Big South Fork

Over July 4th weekend, I did a hike in trip to the FS lodge down at the bottom. It rained all weekend- perfect! The cabin and the food was great, and it was just the right amount of work.

New Hike

Since moving to Tennessee, I have discovered the Natchez Trace Parkway. It's 444 miles from Nashville to Mississippi, and I plan to walk the entire length. I learned a few things from my MST hikes, so I think I will drive more sections before hiking them, and do some pick up and drop off stuff using several cars. It does seem to be pretty isolated. My only concern is access to water. Here are a few pics from recent hikes.

What's Up?

Greetings!
It has been awhile since I have posted here. Two big things to update. One, we have moved from NC to Tennessee for work. And two, in December I had a total hip replacement. It got to the point where I was walking so slow it was ridiculous! The new hip is awesome, and I have been owrking towrds regaining my hiking form.

WHY!!

WHY do I still have this jones to walk? I'm 47 yrs old, and started this when my dad sprung a 6 week hike on the AT with the YMCA on me when I was 14. Shouldn't I have outgrown this? My strongest desire this very minute is to be sleeping on the ground.

My only regret is that I didn't do more of this while younger. That's OK. Regrets are for suckers.

Today was the annual meeting of the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail. I was overwhelmed with the work and dedication of the many people involved in this project. Some for decades. It has rekindled my desire to hump some more miles. So what if my hips hurt? I just went out and walked in my neighbourhood for an hour. 3/4 moon, clear sky. My feet touching the ground felt as though they are rooted in the Universe that is infinite above my head. Awesome, and I was still close to home.

I think it's called following one's passion.

Message received!

Mt Mitchell= No Joke

Greetings Faithful Readers.

Here is a brief tale of a recent trip to Mt. Mitchell to have a hike along the MST that runs over the top. It really was a great trip. Not really feeling like humping a big pack, I took advantage of the great 9 site campground that is right at the top. You have to park down at the parking lot, and carry your gear to the spot of your choosing. 12 bucks. I had the place to myself. With the weather a good bit below freezing at night, plus the fact that it is often rainy and foggy seems to keep away all but the nuts like me during October.

Anyway, when I got there, the sky was SO blue, with a nice breeze and a nip in the air. I set up camp and commenced to firing up the stove. I had a Navy shower with a inch of boiling water and a squirt of Dr. Bronners Almond soap. Two cups of hot tea, some GORP, and I could not have been more content. The photo here was taken with the goal of capturing that spirit. One hippie dude did show up, and we shared tales and lies aplenty. The Ranger even hung out for awhile since the place was so quiet. He had excellent bear stories. Hippie dude turned out to be broke (big surprise!) so the Ranger charged him 1/2 price, and I paid the tab. He promised a giant pancake breakfast in the morning as thanks. Sold!

Well, it was off to bed early, which is the norm when it gets dark at 5:30. At 1:30 I was woken up by something slapping me in the face, and some kind of huge noise. Well, turns out a big storm has moved in during the night. Winds at least 50 MPH. They had totally blown the tent down around me, hence the roof slapping me in the face. I got up and got dressed, and went outside. The clouds had come down right on us, and the wind was real intense. It wasn't raining that hard, but it felt like needles at that wind speed. So I race around and set up the tent. Most of the stakes had been pulled out of the ground, and several were missing. So I used some big rocks, and did the best I could. Back to sleep, only to be woken up twice more with the same issue. Basically it was just intolerable. So I decide to break camp and bail. By now it was 5AM, and my nerves were shot. So I just took the whole muddy tent, fly and all the crap inside, and just dragged it down to the car and threw it in the back. I then had to try and sleep in the car until they opened the gate at 8 AM. The picture here shows the tent mess back home. Inside that pile of mess is my sleeping bag, pad, a folding chair, pillow, and a few odds and ends. I ended up getting my pancakes at the Dennys in Marion. They were yummy.

MST Hike Part 2- A bust?

Well, sports fans, the end of the story first: my plan to cover 190 miles on foot and on bike ended up with me only being able to cover about 15 miles during the whole 2 weeks. This has been very disappointing, but a few valuable lessons have been learned.

Two things held me back, both physical. One is that on my first day of walking, after 8 miles, I starting getting very bad hip joint pain. I have hip sockets that are slowly degenerating from a problem way back in my teen years, but they have only been a mild annoyance. But at the end of day one, I could barely walk. A trip to the orthopaedic doc showed an X-ray with some pretty gnarly socket joints, with a fair bit of wear. the balls are misshapen, and it's eating up the sockets. What a bummer! Plus, during my training for the bike ride portion, I developed a saddle sore that blew up into a giant abscess. Opening it up and cleaning it out left a three inch hole that has to heal from the inside out. My father always said that the only thing that people hate to hear more than your medical problems, are your pets medical problems.

It was a real blow to all the work that had gone into the planning, and I was really looking forward to the trip itself.

And it's a real wake up call personally. I could have been in better shape going into the trip. Loosing 40-50 lbs would take pressure off my hips. So it's time to buckle down, and do what I have to do so that this can continue. It will happen, and I will be better for it!

Ode to the Country Store

As anyone knows who lives in the South, the countyside is dotted with millions of gas stations/country stores. They range from the old fashioned mom and pop places to the new modern additions stuck on major brand gas-o-ramas. We all have zinged past them in or cars without a moments thought. But let me tell you, it's a whole 'nother thing to the long distance road hiker. They serve a ton of functions. Often they have a bench or two outside. This a very welcome after a few hours on your feet. Lots of gatoraide and often some excellent hotdogs. And maybe some Advil, or tape, or whatever little thing you need. Plus some human contact, which I find welcome most of the time. Local information can be valuable, but it's been my experience that people who spend most of their time in the car have very poor judgement when it comes to distances. Many is the time I've believed someone when that said that such and such intersection was 'just up the road', only to find I'm still humping away hours later. I've just stopped asking. But I digress. So my thanks go out to these little stores. For the grub, the company, the chance to get off my feet, and a little taste of the local culture.