More Efficient Stove

After my Huntington Ravine excursion I realized that there were many problems with the design of the alcohol stove that I made: It leaked, it was inefficient, used a lot of alcohol. Morning Glory suggested a new design of homemade alcohol stove and referred me to the following website: http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/stove/index.html. Of course I had to give it a try and so below is a step by step of how to make this more efficient stove.  

You will need two 6 oz tomato paste cans (I used Hunts), one aluminum can, tin snips, stapler, hammer, tack, permanent marker, ruler/tape measure.

Remove the labels from the tomato paste cans and any glue residue using nail polish remover and a cotton ball. 

Next, use a can opener and empty out the contents. With a permanent marker, mark 1" on one can (this will be the burner) and 1.5" on the other (this will be the base). Use the tin snips to cut the cans at these points (the ridges on Huts tomato paste cans make it easy to make a clean cut). 

Use a hammer to punch 32 holes around the burner (1" can) about 1/8th " from the edge.

Use the tin snips to make 8 evenly spaced slits around the stove and cut out a 1/2" hole in the center.

Use the tin snips to make 8 evenly spaced slits in the top of the can from the center of the 1/2" hole to 1/8" from the burner holes. 

Cut out a 5" x 1 3/8" section of the aluminum can and staple it into a ring (diameter slightly smaller than burner holes). Next, make four evenly spaced triangular notches at the top of the can.

Place the aluminum ring (triangular notch side down) into the center of the base (1.5" can), bend side flaps of burner in and fit into base in between aluminum ring and base.

Once burner is secured push center flaps down. And viola! We have a more efficient stove!!

Heather's Alcohol Stove and My Alcohol Stove Side by Side.

Heather's alcohol stove and mine side-by-side created quite the contrast. Hers was rusted and over twelve years old with over 2000miles on it and mine was shinny, brand new and never been hiked. 

Heather's Kitchen setup: wind guard, pot stand, stove, and 900ml titanium pot.

Machine McCarron

Leap, on Grayson Highlands

In 2008, Andy McCarron, trail name, Leap, finished the AT in 90 days while sporting a 50lb pack through snow-covered terrain. He covered 24.9 miles the first day.  When I asked him why he decided to trek he replied, “I didn’t have a reason; there was nothing else to do.”

Most AT thru-hikers lose weight, Leap, remarkably gained 15lbs while eating oatmeal, peanut butter sandwiches, dried fruit, trail mix, Knor and rice. “Eating 16 pancakes had nothing to do with the chubby cheeks” he smirked.

When I asked Leap if he had found himself in any survival situations he filled me in on his forging of the Kennebec River, a river that has taken the lives of thru-hikers who have attempted this. This is a highly discouraged practice. There is usually a ferry service, however, it was not beginning for another day and Andy opted to wade through the 100yrs of rushing tons of water. He got 2/3rds of the way through calf-deep water and with a few more steps was literally almost “in over his head” being carried down river. With the use of his handy dandy hiking poles he was able to get out of the sticky situation although drenched and cold. He met a trail angel at the post office who let him dry his clothes and welcomed him to a hot meal after picking up his soggy peanutbutter sandwiches at the post. The task of eating such sandwiches became dreadful at this point. When I asked him, if he experienced any funny situations he laughed and said that the aforementioned was funny.

“Did you ever want to give up, and what kept you going,” I inquired. “Two times…but you’re in the middle of nowhere so it doesn’t matter…the choice was easy.” He added, “There may have been some swearing involved which didn’t help.”

Leap urged that I get shoe inserts the minute my feet start going numb which indicates the arches are going flat. He ignored this feeling and hiked through the pain which resulted in 1 ½ years of recovery. A true feat and beat for feet! “All I could smell were my feet” he exclaimed, however, denied that he smelled.   

I asked Leap if he encountered any sketchy people. One man in Virginia, he explained gave him a bad feeling, “the first thing he said to me was, ‘so, you hear ’bout the murders on the AT this year?’” It turned out that the man was a scout leader who was meeting up with his buddy to take part in an annual cook-off to see who could come up with the best trail cuisine. Luckily potential serial killer turned into woodland chef and provided Leap with the “best trail meal” that night.

Two weeks after reaching Mt. Katahdin, Leap was peddling cross country with his buddy, so there was not much readjusting. If I was hiking with Andy I would have named him Machine because that’s what he is. 

Why am I hiking the AT?

Today I was asked why I was hiking the AT, and I realized that I have not addressed this in “typing” thus far, so here goes:

Over the summer a moth infestation erupted in my closet due to a stocking filled with cashews from last Christmas. I opened the door to two dozen luminescent bodies shimmering in the light of my closet. I am a proponent of “catch and release” so I took the time to collect the fluttering adults in a jar and returned them to their natural environment (Job done, or so I thought). At closer look I discovered an up and coming generation: larva, their tubular wriggling bodies following invisible trails on my ceiling. So I collected and tossed outside where they belong. Then, much to my despair, I noticed a third generation of these ballsy beasts Velcroed to my clothes by a sticky cocoon of silk-like threads.

I did not realize how many clothes I had until I had to clean them all including 6 sweatshirts, 20 shirts, 12 pairs of pants, 11 dresses, etc.  And I’m not talking ball them up, toss in washer, add detergent and press button. Oh no, I’m talking prior to laundering I had to inspect every square inch of material including pockets, folds, pleats, insides, outsides, back sides and front sides for the pupae housed in fuzzy white burs. I experienced cold sweats and nausea as I reached my hand blindly into a pocket or pant leg to turn inside out wondering if I was going to contact a tubular body; or worse, reaching my arm inside a pant leg, turning it inside out and discovering some pupae that my skin had just brushed across. The Buddhists believe that our possessions are our enemy because they create worry. I now know what is meant by this.

Sure I will be living with bugs on the trail, however, come June I will be the moths infestation. It seems that tables will have turned. Ha ha! But I am just joking, I am not hiking the AT to get back at the flitting fluts that took up vacancy in my closet. Long story short, my life is filled with extras, excess, clutter, and waste and I have a desire to experience living off of necessity for a while; The events that unfolded this summer amplified this want.

So, I responded that living out of a backpack for six months is appealing because I would be getting back to basics. “That is not typical for a girl,” she said. I like not being typical. 

Adult pantry moth

Larva

Pupa