Survival on the rail

When hiking long distances a hiker must be prepared for all types of weather. Recently I experienced such an ocassion while I was backpacking from Erwin Tenn to Damascus VA, an eight day hike. The second day I would cross over Roan Mountain over 6500 feet in elevation. I started on Monday with heavy rain which turned to heavy rain and high winds. The second day I put on dry clothes and hours later I was soaked again. As I began to near the top of Roan Mountain it began to hail, sleet and snow. It snowed 3 inches and the trail was a swimming pool of frozen ice and slush. My hands were completely numb and it seemed like hours since I felt my toes. It was snowing so much I missed the shelter on top and had to pitch my hammock half way down the other side. I had nothing dry except my Eddie Bauer down jacket, my down quilt, polar tech hat, and hammock. I hardly slept the night, nude except for my jacket, and I never did gain circulation of my toes and fingers. The next morning the temperature was in the lower teens. Everything I had except what I was wearing was frozen solid. My pants, socks, shoes, and shirt were so frozen I couldn't put them on. I got out my alcohol and esbit stoves. I tried thawing out my clothers by suspending them above the alcohol stove. I managed to get most of the clother thawed out except my boots. Because most of my clothes were synthetic I managed to burn a few holes in them before they were wearable. For my boots I placed the esbit stove inside the boot and melted the ice. But along with melting the ice I managed to melt part of the boot also. I had a hard time untieing the hammock lines and repacking. I hiked to the main road and took a zero day at a hostel in Hampton, Tenn. I continued my hike but I saw very few of the through hikers that I had been hiking with the previous day. They either quit or took several zero days to recoup. When we hike we must always be able to make a decission when enough is enough and with me it ended 3 days early because that night took so much energy from me that I could never regain enough to complete my hike.

Burned holes in my socks.

Burned boots with melted tops.

Esbit stove

Stove inside my shoe

Life saving down quilt by Speer.

Hat for night time wear.

Eddie Bauer Down jacket.

Circuit or section hiking/backpacking can be very rewarding. You usually do not have any time restraint and aren't forced to cover large amountd of milage. It is exiting to be able to take some of the side trails. I recently hiked a few circuit hikes just off the Skyline and Blue Ridge Drives in Virginia. I observed an abandoned copper mine, a male turkey courting his mate, a bird house in a tree in the middle of nowhere, white tail deer and a monuement to Audie Murphy.

Copper mine

Bird house just off the trail on top of Brush Mountain.

White Tailed Deer

Audie Murphy monuement (Actor and most decorated soldier in WWII)

Male turkey doing his mating dance

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they walk, and not faint.

Sleeping styles

I have hiked and backpacked all my life but since I early retired in 2000 that is about all I have wanted to do. Besides remodeling a few houses. But I have tried my darnedest to sleep in a tent with no success. I must have about 6 super ultralight tents and about as many tarps. It is no go for any of them, I end up tossing and turning all night and they don't make a pad light enough or thick enough for me to be comfortable. About 2 years ago I decided to try a hammock. It sounded perfect to me. The benefits out weigh any faults they might have. I first tried the Bear Mountain hammock by Jacks-R-Better. It is a bridge hammock and uses spreader bars to keep the head and foot area wide like a bed. The hammock worked out really well, many times I would over step the days hike and have to camp along the trail and I could set it up just about anywhere. The slope or the roughness of the ground was never a factor. I have found out that it tends to sway more than the other hammocks. But I am always looking for the ultra lightest hammock I can find. I talked with lots of people who convinced me into trying a Speer hammock. It seems to be lighter and a little more stable. It is really easy to put up and the mosquito netting works fine. I bought the inner liner and peapod under quilt for the winter backpacking. I have camped in sub 20 degree weather and have been real toasty. When it is not too cold I use a truck windshield protector, one of those folding thing you put inside to reflect the heat out and it worked great. I have slept in it with a tarp cover in a heavy down pour all night and never got wet. Next I began looking for something better in the winter and bought the Clark's Jungle hammock and it was super in the winter. It has storage pockets inside and outside to store gear out of the weather. I bought the North American and it is a little heavier but Clark makes an ultra light I would like to try. All of these hammocks are side entry and that is why I would like to try the Hennessy because it is a bottom entry hammock, hikers swear by it but I am skeptical. We shall see, I have a 125 mile hike planned from Erwin to Damascus and that will be a real test for it. I usually hike solo because I can't find many people who are not retired or don't want to take their vacation to hike. The picture is a Clark Jungle hammock.

Genesis 31:40 - Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

Enjoy Backpacking

I enjoy backpacking because I can be in total control of each hike. I can decide wheather to do a day, section or thru hike. But no matter how much time I have or how many miles I want to hike in a day I always find something unique to tell people when I come back. A good story always highlights every hike. This past week I completed two 8 mile hikes near Roanoke Virginia. I hiked MacAfee's Knob and Craig Creek sections of the AT. I try to keep in my mind that there are hundreds of people that will never ever see or experience the joys of hiking. As you reach one of those breath taking experiences on top of a mountain you have to know that only God could have created such a site. On top of Brush Mountain on the Craig Creek hike you find a memorial to Audie Murphy the most decorated veteran of WW II and actor who stared in 44 films. He crashed in a private plane on memorial day in 1971 killing himself and 4 others. If you never hiked that section of the AT you would never see that memorial.

Psalm 72:3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.

No more snowAT

It looks as if there will not be any more snow this year. It is time to start hiking seriously again. The trails are muddy but if you use gaiters they will keep the mud and debris out of your boots. I usually use the short gaiters when just dealing with mud and leaves. I plan to do some day hikes around Roanoke Virginia. Dragons Tooth and MacAfee's Knob are a few very popular hikes with super views around Roanoke. The deep snow on the AT almost convinced me into buying some snow shoes. But I got over it. Most of the time I hike in the winter I hike cold. I like to put on 2 layers of synthetics for shirts and a simple one layer convertible pants. Usually no hat or gloves. I only put on a jacket or rain coat if I stop for more than a few minutes, especially if I break for lunch. The last hike I was on a friend went with me and he carried twice my pack weight and he wore multiple layers along with thermal underware. I will be glad to hike again. I am remodeling my house and I have a critically ill brother dieing from cancer. I need some time to be alone so I can talk with God and He can talk with me.

Backpacking stoves

I have been in search of the perfect light weight backpacking stove. I need to hike as light as possible. I was supposed to have a double knee replacement about 8 years ago and the doctor told me to enjoy my natural knees as long as I could. So I began backpacking seriously 3 years ago. I hike on the average of 500+ miles a year. I still have my natural created knees. Before my knees went I ran on an average of 4 marathons and 3 ulta marathons a year and bicycled 500 miles a year. That is why I want to find the lightest of everything for my backpack. The backpacker stove is the first place to save weight. Keeping in mind that you will run into periods of bad weather you must not depend on wood as your primary fuel. The bush budy is a great wood burning stove but it must have dry wood to be an efficient cook stove. Cannister stoves like the jet boil and pocket rocket are great but are on the heavy side and you don't really know how much fuel is left in the cannister. They are excellent for short hikes of a few days in duration. Gasoline stoves tend to be more on the dangerous side. Years ago I had a gasoline stove blow up and leave me with 2nd or 3rd degree burns. I no longer carry white gas stoves. Everything starts to feel heavy after 4 or 5 days. Long distance hikers need to get up early, hike late and leave a short time to set up camp and eat before bedding down. We can hike a longer day for a greater distance with a lighter pack. I have been hiking solo because many of my friends want to hike longer distances but struggle with 40-65 pound packs and end up quiting after the first day. In the beginning I did the same thing because I didn't listen to the experienced hikers. I hike with the alcohol stove and carry the fuel in a plastic bottle. I carry esbit cubes in case I run late or the weather is bad. I never cook anything I just add boiling water and eat. I only boil water for coffee and oatmeal for morning, eat a dry lunch and boil water for a pouch meal for dinner. Carry only one light weight pot. Most people say that you can count on 2 pounds a day in weight for this type of menu. You can probably restock every week or two. Depending how long you hike during the day you can average with a light weight pack 10 to 30 miles a day. I hike a longer day because I like to study the biology and geology along the trail and have a tendancy to get to camp later. That means I have less time to hang around camp before I go to sleep. I try to hike all year round. If you have any suggestions let me hear from you.

Trail aid

Solo hiking has many benefits but many times it gets lonely along the trail. I have been using a classic ipod to keep me company. I recently bought an ipod nano because it is so light and does so many functions. The nano is a video recorder, plays music and videos, a pedometer,and is a FM radio. It has plenty of things to keep you company on those lonely nights on the trail. Sometimes it is hard to sleep with all of the animals crawling around in the dark at night. I can turn on the ipod and it drowns out the noises till I get to sleep.