticing with some astonishment the amount of trash there is on the trail. Lots of top strips torn from foil tuna packets (Like power gel top strips at a marathon or triathlon) And plastic baggies. Bits of candy-bar wrappers. And dog doo. People are supposed to "go" 200 feet away from the path and bury it 6 inches deep, but they're letting their dogs do it right on the path and just leaving it.
Like most hikers, I keep my trash in a Zip Loc bag. Except then I can't remember which pocket its in so I start a new one, and then I can't find THAT one, so by the end of the day I've got several going.
So last night I pulled out a Wal-mart bag I'd been carrying in case I needed a Wal-mart bag, and found all my trash bags and consolidated them into that. I picked up some trash around the shelter (Gooch mountain). In the morning when I packed up, I hung it by its handles onto my pack belt where it couldn't get lost andI could easily add to it from my own wrappers or anyone elses.
At least that was the plan. At a break I ate a Pay Day bar and picked up someone elses tuna packet and...where's my Wal-mart bag? Definitely not on my belt. I looked around. Maybe it fell of when I undid my belt buckle. Nope. Gone. Non-existent. So I started a new Zip Loc and the losing-it pattern started again.
Now, I'd done a lot of griping and criticizing and beefing to hike-mates about "I can't believe how much trash people leave on this trail. What happened to Leave No Trace? Are they just careless or really don't care or what? It's inexcusable." And now I'd dropped a whole BAG of trash somewhere without knowing it.
My hike-mate of the day, "N-Da-wind" laughed and laughed. I thought she'd break a rib. I laughed too, but I started thinking.
I criticize people a lot behind their backs. This person does this, that person does that, people do xyz. The implication being "Of course, I don't behave like that, I'm better." Yup. Uh-huh. Right. I'd never be two-faced, or talk too much, or annoy anyone, or complain, for that matter. Because I don't do things like that.
My Hero said "Don't try to take the speck out of your brother's eye until you take the plank out of your own. Then you'll be able to see to help him with his speck."
N-Da-Wind, a hardcore biker chick and heavy duty construction worker, when she was finally able to stop laughing, said "Maybe God brought you out here where it's quiet so he can talk to you. There's things he wants you to learn."
So I'm making a special effort to say something nice or say nothing at all.

It rained off and on the whole windy day. There were views bu we couldn't see them. I took pictures of fungi.
The shelter was drafty and cold, and I thought my tent would be warmer. More people showed up and it started crowding up because the weather was so nasty. One guy said if there was no room inside, he'd take the picnic table under the overhang.
I moved out. I might get a little damper in the tent but I'd be warmer, and could get up in the night to pee without stepping on people and/or falling out of the loft. So I moved out. A singing, dancing Irish guy about my age thanked meand quipped "Aye, it's yer Chrrristian dyuty, Mum." I laughed back "Now THAT'S a little below the belt!!" He's walking from Florida to Canada, road-and-trail combo, raising money for Parkinson's disease.
N-Da-Wind and I hiked ELEVEN miles, crashed a mile short of Woods Hole Shelter, and found a great campsite. A gale was blowing and we hung our tents and sleeping bags up to dry. One the lea side of the hill, there was an old logging road, flat, unused, out of all wind. Three men about our age (50's) had built a campsite. Oh, warmth!!
As I cooked my awesome lentil stuff, I realized I hadn't eaten much all day. Some Granola and milk at the shelter, a Pay Day, and 2 six-packs of cheese crackers. Over 11 miles of strenuous up-and-down hiking. I was tired, having given up a mile short of the shelter. No wonder. I can't hike if I'm going to eat like that. I get on a roll and just don't bother. That's gotta stop.
Tendons are doing well, praise the Lord. The last couple hours or miles today they ached about a 1.5 on a scale of 10. I have gone 27 miles in 3 days - a marathon with a warm down. 2156 miles to go. another heartening drop in that third digit. One marathon down, 82.3 to go.

Thank you, Lord.

Remember The Important Things

(From Ellie's journal April 1 -Wednesday)


Like the toilet paper. I can't find my pit bag. Honest. I've only been on the trail one day and already I'm classifying plants by how well they work as toilet paper.
8 miles down, 2, 175 to go. It's nice to have a new third digit already. Actually, I walked NINE miles - Steve and I parked in the parking lot and walked the mile up Springer Mt. to the trailhead, where my miles started to "count". We kissed goodbye, I gave him my gaiters which I already didn't like, and I was on my own.
Beautiful, misty day, saturating the color of the moss and lichens and tree trunks. Rhododendron is just starting to show buds.
After I stopped at Hawk Mt. Shelter, bugs were a problem. Gnats or something. I have a head net and the guys in the camp were jealous. I said I'd barter: 15 minutes with the headnet for a foot of toilet paper. One of the guys (trail name Bluegrass) said "That's the true mountain currency - toilet paper!"
Later, someone had a craving for dessert- she gave me TP in exchange for instant pudding.
I'm still scatterbrained. I couldn't find my knife - someone lent me theirs. I lost my lighter - someone gave me a few matches. I'm glad I already have a Trail Name (MacGyver) - I'm sure if I were waiting to be "christened" I'd already be "TP". Or "Losing It". Or "Moocher".

Well, I got to spend the night at home with my husband last night :-) He met me at a road crossing near Hiawassee, GA and brought me home, cooked me a lovely steak dinner, did my laundry, showed me around his new digs (very pretty State Park campground on a lake), took me to Wal-Mart (I keep needing "stuff.") Hard to go back to the Trail this morning after the nice warm bed w/ him in it :-)
67 miles down, 2016 to go. Eighty-one marathons left of the 83.3. Four pounds down. I better eat more fat. Most days I get to my destination 1-2 hours ahead of my estimate. Tendons are fine, ache a little sometimes but no real trouble. I bought full-length Spenco arch-support orthotics and pitched my prescription ones and my feet feel so much better. I hated those orthotics. They were stupid. I have a toe blister that's bothersome; I'm taking care of it. I got new boots at Neels Gap and love them to death, way better than my worn-out trail runners. Pair of microfiber dress tights I picked up for $6 in New Orleans have held up so far w/o a single hole. They're my lightweight bottom layer and I've worn them every day.
Night before last it was 21*F at Tray Mountain Shelter where I stayed, blowing snow into the shelter, wind sounded like Niagara Falls. I was with about 10 guys, no other girls!! Three of us pitched tents inside the shelter, 4 more slept in between the tents (actually very efficient use of both shelter and tents, everyone got the benefit of both) and the other die-hards camped, one in a hammock w/ tarp over it. My 20* down bag kept me nice and warm.
I have a new Trail Name:Yard Sale. My stuff gets disorganized inside my tent, and in the morning I lay it all out on my ground cloth to make sure I can find everything and get it reorganized. They say it looks like I'm having a yard sale; before I get it laid out it looks like when a skier wipes out and his gear flies everywhere and they call it a yard sale. Reminds me again of that phrase I want on my gravestone...."Did I Miss Anything?"Speaking of missing, I'm missing about a 13-mile section already. Getting a ride into town (Helen, GA) and back to the trail didn't work out to the same stop-start place. It could have but I wanted to stay with my friends. Ironically, we all started in different groups with different rides (most had stayed overnighit in Helen due to weather forecast), moved at different paces,and I'm not with them currently anyway. I'll catch up today, waiting for a parcel at the post office. I will no doubt go back and do that section within the year. But I'm wondering if part of the purpose of this trip is to teach me not to be so compulsive about getting everything exactly right, going back, doing over, editing, re-editing..... but you can't call it an authenticthru-hike if you miss a section and don't make it up.
Characters on the Trail:Me (MacGyver aka Yard Sale), N-Da-Wind, hardcore biker-chick construction worker. Patience, a deaf fellow, Impatience, his service dog, Muscles, who has become his girlfriend, to all appearances, Ten-Sticks Arriba (that's my starting partner Sally, "The Fastest Mouse in the World-- she BOOKS, which is why we're not together at the moment, I'm not as trained as she is and I'm still coming back from injury), Fleet and Gaia, both women, traveling together, Wishbone, Bluegrass.
Today or tomorrow I should move into NC, depending on when the mail is available at the P.O.
Well, it was supposed to be a quickie... :-)Ellie/MacGyver aka Yard Sale

(Steve), the new tent came in the mail, so Ellie unpacked everything next to the post office and repacked with the new tent.
I dropped her off at the trail and she headed north. I talked to her on the phone and she had caught up with Sally, etal and had made the NC bourder.

Blood Mountain shelter

(Steve) Lest anyone thinks AT hiking is a lonely trek, check out the picture of the Hawk Mountain shelter. Note the mean dog in front!

Updae from Ellie

Hi, everyone! Getting ready to start Day 7 of my journey, Day 6 of hiking. Yesterday, Day 5, was a rest day. I shared a motel room in Helen, GA near Unicoi Gap, with another gal. She's fun, hard-core biker-chick construction worker. A dozen or so hikers have sort of formed a loose group; we run into each other here and there, get a day ahead or a day behind, then run into each other again. Yesterday just about the whole gang stayed in Helen. Bad weather (snowstorm) was predicted but missed us. It's cold out, maybe 30*F, snow flurries, wind advisory.

I got new hiking boots, and a new backpack via "Trail Magic" -- someone thought I needed a different one and pre-paid the outfitter at Neels Gap (Blairsville) and asked them to notify me to come in and be fitted. It's a ULA Catalyst, very awesome.

Hiked 7.8 miles the first day (rained), 7.3 the next(rained, then a monsoon all night) 11 the third (windy but dry,) then 5 (warm and beautiful,) then another 5, then crashed and burned and took a rest day. That's just about what I figured, rest about every 5 days till I get my "trail legs."

Wildflowers are coming up everywhere and it awesome to watch them in different stages of bud and bloom as the elevation changes and we move into early spring from late winter and back again. Red trillium, white trillium, some starry little white flowers that look like tulips when budding and turn into daisies (Star of Bethlehem?) Rhododendron is budding. Light blue, dark purple, and yellow violets. Awesome fungi with patterns like striated rock (think Sideling Hill if you know the Cumberland, MD area; google a picture of it if you're not). Amazing views -- couldn't see much the first 2 days b/c of rain and fog, but the next two it was gorgeous, and the trees aren't leafed out yet so they don't hide it.

On top of Blood Mt., someone had cut off and left an entire headful of light-brown dreadlocks 2 feet long. I heard from someone else that he'd had some kind of moment of truth and cut his hair as a symbolic expression.

One blister on my toe, not too bad.

I'm so glad I'm doing this. Steve met me at Neels Gap and is going to meet me again in Hiawassee. I called him yesterday to tell him I'd taken a rest day in Helen and he said he'd driven right through there on his way to his new campground job. Neither of us knew the other was there. Made me feel sad.

OK, time limit on hotel computer is up, ride back to Trail is coming soon, life is good!

Ellie/MacGyver

(Steve) Met up with Ellie today. She's feeling fine and having a ball! She & Sally are spending the night in a hostel & heading out in the morning after she buys some new boots. The picture is of Ellie & a woman at the outfitter that checks all the stuff in your pack & recommends what to leave out. She lightened Ellie's pack by 2 1/2 pounds!

A rainy night in Georgia

It rained pretty much steadily all day Thursday & last night. I talked to her this morning and she was wet, but in good spirits. She plans on hiking 10 miles today...

Headed north

We hiked back down the mountain to the parking lot & said our goodbyes. Since we were late getting to the top, Sally S. & her son had hiked on ahead due to bad weather. They were going to wait for Ellie at the next shelter.

Springer Mountain, Georgia!

Taken at the southern terminus on a grey, rainy day in Georgia. We drove the 6 mile gravel road to within 0.9 miles of the top of Springer. We hiked up the hill to take a picture of the "official" start.

WELL, IT "WAS" MY LAST POST....

Steve had me take a picture of him and his reduced family... Journey (the dog) and Annie (the cat, age 15.) It made Annie mad. (if you look closely, you can see that even the dog & cat want to leave) steve

Our Internet connection is so slow here, I can't possibly reply to everyone as I'd planned. I'm sorry.... I meant to.

So.... thank you all. Walk with me. Think with me. Pray with me.

I'm calm but at the same time going nutz. I can't find things. Where are my ankle wraps? The neoprene/Velcro ones that protect my ankles from twisting and my Achilles tendons from rubbing by my shoes??? I can't find them anywhere. Walk with faith, maybe I don't need them.

At the Visitors' Center here at Amicalola Falls State Park, there's a scale for weighing your pack... mine weighed in this morning at 27 pounds, including 20oz of water and food for 4.5 days. WooHOOO!!! Lightweight here!! Tomorrow I won't need more water than that at a time; creeks etc. are half to a mile apart. The next day, though, I need to start w/ enough water for 6 miles.

It was hard this morning seeing Sally off on her ascent of the Approach Trail. But I'm not trying it. Eight miles straight up with a backpack on tendons that have been recovering.... I don't think so. We're meeting up tomorrow morning at the shelter where she and her son are spending the night.

Steve and I had a nice steak dinner together. Guess who cooked it :-) Guess who's making the strawberry shortcake? But he bought the wine :-)

Guess who forgot to buy the whipped cream for the shortcake? Guess who forgot to buy the friggin' STEAK??? Luckily we had one in the freezer but it wasn't the really nice one I would have liked for our last night.

Our last night.

Journey is aware I'm making preparations for a trip and looks anxious. Every time I open the front door, her ears and tail go up and her eyes brighten with hopeful pleading.

She's going with us on our "first mile" hike.

Steve is showing occult nuances of proud, enthusiastic, and sad. I suspect he is going to miss me. I sure wish we were doing the next 2,184 miles together after that first one.

Starting a mile into the Trail and backtracking to the trailhead will give me 9 miles instead of 8 the first day. There are no horrendous grades up or down. Tendons, be strong.

I had promised a list of my gear. See Ellie's Lists.

In case I've never mentioned this before..... my first determination to do this before I die, came at age 15. Forty-two years, college, 37 years of marriage, 3 kids, college again, nursing school, 4 grandkids, nursing career, and 5 years of traveling with my husband later..... here I go.

Come walk with me.

COMMENCEMENT

The end and the beginning!

This will be my last blog post before starting the Appalachian Trail. That way I'll still have a day to read and respond to comments :-)

I'm not scared, but I'm going nutz. I thought I was all set but then I unpacked everything and planned more stuff for Steve to send me and organized that and... now my stuff if all over the camper again, with one more day to go.

I went into the Amicalola Falls State Park office today, where the hiker registration book is. There's a hanging spring-scale outside, and when you register, you give your real name, hometown (what'll I put? I don't live anywhere...) and your pack weight. I browsed the last several days of starters, and most packs were 35-45 pounds. Mine is about 30. One guy listed his as 100 pounds. Could that be real? What's he carrying, firewood? Maybe he just wrote something dumb. The guy before him had listed his pack as 10 pounds. That could be possible; 3 days of food, no tent (sleep in shelters), hi-tech lightweight clothing, no stove (eat cold food)... it could be done but I wouldn't try it myself as a relatively new hiker. I want gear!!

Tomorrow I'll go down and register myself. I can't do it before starting on Wednesday, b/c I plan to start about 7a.m. and the office doesn't open till 8:30.

While I was there I saw a young fellow starting up the approach trail. It was 2p.m. The approach trail is steep, rugged, and 8 miles long. He was going to have to book it to get to the first shelter by dark. Or.... he could just find a flat spot and pitch his tent.

I am not doing the approach trail. Steve is going to drive me to a place where a Forest Service road crosses the trail about a mile into it. We're going to walk back to the trailhead together, then turn around and walk the first mile together. I love that. The fact that my husband is so much in favor of my hike and has done so much to help me get ready and support me, is one more sign to me that God likes this idea.

In addition to wanting to walk the first mile with Steve, I don't want to do the approach trail because I think it's an extremely strenuous first day, 8 miles straight uphill carrying a 30-pound pack. Maybe if I hadn't been fighting tendonitis for so long, but as it is, I'm not going to try it. The Lord has helped me heal and given me all kinds of affirmations, so I'm not going to go stupid on Him and tackle that climb my first day. There have been lots of people who've quit their hiking plans partway up that trail. "If it's going to be like this, I can't make it." I want to give my tendons a fighting chance!

You find all kinds of stuff discarded on the approach trail as people toss stuff trying to lighten their packs. (Maybe the 100# guy's firewood or whatever will be there!) One of the things often found on the ground is Bibles. People get inspired and take a whole full-size Bible with them. It's one of the first "unnecessary" things to go.

I tore the Book of Psalms out of a pocket Bible and am taking that. I'm also taking 50 pages at a time of a Dean Koontz book. Steve will bring me the next 50 pages at each of the 3 places he's meeting me, and mail them to me after that. Except.... darn, I've already mailed myself 3 boxes, and guess what I forgot: my book. I'll have to wait till after the Smokey Mountains to find out what happens next, I guess!

Anyway, I'm off. Wednesday. But I'll try to respond to any comments to this post. Our connections is hopelessly slow here, takes minutes to load anything or change screens or send anything. But I'll try.

Wish me luck. Wish me well. Wish me Godspeed.

As I wish it all to all of you. Old friends and new.

ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO

Today we arrived at Amicalola Falls State Park, GA. From here you can hike up a steep, rugged 8-mile approach trail to the Appalachian Trail trailhead on Springer Mountain. There are other ways to get there, and we are doing one of those. "We" -- Steve is driving me up to a Forest Service road that crosses the Trail about a mile into it; together we'll hike back to the trailhead, and together we'll walk my first mile. Together. Together.... my husband and me.

It's not like this is goodbye for six months. He's going to meet me and bring me food in 4 days, again 3 days later, and one more time before I get out of Georgia. THEN I'm on my own. Till Maryland, when he'll be able to meet me a few more times.

We're here. I'm ready. But I can't go yet.

I've got business to take care of tomorrow: paying the last of my stupid medical bills incurred during the summer: my physical therapy, the oral surgeon, the dentist, the emergency room (that humdinger panic attack.) Running into town for a few last-minute items.

I need to write out the list of post offices where I'll be stopping, and send it to my mother.

I need to wait for my friend Sally, who's doing half this venture with me. She and her son left Winchester, VA today. She's starting her hike with him via the approach trail, which she really wants to do, on Tuesday, spending the night somewhere at the top. And I'm starting from the top on Wednesday. Somewhere Wednesday, we'll catch up to each other.

It often happens that people who've planned to start and stay together, find they develop different goals as their hikes evolve. It's kind of like in a marathon: you start with a friend, then one gets tired and lags behind, or the other feels full of pep and wants to go faster, or one stops in a porta-pot and doesn't want the other to blow her race by waiting for her, and they end up each running their own race. That's the code of the road: Run your own race.

It often happens this way on the Trail. You hike your own hike. So we may stay together, and we may not. Time will tell. It's like the headlights.... you can only see so far ahead.

I LOVED that sermon. It, like many other experiences in that Southern Gospel Lutheran church, changed me life.

Anyway, so I'm hanging around waiting for the next two days to pass. I sewed a new buckle on my tent. I fixed a broken drawstring in my rain pants. I got inspired and made a pair of fleece mittens from scraps I had lying around... traced around my hands, cut them out, and sewed them together. I examined my sleeping bag to see if it might be better for me a foot shorter. Decided against that. Debated sleeping in my tent tonight to assure myself one more time I can hack it below freezing (it's cold here.) Steve talked me out of it. I think he wants me to sleep with him :-)

I'm as buzzed as a bee. I feel like I've had too much caffeine. I took a pill: I don't want one of those cursed panic attacks, like the one that felt like a heart attack and landed me in the hospital. They're not born of anxiety exactly.... they're adrenaline surges gone awry. And I've got plenty of adrenaline going. I do *not* want a friggin' panic attack. So I took a pill.

Many thanks to Fiberjoy for her beautiful story about me on her blog. What a lovely friend. Thank you, Friend Fiberjoy!

AUBURN, AL

We're on our way. New Orleans is behind us. Georgia is ahead of us.

Tonight we're at Chewacla State Park near Auburn. It's forested and quiet. Weather tonight is quiet and cool. I've been sitting out at the picnic table playing my (well, Steve's, really) Irish whistle.

Washer and dryer in the bath house are each only a dollar, so I did a load... not sure what our prospects will be between here and Amicalola. It's funny, such a big endeavor ahead of me, and I'm thinking about the laundry and a good price for the machines. They're about 10 times as close to us tonight as they were at the N.O. campground!

I've been going through the last month's worth of email, making sure I have addresses and phone numbers of all the people who have offered to be available if I should need anything coming through their area as I hike. The world is full of beautiful people. It's one of the ways God shows Himself.

Three more days. No more "Eeks!" No more "Yikes!" Just, "Thank you, Lord.... let's get started!"

MY PACK IS PACKED

Photo by Peter Krogh for Avanti Press, Inc. Gratefully used by permission. I bought this card about a year ago, when just starting to plan my Appalachian Trail hike. I just phoned Mr. Krogh asking if I might use it for this blog post, and he agreed. So I thank him very much!


I've gone through my backpack yet again, with my list, and I think I've got everything. Most of the mess is finally gone from the sofa, table, and bedroom floor. I had to accomplish this before I could start getting the camper ready to go on the road tomorrow.

For those who may not know, we live in an RV, have for the last 5 years, sold our house to our son, waved goodbye and hit the road.

So I'm used to living in a 300sq. ft. space, but I'm NOT used to living out of a 3800cu. in. backpack! This has been far more complex than packing my transition and special-needs bags for the Ironman.It's amazing what I've decided I don't need. And there are those who are amazed at what I've decided I DO need.

Three sets of clothes:

• Basic hiking outfit: running skirt w/ the undershorts cut out (I didn't like them, they rode up my thighs), bright yellow longsleeved tech shirt from Gasparilla Marathon 2005; microfiber underwear (black to match the skirt), SmartWool socks. The skirt, ass opposed to shorts, makes it easier to add and subtract the following:
  
• Slightly warmer layer: microfiber stirrup tights; short-sleeved blue tech shirt from Vermont City Marathon 2007. (I think it will be more versatile to layer short tee over the long one, whose sleeves I can push up to make it short.)
• Warm layer: Midweight running tights, fleeze half-zip ls top.

Rain jacket and rain pants over some or all of this if needed. Two additional pairs of socks. Knit hat, knit gloves, the 2pr/$1.49 in Wal-Mart kind.

And that's it. No clean changes of anything but sox, which get changed every couple hours in rotation with others that have been airing out pinned to the backpack. You wash your underwear and dry it overnight. You wear your rain clothes in the laundromat while your travel clothes are in the washer.

I do have sleep clothes: cotton yoga pants (not good for hiking, cotton is cold and heavy if it gets wet) and a ls silk shirt from the Salvation Army. You're not supposed to wear your grungy hiking clothes for sleep because they yuck up your sleeping bag.

My full backpack without food or water weighs in at 22.5 pounds. Four days' worth of food, with one extra supper in case of a delay, plus a quart of water, bring it to 30 pounds. Some think this is too heavy. Others are astonished it's that light.

The weight will start decreasing within hours as the food and water get used up. Water -- I probably won't need a quart at a time while hiking; creeks are plentiful on the southern AT, and running full this time of year.

Here's how I really look!

I'll be posting a complete list of what's in the pack. Right now, though, I gotta get back to getting this camper ready to make the trip from New Orleans to Dawsonville, GA.

Five more days!!!!

Irish Whistle

Photo from Brady Instrument



One of the oddball things I'm taking on the Appalachian Trail is an Irish whistle. It belongs to my husband -- he has a whole set of them in different sizes and keys. I could, if all goes well, be gone 5-6 months, and I have never gone that long in my life without a musical instrument.

It's small, light, tucks between all my gear and the side of my backpack, and is easy to play. Having played music all my life, I've figured it out pretty easily. I'm not saying every tone comes true yet, but I can play it.

I'm not going to regale my campmates with concerts. What I want is to be able to play a soothing melody, usually a hymn, in my tent before settling down to sleep.

The ones I'm doing, which I've worked out as relevant to hikers (especially me):

• This is My Father's World
• Simple Gifts
• Just As I am
• For the Beauty of the Earth
• Oh, Master, Let Me Walk With Thee
• Amazing Grace
• Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart
• Shenandoah
• Aura Lee (Love Me Tender)
• Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
• All Creatures of Our God and King

The last two, I plan to play just about every evening, one or the other, as a scale warm-up. Then two rounds of just one of the others. Nothing involved or annoying... just a, "Goodnight everyone, goodnight, moon.... goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere."

My "YES"

I have loved the church I've attended here in New Orleans. It's Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, but it's also Southern Gospel. I've been a Lutheran for 30 years and I'll tell you what, this is nothing like it is up north. It's the Lutheran Liturgy combined with hand-clapping and dancing and raising hands to heaven and shouting "Amen!" Jubilant. I have loved it.

So I'm sorry to leave. Today was my last Sunday there.

For a couple of weeks I've been singing a song I haven't heard for awhile, "Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart." I was going to sing/play (guitar) it on that recording my mother and I made at Christmas, but I had no voice for 10 days. I really like that song. I've been singing it around the campground for awhile. I started thinking, I could sing that in church... I could ask the pastor if I can do a musical offering, I could find out if the organist knows it.... naw, that would be too pushy. They don't know me from nobody. I'm that white lady that's been going to church all winter. (I've often been the only white person there.) Should I sing? Should I ask? No.... sure, why not.... no.... But alone I've sung it over and over and just felt so happy, thinking how thankful I have been for this church all winter.

I ended up not asking.

But in the middle of the service.... guess what the sermon hymn was. You don't have to guess, do you??? I kid you not. And it's not in the hymn book. The words were printed in the bulletin.

They sang my song, without my having mentioned it.

People ask all the time whether God ("if there is a God") hears and answers prayer. If you ask me, this was a direct hit.

I was thunderstruck. I got to sing it after all, along with all the people around me. Way better than a show-off solo.

Other songs today that felt like affirmations of my hiking hopes:

The choir did a song with the refrain, "We've come too far by faith to turn back now."

Then the communion hymn was, "Just As I Am."

"Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without...
...... I come."


After church, when I shook hands with the pastor, he told me to go wait for him in the office. Uh-oh, what'd I do? Turns out they had parting gifts for me. A Bible with "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" embossed on the front; on the inside cover, the pastor and each of the elders had written a blessing note, including, "Let His word be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path." "Walk with God.". I had told the pastor a few weeks ago about my plan to hike the Trail, the day I got the ditty bag with the earplugs. Also in the package was a little glass paperweight etched with the words: "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" And a little lapel pin shaped like a nail spike with the word "Forgiven" on it. I'll take that on my hike. There was also a beautiful cross to hang on the wall.

I can't describe how much this church has meant to me. They have been so full of joy and thanksgiving and faith in spite of having had their homes destroyed, their church destroyed, their neighborhoods destroyed.... they have changed my life.

I don't know for sure that I'll finish my hike in Maine. I don't know what's ahead. But that's OK. One of the sermons at this church was about the Light of the World, and the pastor talked about headlights. He said, you can't see everything with your headlights, but you can see what's just ahead, enough to keep on going. It's like that with the Lord, he said. Trust and your way will be lit just far enough for you to take your next step.

So I don't know what's ahead in the next 6 months but I'm pretty darn confident that I'm intended to start hiking.

God gave me a "Yes."

RESCUE ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

EMT's and ATV's to the rescue.

Especially interesting to me in that he's a "neighbor" from the New Orleans area. I don't know him, but there are no strangers, only friends we haven't met yet. Like most of mine :-)

It's good to know they take the ATV's up there. The day last spring when I did my tendons, I never thought of that -- only that I was inaccessible by both ambulance and helicopter and would have to hoof it or be carried on a litter by rescuers also on foot. I never thought of ATV's.... Granny MacGyver here still can't get used to these newfangled ideas.

I'm glad "Sarge" is OK and reassured to hear how smoothly his rescue went!

ELEVEN DAYS

Gosh.... I remember when it was eleven WEEKS.

I'm in a scramble getting things done and ready, that I've procrastinated on for too long.

Last week when we had 2-3 days of rain predicted, I put my tent out. It leaked. Panic! I want walking in the rain wearing my rain gear. It leaked. Panic!

Buy a new tent. Buy new rain gear.

Both pretty much out of the question.

I discovered what was wrong with the tent. Last summer when I put in a new window, I put it away intending to seal the new seams eventually, but I forgot. So I moved the tent under the roof of the campground pavilion till it dried, sealed the new window seams, and put it back out in the rain. It stayed dry! Score one!

I ordered some Granger's 2-In-1 Waterproofing, which came today, and which I will launder into my rain gear tomorrow. Today I just washed everything really well to prepare them. Stay tuned for the results.

My tendons are still tender. But I've been walking, with a little over 20# in my backpack. I'm currently breaking up 5 or so miles into 2-3 separate walks: one in the morning before I start working, one on my lunch break, maybe one in the evening. BunnyGirl's Kinesio Tape is helping amazingly.

Still waffling about what clothing layers to take. I keep logging onto The Weather Channel page for the forecasts in the first few towns on the Trail. Steve, however, will be work-camping in northern Georgia till the middle of May, so for my first 3 weeks or so he'll be able to bring me what I need if my needs change. How very lucky I am..... he is 200% behind me in this. He really wants to see me make it.

MMMmmmm, THIS LENTIL STUFF!!

I had some extra Trail food after packing it all up last night and decided to cook some for practice.

I'd made this lentil stuff... lentils, dried carrots, dried onions, granulated garlic, tomato-sauce "leather" with basil. I took a chance and put together a lot of it and bagged it up w/o having tried it first.

So tonight I tried it, hoping it wasn't awful, which would require opening a lot of bags and taking it out.

No worries. It's YUMMY!!! I have it in about half my bags; the other half have split-pea soup (with carrots, instant potatoes, powdered milk, and my ever-present garlic and onions.) I'll tell you, after I ate the WHOLE hiker-appetite-size portion, I wished I had it to look forward to every single week.

The split-pea soup will be good, too, but, oh, my, I don't know if it could be as good as this lentil stuff.

I found that it takes more water and more simmering time than I'd anticipating. That's good to know. I'm glad my JetBoil stove simmers! Also, I'm taking a plastic peanut butter jar for the purpose of pre-soaking my suppers -- put them in the jar with water at lunch time and then cook up the pre-soaked stuff in camp. That will shorten simmering time and save fuel. I didn't completely cook the vegetables I dried; just blanched them enough to stop enzyme action to prevent whatever minimal deterioration might occur in dehydrated food over 6 months. So even when they're rehydrated, they'll need to cook a little.

I LOVE that lentil stuff. I'll make more for here at home before I hike.

ACCOMPLISHMENT!

This is 25 gallon bags of food, one per week (I'm giving myself an extra week!) each containing 6 suppers, plus instant coffee, tea bags, Crystal Light or regular lemonade mix (for my tea), dried fruit, powdered milk, popcorn, and a little packet of extra dried tomatoes or sauce in case something needs some oomph. I'll take a small salt shaker, and a little bottle of garlic powder, or maybe some other kind of general-purpose seasoning, since just about everything I made has garlic in it already.

Along with one of these bags per week, I'll be relying on Steve to buy and include with it a bag of walnuts, jar of natural peanut butter (I don't want any trans-fats, and doubt I'll be able to find natural PB in every little town), beef jerky, instant pudding (I could put that in the bags but I didn't buy any and I don't want to open up every bag again), and small bottle of olive oil -- or I might get a bigger one and put it in my bounce box, taking out a week's worth at each mail stop before sending it to myself at the next one. In that box will also be shampoo and conditioner, Clorox for my water (I've researched this and believe it disinfects water adequately, and it's cheap and easy), hand/foot lotion, and hand sanitizer, all to be transferred to small bottles with the rest shipped on.

Things I'll buy for myself on the way include breakfast cereal or bars, snacks, a little fresh fruit (it's heavy), hot chocolate mix, candy to mix with my walnuts into trail mix, cheese (hard cheese like cheddar keeps a week unrefrigerated.)

Sixteen more days. Sixteen more days. Sixteen more days.

GRATEFUL

I'm having the most extraordinary outpouring of support from my friends.

Fiberjoy dehydrated 5 pounds of broccoli and sent it to me, along with a bag of beef jerky, and dried cranberries, and PayDay bars. PayDay's.... she remembered they're my favorite for hiking/biking etc.!

BunnyGirl sent me Kinesio tape for my tendons. They improved immediately as soon as I put it on. I'd been struggling with athletic tape that ripped my skin off and didn't allow stretching. What a difference.

Carlene in Canada sent me a JetBoil cookset. Super-compact and super-efficient and a total surprise, last summer when I was going through a bad time.

Clyde, a member of an Appalachian Trail hikers' email group, sent me a beautiful Feathered Friends down sleeping bag that he doesn't use anymore. I'll need this warm bag until June/Virginia and then again by August/New England. I have a lighter summer bag for warmer conditions.

ShirleyPerly has offered to transcribe my journals to my blog.

Carlene has been my dear friend for a long time. I met Shirley at IMFL, and got to see her again, and meet her sister JadeLady, in Austin. The others..... we've never even met. And yet all these people have done these astonishing things for me.

Thanks to my friends, I'm not so "MacGyver'ed" anymore. Maybe I should change my Trail Name to "Grateful."

With friends like this, how can I fail?

HOPES AND DREAMS

This Trail hike and its preparations seem so huge.... sometimes I wonder if it's the right thing. We will be hard-pressed for the 5-6 months I don't work. Sometimes I wonder if.... well, if I have the right.

But then things happen. Like a couple Sundays ago when, in church, I got a nice ditty bag and EARPLUGS.

Today something came from church, too. Nothing material. Just a reminder that I have the right to realize my hopes and dreams.

The church is Lutheran, with a strong Southern Gospel flavor. It's the most amazing hybrid and I love it!! Hand-clapping, dancing, arm-raising, hallelujah, then WHOOSH.... we're back through some kind of demographic warp to the Lutheran liturgy again. I am the only white person in the congregation unless there are guests. No one seems to notice.

Anyway, in the Lutheran Communion service there's a prayer sung after collection of the offering, that goes like this:

"Let the vineyards be fruitful, Lord,
And fill to the brim our cup of blessing.
Gather a harvest from the seeds that were sown
That we may be fed with the Bread of Life.
Gather the hopes and the dreams of all,
Unite them with the prayers we offer now.
Grace our table with Your presence,
And give us a foretaste of the feast to come."

It was the collection plate held up in offering with the words, "Gather the hopes and the dreams of all, unite them with the prayers we offer now," that struck me today. This Trail hike has been a hope and dream of mine for 42 years. I feel it was included in the "hopes and dreams of all" that were offered and united with the prayers we offered.

This is not our home. We are visitors to this Earth, we're here for but a short while. While here, there are things we want to do, things we want to see. When someone is visiting with us, or when we're visiting with someone, we want to help them do and see what they hope to, while they're with us. I think it may be the same way with God, the Host of our visit to earth. He wants us to experience the pleasures of the trip and to be able to do the things that are of interest to us. He's a good Host.

THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.....

Steve told someone at the campground this evening, "We leave three weeks from tomorrow."



We leave for GEORGIA three weeks from tomorrow.



We leave for Georgia three weeks from tomorrow.



Can it be?????



I've got all my food done; now I just have to line up 24 bags and drop one of everything in. Oh, and add the broccoli to my Turkey Tetrazzini, after Fiberjoy finishes it up for me :-) Honest, she read my blog post about being able to find lots of okra but not much broccoli, and she bought me 5 pounds and is dehydrating it. And we've never met!!



Another friend I've never met is sending me a down sleeping bag. Mailed it yesterday.



People are talking to me as if I'm going to walk to Maine.



Am I actually going to walk to Maine? Of the 2,000 or so hopefuls who start each year with that intent, only about one in ten make it. There's a 20% dropout rate in the first 30 miles (mostly people who start with a 60-pound backpack expecting a smooth, groomed path.)



There are things you do without, in order to keep your backpack to 1/4 of your weight (that is, 1/4 of your ideal, not necessarily current, weight.) Like changes of clothes. You have some but it's for changing weather conditions, not to have clean clothes. You don't get clean clothes until you wash your hiking clothes in a laundromat in town while wearing your rain jacket and pants.



I saw a guy on the trail last spring wearing a shirt that said, "Same shirt. Different day."



I'm wearing my Keystone Vermont City Marathon shirt. It'll remind me to hang in there. That was probably my worst-ever marathon in terms of sticking with it. But I got a nice shirt :-)

Going to bed now. Resting my darn tendons. If I have to hike with tape on my tendons, I will hike with tape on my tendons. I will not let my AT keep me off the AT.

NEGLIGENT- JUST BUSY

Honest, I'm still here.



Honest, I'm still making preparations to start hiking the Appalachian Trail, April 1, 4 weeks from yesterday.



I'm up to my ears in bags of dehdrated food. Organization is a challenge, considering we live in a 300 sq-foot RV with nowhere to spread stuff out except the table, sofa and bed.

24 servings (one a week) each of:



Chili (with dried ground beef, beans, dried tomatoes and tomato sauce, seasonings)

Turkey Rice Tetrazzini (dried ground turkey, instant brown rice, broccoli that Fiberjoy is drying for me, isn't she unbelievable?, seasonings)

Corn chowder (instant mashed potatoes, dried corn, powdered milk, dried onions, seasonings)

Ham/Potato Casserole (Packaged scalloped potatoes, individual-serving-packs Spam, green beans)

Lentil Soup (Lentils, dehydrated carrots, dried onions, dried tomato sauce, seasonings)

Red Beans and Rice (as implied, plus ham soup base and seasonings)

Split Pea Soup (Split peas, packaged instant mashed potatoes, dehydrated carrots, seasonings)



That's 6 suppers per week. The 7th day (or whenever I hit town) I'll eat Real Food in town. Probably from the McDonald's $1 menu but it won't be dehydrated. A bonanza will be an AYCE buffet.... AYCE meaning "All You Can Eat" like Shoney's, which happens here and there on the Trail.

Lunches: tricky, since I don't eat much wheat to save digging cat holes. I figure on trail mix, beef jerky, peanut butter out of the jar, dried fruit, PayDay candy bars. Snickers bars are traditional on the Trail, but PayDay has more protein, isn't as sick-sweet, and doesn't melt.

Breakfasts: Oatmeal is the standard. I like granola, but often it contains wheat. I could also cook exra rice with dinner and save it for breakfast, add powdered milk and sugar and a handful of raisins, maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon, and have something resembling rice pudding.

I've spent the evening with various combinations of clothing and 2 sleeping bags determining the warmest arrangement. I have a 20*F synthetic youth-size mummy bag, given to me by someone who no longer needed it. Yes, the youth bag is plenty large enough for this little old lady. If I encounter a cold snap in April in the mountains, I'll start adding layers of clothes:



Running tights + fleece top

Sweater-knit tights + acrylic cardigan

Rain pants + rain jacket

+ Sleeping bag with nylon liner



Even if it's cold enough that I'm not toasty warm with that arrangement, at least I won't freeze to death. I slept out in this bag in Winchester, VA to 24*. I won't say I was cozy but again I wasn't in danger of freezing. And I didn't have all those clothes on.

I've got a Therma-Rest Women's Pro-Lite 3 sleeping pad.
And a square of closed-cell foam from Wal-Mart to give additional cushioning under my hips.

I've got a little bag with emergency fix-its: first aid and gear-mending.
I've got another little bag (that I got in church) for toiletries and bedtime needs (including the earplugs that came in the bag when I got it in church.)

I've got a JetBoil stove given to me as a surprise by my good friend Carlene from Ontario. It boils a pint of water in 2 minutes (faster than a microwave) and/or simmers until the Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes are done.

I've got mid-weight and warm-weight clothing (as described above) mostly scored from Goodwill and the Salvation Army but also including my Road Runner Sports running tights and a nice fleece top from my friend Sally, who's hiking with me to the halfway point (assuming either of us old ladies makes it that far.)

I've got 3 pairs of SmartWool hiking socks and a pair of NorthFace gaiters to keep stickers and gravel out of my shoes. These were all sold to me for less than the retail of 2 pairs of the socks by a member of the Women Hikers Yahoogroup.

I've got Marmot Precip rainwear.

I've got a one-person Eureka! tent that Steve got for a bicycle trip about 7 years ago. Still good.

I've got my Go-Lite Women's Quest backpack.... trying to fit everything into it.

I've got my Achilles tendons taped. Yes.... they're bothering me again. They seemed good, I'd hiked as much as 11 miles carrying 20 pounds, then one day about 10 days ago I decided to jog a smooth easy mile (jogging was OK'd by my physical therapist, up to 5 miles/week in addition to hiking) and they've been sore since then. I alternate between panicking and shrugging. Shucks, I've had Achilles tendonitis for years. At worst I've taken a week or two off and then continued marathon or Ironman training. Crap on it. I've got 'em taped to limit motion. I'm taking ibuprofen to decrease inflammation. I'm stretching my calves (not the tendons.) I'm icing. I'm continuing to plan. I've got a month. I've been here before.... a month out from whatever and my tendons ailing. Crap on it. I'll hike with a lift in my shoes and tape on my legs if I have to. I'll hike till I can't walk. I'm going. This is a setback. This is a scare. This is a test. Everything is ready to go. I'm going. People hike the Trail with knee braces; I'll hike it with Achilles support. That's why God made hiking poles, to take the weight off. I'm going.

ADVENTURE READING

Here's a National Geographic Adventure magazine list of the 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time.

I feel really educated and worldly because I've actually read two of them:
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (#9 on the list!) about a fatal climb of Mt. Everest and the factors contributing to the disaster.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger about the loss of Gloucester swordfishing boat Andrea Gail in the north Atlantic triple-storm of 1991.

I would like to nominate two others:
Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage. A young woman's account of her 2-year journey with her husband, around the world on bicycles. One of my favorite reads ever. The author, however, never got to see it in print. As the book was going to press, Barbara was killed in a cycling accident while training for a triathlon. This information is provided in the text on the back of the book, so I'm not giving away anything.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston. Utah climber's harrowing story of being imprisoned in a canyon for 6 days, his arm pinned by a rock to a canyon wall, and his hair-raising account of how he finally freed himself. I remember hearing about that one on the news when it happened.

And my favorite account of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike by a woman:
Walking Home by Kelly Winters. She describes in dreamy, poetic prose the life trauma and confusion that led to her hike, and her journey to finding herself on the way to Maine.

Anyone care to cast a vote on their favorite true adventure book?

TRAIL GEAR FROM AN UNLIKELY PLACE

I'll tell you what, I never expected to get trail gear at church.

Sunday was the day after Valentine's Day. The pastor made mention of love and gifts and flowers and such, and then at the end of the service surprised us (or maybe just me) by saying that they had gifts for the ladies. (Don't men get Valentine's gifts?)

Anyway, they handed all the ladies these nice little drawstring pouches made of a sturdy sheer red nylon fabric. Always alert to such things, I thought, "Ditty bag! I could use that for toiletries in my backpack!" (I'm not taking, like, a full makeup kit or anything, but toothbrush, contact solution, antiperspirant, a few things like that.)




It's even the same color as my backpack.



I saw that it had candy and a couple other things in it. I waited till I got home to look at the loot. I gave Steve the chocolate and kept the peppermints. Then looked at the rest of it.

Someone must have been collecting hotel freebies, 'cuz there were things in Crowne Plaza packages. There was a black satin eyecover (or maybe that was for Valentine's hanky-panky) and, of all things..... a pair of ear plugs!!!!

Now, if you don't know the Appalachian Trail and its shelters, let me tell you ear plugs are pretty much essential. Most of the time I'll be sleeping in my tent, but if the weather is really bad, I'll stay in a shelter. These are 3-sided lean-to's where everyone just sleeps side-by-side on the floor. Men outnumber women (as in just about any endurance athletic sport) and men snore. So anyone planning to use shelters at all generally packs a pair of ear plugs. And then there are other night sounds..... one hiker counted a whip-poor-will's reps of its piercing call at 180 before it stopped for breath. Personally I'm anxious to hear whip-poor-wills but at close range it could get tiresome, I guess.

I got a neat little drawstring ditty bag and EARPLUGS in church!! Is this God's nod of approval for my hiking plans?

Next there was a little spray bottle of something, and I said to Steve, "What's this? Bear repellent?" But it was linen spray. I won't take that.... bears like sweet-smelling stuff.

Never expected to get cool trail gear at church. Gotta wonder about that. Again.... was it a sign?

Miss Rachel thinks I'm fabulous! She said so, and nominated me to her list of Fabulous Bloggers. Here's what you have to do once awarded: first, list 5 things you're "addicted" to, then bestow the honor on five of your favorite bloggers.

Blogger won't let me upload a picture right now. Blogger doesn't think I'm fabulous :-(

Anyway, 5 things I'm addicted to:

1. Email. That's one reason I don't blog more. I'm "only" on I think 7 lists, but they take time. I don't know why I stick with some of them. They're not that important to me. That makes this a lesson in choosing what's important: email lists that aren't important, or a blog that is the chronicle of my life? Seems like a no-brainer, so why is it so hard to sign off the lists? There's one list of close women friends I'd never leave. And there's Women Hikers. And Appalachian Trail Hikers. And Preserving Foods, where I learn a lot about dehydrating. Then there's an Atkins Diet list, which I should sign off since I'm not following it anymore; a Diet Survivors list, where you do introspection to learn how your eating habits and metabolism have been screwed up by dieting.


2. Food. Sweets. Sugar. Which is why I tried Atkins, why I can't follow it, why I'm on the Diet Survivors list. I just want to quit worrying about food and eating.


3. Introspection. My husband says my life would be a whole lot simpler if I didn't think so much. I can't help it. I always think of the repercussions of every action and reaction, worry that I've offended someone, worry that if I'd done differently then XYZ would or wouldn't have happened, think about what-if.... I drive myself nuts.


4. I liked that Miss Rachel is addicted to mascara. I should be, too. I haven't worn makeup in ages, I who, say, 5-7 years ago, would rather have gone without my blouse than without my eye makeup. I heard a presumably Southern saying once: "If you're ever in a situation -- and I can't imagine what that situation might be -- where you have to choose between wearing ONLY your underpants or ONLY your mascara, choose the mascara." I've been going around looking like a drone.


5. In the same vein.... lip balm. Or lip gloss. Or vaseline. I have to have something on my lips or I go crazy with discomfort. I've heard all that stuff is addictive b/c it sucks moisture out of your lips making you need the stuff even more. But you can bet I'll be taking lip gloss on the Trail. If anyone wants to send me a care package, be sure to include lip balm, especially some that has a little shine to it, but if no shine, then plain old Chapstick will do fine. I can't live without it.

Now, who to tag. That may have to wait.... I've been so hung up on email that I haven't read my friends' blogs, so I don't know who's already been tagged. Stay tuned. I will tag some. I have to find them first!

NOVELTIES

Talk about MacGyvering. I guess someone's fishing rod broke (must have been a big one!) and they took the end of the broken rod and jammed it onto a stick to keep on fishing.

This is just one of the things I saw today while hiking 4 hours -- about 11 or 12 miles -- in New Orleans along Lake Ponchartain. With a 20# pack. I'm working up to longer days and a 30# pack. Seven-and-a-half weeks to go.

So I hike alongside the streets with this pack that extends from my head to my butt, and a hiking stick, and odd clothes, and no one gives me a second glance. Maybe I'm so weird no one wants to mess with me.

One man did ask me, "Are you a camper?" I told him, "I'm getting ready to hike the Appalachian Trail." "Oh," he said. "Where's that at?"

Other amazing sights today:

The hillside of a levee all covered with white clover blossoms, which, as a Northerner, I associate with summertime. Their subtle, delicate fragrance glistened in the air and made me feel the peace and freedom of childhood summers.

A whole flock of snowy egrets flying inland from the lake to a grassy park.

A little boy tossing a net over a bridge fishing for mullet.

Funny stuff:

A bright golden-yellow port-a-pot called "Pot O' Gold."

Gross stuff:

Trash. Trash. Trash. I can't believe the trash around here. The usual beer cans and bottles, snuff cans, disposable diapers, McDonald's cups and bags, and various detritus still from Hurricane Katrina: bits of building material, PVC pipe pieces, shingles, sheets of styrofoam. And, oddly, a fair number of spent condoms and tampon tubes. Now.... how do these come to be roadside litter? Do people use these items while in their car and then toss them out the window, or what? Maybe they washed ashore in the hurricane, too.

The hurricane damage is still very much in evidence. Downed palm trees still lying along the lake. Homes boarded up and empty. In the residential area near our lakeside campground, I'd say that of every three houses, one is lived in, one is in the process of repair but still unliveable, and one is empty, trashed, and abandoned.

A family is staying at our campground having fled the recent ice storm in Arkansas. They lived on a mountain and the trees came crashing down on the house they'd just built and moved into 5 months earlier. They got some old junk RV and hit the road looking for work. Found some in New Orleans, cleaning up after the hurricane that was 3 years ago.

I've got a new injury. Carpal tunnel injury. I won't say "syndrome" because I don't think it's going to be a chronic thing; it's the result of pushing a lawn mower 6 hours a day for 2 days straight. My hands started to tingle and fall asleep after that, especially at night. I switched from mowing to digging but that wasn't enough rest.... woke up at night feeling like my hands were in hot water with dead fingers. I got one of those carpal tunnel splints at the drug store for the worst one, my left, and it's a miracle. The very first night it didn't wake me up at all, although the other hand was numb in the morning. They're both much better now, although I'm still wearing the splint on my left.

I said to Steve, "Geez, my feet, my teeth, a panic attack that I thought was a heart attack.... what's next???" He said, "This isn't anything, you can hike with one hand."

That's my man :-)

I WANNA BE THIS TOUGH

I found this yesterday while digging crabgrass out of the shrubbery beds in the campground.

Steve said, "So? The root grew through the stick."

I see one of nature's miracles of survival, a metaphor for my life.

URBAN FLATLAND HIKING

It's a challenge living in New Orleans and preparing for hiking the Appalachian Trail. There are no forests, no mountains, no hills.

At least not any natural ones. What I do is, I hike up and down the levees. Up one side, down the other, up, down, up, down, zigzagging the length of the levee. Here's one of them, with Journey at the bottom for scale:

I think I posted about climbing the levee before. I took our hand-held GPS and measured the distance from bottom to top (about 50 feet) and the elevation change (18 feet). This works out to a 36% grade. Fifty feet isn't very far, but to go 50 feet up, 50 feet down, up, down, up, down, enough times to make a mile.... next day I can tell I've done something.

After I've traversed the levee, I keep on walking alongside Lake Shore Drive, the lake being Lake Pontchartrain. Lake Shore Drive is very pretty; it's here that I find my "forests."

I should have a picture of the lake shore for you, but I don't. Next time!

I do occasionally have to ford a "creek," though, on my way home, if it's rained recently:

So I don't have any wilderness paths to follow, but I make do. I'm hiking 5 - 7 miles at a time, with a backpack. I started with 10 pounds of stuff in the pack and have worked up to 20. I'm aiming for hikes of 8 miles every other day with 30#. I'm still watching my Achilles tendons closely. Sometimes they feel a little sore but they're fine later on, and there's been no swelling. In fact, swollen knots that the podiatrist told me were scar tissue and would never go away..... hav gone away. One of my tendons (ironically, the one that was torn) is now completely smooth, and the other one nearly so.

I hope they stand up to day-after-day mountain-hiking with my home on my back. I start 8 weeks from tomorrow.

STILL TO DO....

Maybe I'll feel less-overwhelmed if I make a list. To make it tangible.

Here's a start. I'll probably add to it in the next two months.

1. Keep on drying foods. Finish carrots and cabbage, start broccoli.
2. Organize dried foods, pack into week's-worth bags, organize for mailing.
3. Make list of approximate mail-stops based on approximate hiking progress.
4. Clean out closet. Steve wants "my" side while he's home alone 'cause he doesn't have to crawl over the bed to reach it.
5. While cleaning closet, organize my stuff and throw out a lot.
6. Go over contents of backpack, re-organize.
7. Make list of weekly groceries for Steve to buy and send me.
8. Update immunizations for dog and cat so Steve won't have to worry about it.
9. Or forget that one and let him do it.
10. Buy headlamp.
11. Buy new battery for camera.
12. Buy second memory card for camera (so Steve and I can exchange full and empty ones.)
13. Go over contents of backpack, re-organize.
14. Sew loops onto Tyvek ground cloth so I can pitch it as a tarp if I want to.
15. Sew extra gear pockets into tent.
16. Re-waterproof rain gear and tent.
17. Re-seam seal tent.
18. Grow out hair to no-fuss ponytail. Stick it out thru in-between stage. Do not cut now.
19. Make sure enough family and friends are watching out for my mother.
20. Finish woodburning hiking poles with family/friends' signatures.
21. Get snail-mail addresses for postcards.
22. Shop for sample/travel size toiletries.
23. Order 6-months' supply of contacts.
24. Fill prescriptions.
25. Make sure all adult children are on birth control -- NO ONE is to have baby till Nov.
26. Arrange automatic bill-pay for my Achilles physical therapy.
27. Go over contents of backpack, re-organize.
28. Spazz over whether I have the right assortment of early-spring clothing.
29. Prepare box of stuff I'll need (or might need) Steve to send me later on: different shoes, warm-weather sleeping bag, warm-weather clothes, different or extra xyz's
30. Go over contents of backpack, re-organize.
31. Get traveler's checks. Also will carry some cash and bank card.
32. Go no-mail on my email groups. Give Steve access to groups so if I get killed by bear he can notify them.
33. Worry that I'm not ready.

That's a start. I'll add more if I think of more......

IN A SLUMP

I seem to be going through a few days of feeling unmotivated to do anything about my AT hike, now coming up in 9.5 weeks. I don't want to dry food, I don't want to plan my town stops, I don't want to go out and train (last week I put in four 7+ mile hikes up and down the New Orleans levees with a 15-pound pack.)

I just feel tired. Maybe I've been doing so much towards it and thinking about it so much and talking about it so much, I feel like I've already done it or something and just want to rest.

Maybe it's because I've run out of foods to dehydrate until I go shopping again. Maybe it's because I only have 2 months to get my food all done and finalize everything and I feel overwhelmed..... withdrawing is my common response to overwhelmed-ness.

I do have brown rice cooking on the stove. Cooked and dehydrated, it rehydrates nice and fluffy in 5 minutes in hot water. The soak-all-day method didn't work. I'm glad I tried it ahead of time.

Yesterday I spent all day reading a novel. I think I'll just chill one more day today, making a grocery list for tomorrow, and then start with the food again.

Tree in Time

Tree in Time
Originally uploaded by imagainst_the_wind

It's not about the Appalachian Trail.... but I was going through some of my photos and thought I'd post it. I've got so many photos, from so many places, and some of them are good.... I'm going to start to go public. So far it's the only one on my Flickr page, but I'm going to add more.

Why I started this now, when I've got so many AT preparations on my plate, is beyond me. But that's why they won't be coming thick and fast :-)

DRYING AND PLANNING

The push is on.

Each tray is 13 inches diameter. This is about 4 pounds of carrots and 3 pounds of cabbage, lightly precooked (to stop enzyme action that could cause spoilage even in fully-dried food) and ready to go into the dehydrators. Each tray is 13 inches diameter; one dehydrator holds 4 and the other, 5.

I have a list of what I will need to finish dehydrating and bag up in the next 10 weeks, based on a 6-month or 24-week trip:

12 cups dried measure of each of the following:

• Carrots
• Cabbage
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Green beans
• Turnip/collard greens (yes, I like these, and yes, they rehydrate well!)

This will give me 1/2 cup dry = 1 cup reconstituted per week of each... a different vegetable each day for 6 days. The seventh day I plan to eat in town.

That's just the vegetables. I'll be mixing them with:

• Dry beans (need 24 cups dry measure = 1 cup per week = 2 X 1 cup rehydrated.) I buy them dry, soak & cook, dehydrate, and end up with "instant" dry beans. I'm not drying any more of them, though, since I discovered that lentils and split peas, after soaking 3-4 hours, cook in 5 minutes. I'll put them into a jar with water at lunchtime and heat them up for dinner.
• Brown rice (I'll need about 5 pounds for the same number of servings; soak & cook like lentils)
• 24 cups tomato sauce = 1 cup per week; I'll dry it and flake it in the blender and divvy it up; it's less expensive than 72 tomatoes (3/week)
• 8 pounds hamburger = 1 serving/week of 1/3 pound
• 8 pounds ground turkey = 1 serving/week of 1/3 pound
• Onions -- however many it takes to make 6c. dried minced onions

Then there's fruit. I don't have this fully-planned yet. Just something to mix into my oatmeal, basically. Probably:

• Applesauce "leather"
• Banana slices
• Maybe pineapple rings

That's just the stuff I'm going to dry myself.

So my dinners will include a couple servings of meat a week; complete protein the other days from the beans/rice mixture, plus cheese (buy en route); and a different vegetable every day, along with onions and tomato sauce.

I'll save breakfast, lunch, and snack plans for another post.

~Sigh~

I'm tired just from making the list. Burned up a pound of calories right there, I think.

NO BROCCOLI

I've been to the supermarkets on our side of New Orleans looking for family-size bags of frozen broccoli to put in my food dehydrator, but I can't find anything bigger than a one-pound bag.

But you can get bags of frozen okra big enough to last until the Second Coming.

We're in Louisiana.

Oh -- yes, dried-and-rehydrated broccoli is good. I've tried it out.

WHO'S ON MY HIKING POLES?

What I'm doing is, I have one hiking pole for family, one for friends. I've had the opportunity to see most of my family and have them personally sign my "family" hiking pole. Then I wood-burn over the signature to make it wear-proof. I've got 4 generations on my "family" pole. Granddaughter Abbie, then 5, signed her name and then her yet-unborn sister Sarah's name. Sarah's almost 8 months old now.

My "friends" pole is still relatively unsigned. Who wants to go with me on the Appalachian Trail? I gotta get movin' on gettin' these names on. Spread the word.... my blog readership isn't very large, so any of my readers who have a large following, get the word out.... the more friends I have with me, the better!

If you want to be on my hiking pole, write a comment telling me so! I've got ten weeks left :-)

ANOTHER BUMMER

This one involving the dehydrating of a 6-lb can of green beans.

Preamble: it's very windy in New Orleans today, steady at 28mph gusting to 40.
Preamble Part 2: Around the front of our RV, we have a "skirt," like this,




that provides an enclosed storage space with protection from wind and rain.

Supposedly.

The rest of the story:
Yesterday I posted about my bin of Ziploc-bagged dehydrated food getting wet under said canopied storage space, where rain came in around the top of the skirt right over my bin. I saved some of the food.

Today, in the wind, the skirt flapped around so much (guess we hadn't gotten around to securing it to the ground yet) that it knocked my running dehydrator right off the shelf. Luckily, it didn't break. Unluckily, 4 trays of nearly-done green beans flew onto the ground. Into gravel.

Now, the loss of a $4 can of beans isn't that big a deal, but 3 quarts of beans on the ground rehydrating in the humidity and predicted heavy rain is. Rotting beans on the ground, ew.

So I took a colander out and picked all the little bitty dried-up beans out of the gravel. Little-bitty means about the thickness of coffee stirrers. An inch long. Strewn around in the gravel. It took awhile to pick them all up. And as long as I'd picked them up, I might as well try to salvage them, so I rinsed them off in the colander until I was sure they were gravel-free, and stuck 'em back in my *indoor* dehydrator to dry them off. Can't just let them air-dry b/c they'll start to rehydrate.

I have an indoor dehydrator, which is quiet, and another one, which lives outdoors under the skirt because it makes a noise like a stove's hood-exhaust fan.

~Sigh~

I guess it's not as much of a disaster as, say, a raccoon or bear getting into a whole week's worth of food while I'm hiking. Which is why you hang your food bag overnight from tree branches or, where provided, special "bear cables" or even (as in New Hampshire) lock it up in metal boxes secured with chains.

If the Trail is as much fun as getting this food-trying thing figured out, it's going to be fun :-)

HONESTLY....

Sometimes I've thought I don't blog much because I don't have anything to blog about. But today I decided it's because I have too *much* to blog about. For days I've been thinking, blog about getting to New Orleans, blog about dehydrating food for my AT hike, blog about the thunderstorms, blog about finding a hill to hike in flat, flat New Orleans which lies 8 feet below sea level. Or the aforementioned dehydrated food spending the night under the one place where our storage enclosure leaks, and the ziploc bags leaking, accidentally re-hydrating some of it. Thankfully I only had a few days' worth of food in that bin and I was able to re-dehydrate some of it.

And as I was thinking about all this today while returning to the campground from walking/hiking/hill-climbing, trying to decide how and when to organize it all into a blog post or several, I saw a driver's license in the sandy grass by the side of the road. I picked it up and noticed a credit card a couple feet away. Same name. Hmm. What else is here? Did someone's wallet blow off their car roof or something? Found another credit card. Then I saw a soggy PlayStation box nearby and thought, did they lose a PlayStation too?? No.... inside was the purse that the cards had fallen from. More cards with the same name were in the box with the purse.

I picked it up and carried it the remaining quarter-mile or so to our camper. I started feeling nervous... I hoped the woman wasn't missing and the perp had dumped her purse. I found a business card belonging to the owner of the license and called. She was alive and well. Whew, relief. The purse had been stolen last week. Amazing to me that her credit cards were still in it.

Long story short, she came to the campground, the local police came to the campground, took my info, took her info, she got the purse back. The policeman was very nice and made the whole issue sort of fun, actually, believe it or not. The lady pushed a $20 bill on me; I refused. I said "Give it to the March of Dimes or something." She stuck it in my pocket and said, "I'm giving it to you; you give it to them if you want to."

Actually I guess if my purse was stolen and someone found it and called me and I got it back I'd probably give them twenty bucks, too. It certainly wasn't necessary.

4 days here and already I've gotten involved in something weird. First the transmission in the truck, delaying our trip by a day; then the broken hanger under the camper; now an encounter with the police over stolen property. This is going to be an interesting winter.

MEANER THAN A JUNKYARD DOG

Well, he looked mean, but he wasn't.

We left Tennessee, um, I guess it was yesterday morning, and stayed uneventfully near Birmingham, AL overnight. There were no amenities other than electric, water, and sewer hookups at that campground, but for $15, what do you want?

So this morning we left AL, and drove across the lower part of Mississippi towards New Orleans.

I swear this trip is cursed. We stopped for diesel fuel, and on his walkaround check Steve discovered a broken spring hanger on the camper. He got a car-repair/welder's business card from the truck stop. He called, the man was willing to service our rig on New Year's Day, and the fun began.

This was somewhere in Southern Mississippi. We drove to where the repair guy said he'd meet us. We waited. A man approached our truck on foot, making eye contact and waving. He had old dirty clothes, a grizzled 3-day beard, no teeth. Steve said, "I hope that's not our guy..." The fellow came to Steve's window and held out his hand. Steve shook it and said, "Are you Joe?" "Naw, I ain' Joe," the man said. "You jus' look like nice folks an' I didn' get no Christmas presents and I spent las' night in a cardboard box an' I bin wearin' the same cloes 4 months and I'm jes' lookin' for someone t' help me some...." Sounds like how I'll be living a few months from now, only in a thin nylon tent instead of a sturdy box, but we gave him two bucks and wished him well, and closed the window.

Soon the real Joe arrived, in a vinyl-top Cadillac that had seen better days. It had a lot of missing parts.

This is the car-repair guy? Yup. He looked at the broken hanger and said, "Yeah, I kin fix 'at, y'all follow me." Journey didn't like him much, growled and whined. Come to think of it, I don't think Journey's ever seen a black person. Forgive me for saying "black" but no doubt Journey just saw a black man, I mean literally a man who was black, and this gave her pause. Plus, I don't care if someone calls me a white woman, but let's get on with the story.

So Joe drives his has-been Cadillac through a maze of back streets through questionable neighborhoods where some people had bars on their windows, others were boarded up, and most had plastic or duct tape where one or more of their car windows had been.
After a number of turns, we arrived at Joe's repair establishment.

The next-door neighbor's front yard, car's rear window replaced with tablecloth.

There was a lot of debris in the yard. You can't really see this, but the weight plates back there behind the mirror say "Gold's Gym." So did the weight bench. No doubt Gold's was getting new stuff and sold their old equipment for a reasonable price.

OK, on to the dog. The repair yard was fenced, and inside the yard was a pit bull chained to a dog box with a chain big enough to hold the Titanic. Just for good measure, there was barbed wire on top of the fence, and along the bottom edge, razor wire, in case anyone including the dog tried to dig under it. No one was getting into this yard.

I like dogs. I watched this pit bull for awhile, noted his body movements as he watched us, and decided to go a little closer. He wagged his tail happily (not stiffly, a defensive sign) and had a friendly look in his eye. I approached cautiously.... you know, pit bull on a monstrous chain in a junky repair yard and all... and he sniffed my knee. I offered my hand and he sniffed it, but then his expression changed and I felt a curl of anxiety and withdrew -- I didn't want him to smell fear or whatever it is that dogs do. I figured he smelled Journey on me. He looked like he'd seen his share of fights. Scars on his face. I backed off.

A few minutes later I went back. He sniffed my hand again, and licked it. Again his expression changed and again I backed off.

This went on a few more times, each time a little more contact until he finally let me scratch him under the chin.

Awhile later he was rolling on his back for a belly rub. When I'd stop, he'd get up and press his body weight against my legs, almost knocking me down just by leaning. He liked me a lot. He slumped to the ground in sorrow when I turned to leave after the welding was done.

You can see the razor wire along the bottom of the fence, and the barbed wire at the top.

So Joe, who was a really nice guy who complained teasingly that I was "spoiling" his dog, spent two hours fixing our broken hanger, on New Year's Day when he probably would rather have been watching the Rose Bowl, and only charged $100. We gave him an extra twenty. He thanked us and smiled that the dog was going to pout the rest of the day wondering where that friendly lady went. He said not many strangers try to pet his dog.

I liked the dog.

We got to New Orleans three hours later than we'd anticipated. Like I said, the trip is cursed. This is our second try at a winter in New Orleans. The first time we started planning it, Katrina hit.

We'll see what the winter brings.