Tire Tracks

I hiked home from my friend's house this morning, not because I had a terrible time or I wanted to save her gas, I am just an early morning person and I am trying to get use to my mode of transportation for the trip.

I got up at 5:45 and headed out into the snow. It was pretty peaceful but as darkness lifted my tracks were out competed with those left by tires.

I prefer the woods, but any day I get 5 miles in before 7:15am is a good one.  

6.4 mile Loop

I want to give a special thanks to all of the US Presidents for this special day off and for my furry companion for accompanying me during my trek today.

Three hours ago I was supposed to be studying for my developmental biology exam, however, today is a vacation day and so I decided to live it up in the woods.

It has been my goal to hike the loop trail ever since I discovered it back in January. Today was the 6^th time that I attempted its entirety.

During the 1^st attempt my mom was satisfied after 1.4 miles. During round two one phone call for a last minute babysitting request stopped me at 5 miles. The third time I with mom, Little Bob, Choc and Butter and Little Bob started getting hungry so we took the short cut at marker F4 back to the car (3 miles). During number four I hit the forest floor with cross country skis. I blazed a 3 mile 1’ deep path back to the car. The sun was pooping out and time was not slowing. During attempt Five with ski buddy we realized the incompatibility of carbon fiber with ice so, once again, the F4 short cut us back home.

That marker has been my archenemy for far too long.

So when I told my parents and they asked if anyone could go with me I said, “Nooo way!” The only companion I wanted was one with paws and I almost didn’t bring her because she’s getting O- L- D (we spell it so that she doesn’t get offended). I have experienced way too many premature shortcuts back to the car when hiking with soles.

When I began snowshoeing this morning I started to think about all of the things that could go wrong to amputate my experience. My snowshoes could break, someone could call with an emergency, Molly could poop out, a branch could crash on me or Moll.

Before marker F4 Molly was trailing behind, but I was determined to push on. When we were ¼ mile from the car Molly left me in the snow. But there would be 1.4 miles left to complete. I conjured up ways to get her to follow and I decided that I would coax her with my little package of emergency oyster crackers if need be.

However, the trail borders houses for a stretch during the last 1.4 miles so Molly kept going; she was preoccupied with the smells and marking her spot. I was so happy I could have cried. This is actually happening I thought. When we came to the last marker that completed the loop I hugged the tree and kissed the piece of plastic. This may have been overkill, but nobody was out there just me.

As I walked back to my car sensations that had been blocked with a determined spirit started to surface. For instance I realized I was a bit cold, my boots were soaked through, my socks were wet and my leg muscles were sore, go figure.

After a 6.4 mile 2hr 50 minute snowshoe with an 18 lb pack…I am tempted to give my friend, Mr. Naysayer, a call.

Has litter ever looked so beautiful?

G.I. Joe

My friend ( we’ll call him, G.I. Joe) is on leave and he suggested that he show me some white belt moves to be unleashed on potential trail predators to settle my mom’s mind. He had me do each routine 5 consecutive times so that it would lock into my muscle memory and allow me to respond to attacks with deadly reflexes.

I laughed and said that a nice person is probably going to be approaching me to ask where the next shelter is or trail town when my protective reflexes kick in and result in my trail name becoming “Most Wanted”.

My friend had me go through the sequence of elbow, fist and knee motions slowly and my confidence was high because they seemed to be working on my trainer. A few times he said, “Ok, didn’t expect that!” as he clutched a knee or massaged his hand.

The scene in my kitchen two hours later, when I was prompting a second friend (we’ll call him, Drew Blood) by saying: “Ok now stand at my side and pretend to pull my hair,” and “come up behind and bear hug me,” was not as victorious.

I mostly ended up face down with my wrists pinned behind my back. I think it would be appropriate to conclude that I am a beltless individual at this point. 

Rocking Out

The face pretty much sums it up.

I went climbing outside with my friend, Read. We picked a face we liked which appeared to have little ice, and I watched mesmerized as he pulled nuts, cams, and quickdraws of every color from his pack.

Then the guy who's famous for saying "it's not an adventure till something goes wrong" realized he forgot his harness so I offered mine. He looked at my pink Petzl and said he didn't think his "thunder thighs" would fit through the leg loops...however, they did so need I say more about mine?

He ended up rigging this belaying system for me were he tied a rope around a tree and hooked a carabener and belay device on it and tied it around my waist. As it turned out, there was lots of ice and his hands were getting cold and cut up, go figure, so at about 25 feet I let him off the hook. So no rock climbing for me, day 1.

Retrieving his nut required that he hike up the back side to the top of the cliff and repel down. He set up an anchor which failed SRENE (Solid, Redundant, Equalized, No Extension) which we learned from guide Keith, but we were working with what we had.

Picture my trepidation as my friend repelled himself over the edge of the cliff as SRENE played over and over again in my head. "Are you there yet?!" I called about every 5 seconds. When he finally responded, "Off belay," my heart rate slowed and I got my frozen fingers into motion breaking down the anchor.

We ended up going to the rock gym for some bouldering, which turned out to be a bit more successful, aside from my hands getting rubbed raw.

Day 2, we headed to Providence for some bouldering. We were only good for a few routes, because fingers were sore from the night before. It was still good practice.

Ramen Rules

Last night my sister went out with her husband for a Valentine's Day dinner and she ate $60.00 worth of food in one sitting. The last time I checked Ramen costs $0.15/package at Wally World. To put things into perspective, If I ate 2 Ramen packages every day during my hike, dinner for 180 days ($54.00) would still be less than my sister's V-day meal.

Nailing It

Ice climbing, round 2, took place yesterday at Frankenstein in Crawford Notch. It was about a 10minute hike, across railroad tracks spanning a gully with an icy backdrop, one which we would be apart of in the next 15 minutes.

After stepping off the bridge, Keith, advised us to fasten our helmets and secure crampons and ice axes in our packs, "We are going to move quickly through the 'death zone'" referring to the 40 foot ice-covered slab to our right which was known for releasing ice-stakes to the ground or unlucky individuals below. "Your helmet is your protection, so tuck and roll if ice is coming for you," he casually explained. The four of us followed with noodle legs as we made our way over blocks of fallen ice, ice that had broken away from Frankenstein's face, and up to our site of belaying.

Frankenstein's Face

According to guide, Keith, one of the greatest sounds, that gets him all giddy, is the fracturing of ice as it breaks from its slab and the boom it makes as it hits the ground below. "Errrr I Love that!" he yelled as it happened for us.

Guide, Keith

Matt, right before he fell

Jay belay

Andy mix climb

Frozen Face

Andy and I were "jazzed" to climb up a frozen 20 foot 6" thick waterfall. "You have to be very delicate, no kicking or smashing, just stepping and hooking" Keith cautioned. Of course it was cake for both of us.
We did some mix climbing on both ice and rock which proved to be an incredible workout, but nothing we couldn't handle. We want to become friends with Keith so that he can take us for some price-less climbing. The day was awesome we learned how to build anchors and my oatmeal raisin cookies were a hit, I think our guide downed at least twelve of them.

On the way home we stopped at Unos to visit our bartender friend, Nikki, who hooked me up with 3 complementary drinks last time and this time slid me a mudslide.

Last night I had a dream that I went to the hardware store and purchased five aluminum gutter nails in place of stakes for my tent. It was a good dream because the day before I was at Aubuchons trying to remember what thru-hiker, Red used for nails to substitute stakes for his 6moons lunar solo tent (Red is the reason I chose this tent design.) I like it because you set it up with your hiking pole and bringing multipurpose gear is the key to ultra-light hiking.

Red called me back yesterday and said "aluminum gutter nails, just bend the tops of them." So out of all the crazy events that took place yesterday including: the "death zone", mixed rock and ice climbing and Unos, I dreamt about nails...need I say more?

My Soles

Don't they look promising? 

Ice + Skis = Danger

So much for holding onto self preservation, last night cross-icy snow skiing proved to be one of the most dangerous winter activities a person could attempt. I swear that 6.4 mile loop trail is cursed, as this was the 5th time I attempted its entirety and had to cut it short yet another time. Of course for good reasons.

I had the brilliant idea of doing the loop trail with my friend under the glow of the moon and I was a complete klutz and apparently a horrible guide. "So you ski a lot" my friend teased after witnessing me fall backwards with skis twisted for the umpteenth time. Of course, soon after he had a spill, so I did not feel so bad about my abilities. Some of the trail was blazed but most of it was not. The ice coated the mounds of snow with a thick shield that had us skidding (picture a dog running on ice, with its legs kicking out every once in a while) and hoping for the best as we attempted hills. We would have been better off wearing ice skates!

I'm waiting for fresh powder before I try it for a 6th time in the mean time I am fine with snowshoeing.

Snowshoes and Sleds

Thru-hiker, Fox and I got together last night for a snowshoe excursion and the topics of tents and self preservation came up.

My 6moons Lunar Solo tent was delivered to my door the other day. When I got home there was a shriek, a ripping open of the package, and an inspection of the product. I wanted so badly to set it up but I didn’t want to bring it outside in the snow, after all it is a three season tent. Instead, I brought it up to my room, unfurled the nylon layers and spread it out on my floor. I did not have stakes, nor would they have been of any use on a wooden floor, so instead I duct tapped the corners down and erected my home with my hiking pole. Of course the canopy was not as taut as it should have been but I was able to unzip the screen door and settle in with my sleeping pad. For two minutes I was on the trail.

Fox relayed a similar story. He received his tent on a Friday night. Since there was snow outside, he had to work with his carpeted living room floor. So instead of going out and getting hammered he hammered away at home. In place of stakes he used nails, which he banged into his floor to tack down his tent. He shut off the lights and crawled in with his sleeping bag and pad. Now that is a funny scene.

I wonder if all thru-hikers experience a heightened sense of self preservation during the months leading up to their departure. Before Fox headed out he explained that he cut back on risky activities. “If I was hiking, the minute I felt sore I would stop,” he explained. I have felt the same way. I almost turned down an invite to go snowboarding for fear of wiping out and getting hurt.

Have you ever night snow shoed up a mountain to sled down one of the ski trails with head lamps? Now I can say that I have.

Thru-hiker Fox and I began trudging at 10pm after the mountain closed. The trailhead began at the parking lot and crossed over a few of the ski trails and wound up to the summit. We took turns posing on the chair lift with snowshoes raised and a frozen cheeked smile for the camera. With the wind chill, the temperature was below zero at the top.

These sleds were the lightweight rollup type with handles. I held my snowshoes and polls across my lap, raised my feet and went spiraling down the ski trail. 

It was awesome! The night was clear with a banana moon. Lindt chocolate and hot cocoa was the perfect ending to a perfect adventure.

Storing Food

Picture this, I'm standing in the kitchen with my nose in my drying guide and my brother walks in. Pointing at the dehydrator, he asks, "what is that?" I explained that it was the contraption that would allow me to preserve all my food for my extended hike. My brother raised his eyebrows and asked how I was going to carry it on the trail. "It's not that heavy and there are outlets on ever couple hundred trees" I joked.

I'm picking on my brother but a lot of people have asked me this very question, so I think I should clarify. I purchased a dehydrator as a method of preserving 6 months worth of food for my walk. I am going to spend the next four months drying meals and snacks in my kitchen, storing them in airtight packages that I will divvy up into food boxes that will be shipped to towns along the trail. This means that I will only ever be carrying 5-6 days worth of food (save for the 10 days during the 100 miles of wilderness). Every 5-6 days I will head into town, pick up my box of food at the post and repack my pack. Of course I will also enjoy a shower with hot water and eat a meal that was never dried.

I wish I could take credit for all of this, however, it's the picture on the front of my drying guide. 

I did a little reading of my Excalibur guide to food dehydrating that came with my machine. There are several options: vacuum seal bags (requires a machine), zip lock bags or self sealing bags (both of which should have at least 3/8” seal, and sanitized jars/containers previously used for food storage (e.g. peanut butter, salad dressing, jelly jars.)

I should label all my creations with:

i. Contents

ii. Drying Date

iii. Drying time

iv. Weight before

v. Weight after

vi. Humidity at time of drying

The purpose of the label is to improve my dehydrating abilities for subsequent dries and also to assure the people in my household the contents of the baggies are edible, not “one of my science experiments” as my mom always says.

Before the food is stored it requires enough time to cool without reabsorbing moisture in the air. This is achieved by allowing the food 30minutes to dry in the turned off dehydrator with the door closed.

Dehydrating is the best way to preserve food because it retains the greatest nutritional value. Food should be stored in snack or meal sized portions. If stored in larger containers the contents lose vitamins and suck up moisture each time the container is opened.

Silica gel, which can be purchased at a local craft store, can be scooped into a muslin bag and stored with the dried goods because it sucks up moisture. Note*Should not come in direct contact with food. This is a great reusable product because when they become saturated with water (pink) they can be dried at 140F until they turn white.

Food should be stored in a cool (50-60F)/dark place (basement) and is good for up to a year. 

Covering Mileage & Bearing Weight in the Snow

The Jan/feb 2011 AMC magazine included an article, "Go The Distance; Conditioning for Long Hikes" by Ms. Densmore. It features, Mike Innes, a 2007 thru-hiker, who recommends snowshoeing during the winter months, since it is the closest sport to hiking. Start with a 10lb 1 hour hike and work up to the weight and mileage you would bear and cover each day during your thru-hike.

So for the next few hours I will be snowshoeing, and if you are wondering where I am for the next four months, I will probably be snowshoeing. Cheerio!

A Pedi Issue

Feet Almighty 

I have been experiencing tragic turmoil over what I will wear on my feet. After talking to thru-hikers I learned that most started off with heavy duty hikers and eventually switched to lightweight trailrunners.

I have contemplated hiking barefoot, like the sisters who yo-yoed the trail. After all, this is how the natives get around in the Amazon. I wouldn't have to worry about shoes getting wet, taking up space, or adding weight to my pack. I would, however, have to be careful not to get cuts and watch out for poison ivy and snakes.

I tried barefoot hiking for the first time this past summer. Once I took little Bob in my baby pack and I told a wide-eyed and concerned mom, while hiking up the mountain, that I could not afford shoes.

Speaking of babies, Dr. Spock's advises that they refrain from wearing shoes at least to the age of 3 so that the arches have time to develop as the feet articulate on the surfaces they tread.

Hiking barefoot allows you to come down softly on the balls of your feet when descending and on your heels while ascending. This is the idea behind Vibrams, however, I would NOT suggest them for a thru-hike since they lack durability.
"Hiking barefoot causes virtually no trail erosion since a bare foot makes much less of an imprint than a booted foot...Bare feet are therefore the environmentally sound choice for hiking" according to: http://www.barefooters.org/hikers/.

There are four rules to hiking barefoot
1. Always step straight down.
2. Always watch the path ahead.
3. Try to keep your weight on the balls of your feet
4. Develop habits of awareness.

It takes about a month or so of hiking a few times a week to get your feet toughened for the trail.

I have also considered hiking in Teva's, my trusty Merrell trailrunners, or a pair of homemade moccasins. Ankle boots are out of the question. I have never hiked in them and I have strong joints.

Then I learned about gortex in shoes. A waterproof and breathable material for the addition of a few pretty pennies. I was fixing to get the women's siren sport gortex hiking shoes and stopped into New England Backpacker. They were the same shoe as my Merrell's from 2007 with the holes in them with the addition of gortex and the remission of dirt. I explained to Neil where these soles were going to go and when.

"I think it is a mistake to put gortex in shoes" he declaired. "For instance, they are good up until about 75 degrees. But let's say it's 80 degrees outside, it will be 90 degrees inside your shoe." Gortex also claims to be breathable, but the amount of your perspiration produced out competes the sweat that is wicked from the inside of the shoe. Thank you Neil...I am back to square one.

Jill can't stand

Wintry Watatic

Snowshoe Circle

Hair Icicles 

Watatic Marker

My snowshoe companions 

Hunter snoozing 

Miss. Mopit

I came down the stairs this morning to my parents saying, "We really, really love you, but your hair looks greasy." My mom likened it to a dirty mop picking up debris as it swipes surfaces. "You're not on the trail yet," they said.

My parents think my hair looks like this...

But I can assure you my hair looks more like this.

My dad left the room, returned with a mop on his head, stood beside me and asked my mom if we looked alike.  Luckily, I have a sense of humor, so we were laughing the whole time.

This is something that I will not miss when I am on the trail, mirrors, all 5 of them telling me I look unkempt.  One of the things that resonated with me when I corresponded with thru-hiker Moss was that she missed not caring about her appearance. Society puts so much pressure on you to look good, she explained.

As for me, there will be reflections, just not my reflection, after all I'm pretty sure there aren't any mirrors on the trail and the trees tend to keep their opinions to themselves.

Nines to Nymph

My sister is a shopaholic and she wanted me to accompany her for the day during her spending spree. Sis and I have this unwritten rule that we inform the other of our outfit so that the other can dress accordingly. 

“I can’t believe you’re wearing a dress!” she gasped through my celly after I told her to wear something cute because I was donning my bubble dress from TJ Max with tights and boots. 

“Wow, you look nice!” said my dad when I came down the stairs. Maybe my woodland sprite side has been rearing her head for a while. I guess I didn’t realize how little I dressed up!

I figure I have four months left until I surrender my wardrobe to my mom and sisters and unleash my wilderness nymph, so I should dress to the nines whenever I can. I can hear them now saying "mine, mine, mine!" like the seagulls in "Finding Nemo" when they spot a crabby delicacy.