noobie Reports Back

[Grinder]

noobies trip report

Last week, Mon through fri, I hiked from the Springer Parking lot to Neel's Gap.

Rather than detail each moment, I will attempt to state my main observations:
1.Loaded hiking is much much more physical than the impressions I got reading about others experiences.
Mainly the loaded climbing part.
Here in Florida, it is hard to find a hill.

From the get go, the climbing muscles at the top of my hamstrings and bottom of my glutes SCREAMED in protest. The oxygen required for steady progress was like an all out run. Once I got an idea of pace, I could slowly climb while breathing at a "42 minute 10K running pace".

I frequently felt like there was no way I could get to the top of the next visible turn. Only by using the trick of "I can make it to that rock" PANT PANT PANT. Now I can make it to "that tree" PANT GASP PANT!
repeat.

This method earned me the trail name of "grinder". I don't love it but I guess it fits.

By the end of my hike, progress was clearly being made.I can see having "trail legs" with enough perseverence. However, my distance limitation, with a full day of working it (8 to 10 hours) was not up to the 10/12 miles per day needed to get from shelter to shelter. I cut this trip short at Neels Gap, as there wasn't any way I could cover the 32 miles to Dick's Creek Gap in the remaining 2 & 1/2 days. I don't regret that decision at all.

2."weight weinie ness": I see where the weightweinies are coming from much more clearly now.

I was determined not to be spartan or hungry on this hike. I packed for 7 days and then threw in extra stuff at the last minute. My food bag weighed 15 pounds (I think before the additions) My total pack weighed near 35 pounds. It will weigh nearer 25 next time out.
I didn't realize how much the utter fatigue sapped your appetite. the second night, I was too tired to cook and only ate a bagel and two instant breakfasts.

3. Comradery on the trail.
This part was all it is portrayed to be. The time at the shelters was great. Special thanks to Ben (from Montreal), and Peter and Anne, (from New York State) for their company the first two days and to Clay and Lee (from Alabama) for the next two days.

4. The alcohol cooking techniques need refining for use on the trail. The damn wind blows and blows anytime you are high. The altitude seems to effect heating quite a bit.The last night, atop Blood Mountain, was memorable. Watching the jet boil and MSR Whisper Light People CRANK IT UP brought envy on my part. I haven't given up on alcohol, but will be more system oriented next trip.

5. Hammocking is much superior to sleeping in the shelters, if only to escape the mice. However, real world trees are not located ideal distances apart, nor are they a constant 4 inch diameter. I will refine my tie off methods before the next trip.

On Blood Mountain, the last night. the rocking of the wind (and maybe a bad job of tying off??) caused me to get dumped on the ground in the middle of the night. The actual act of being dumped is kind of gradual and not at all like free fall.
I grabbed sleeping bag and pad and retreated to the nearby shelter for the duration.

Anyway, that's the high points , while they are still fresh in my memory.
Comments welcome.

Miles of Smiles
Tom

[gsingjane]

Hi Tom, I am glad you enjoyed your first bp trip and learned so much! Your first point is extremely well taken; I, too, was shocked and mortified at how much more difficult backpacking was physically than anything I'd ever tried before. This is why I constantly find myself harping on the necessity of getting into reasonable shape and at a reasonable weight before undertaking this endeavor... given the sheer difficulty of it, it seems senseless not to give yourself every advantage possible. While I am sure that there are folks who manage, over months on the trail, to hike themselves into shape - and while I also agree that there isn't anything that exactly duplicates the motions and efforts of backpacking - your experience further substantiates, for me anyhow, the fact that a backpacker really ought to try and stay in good shape all year round.

Jane in CT

[Spcshiznit]

Thanks for posting this. I'm heading out on my first section hike this summer, and got some great info from this.

[Grinder]

Jane,

I "thought" I was in reasonable shape. I had been walking 4 to 5 miles a day, some with a loaded pack. I bike 25 miles once a week.

In reviewing what measures I could have taken, I think I may build a "Step" (search 'step training') and work up to 30 minutes a session. I will do it with my pack on and loaded to the approximate weight.

Tom

[gsingjane]

Oh, I wasn't implying that you weren't in good shape already. From your mention of a 42 minute 10K, I thought it sounded like you were in darn good shape! I'd sure be proud of that kind of effort!

I have tried the stairclimber at the gym, to try to duplicate some of the effort of backpacking, and find it just bangs the dickens out of my knees. Now granted I had knee surgery a few years back (the result of a freak accident, I accidentally knelt on a sewing needle and it broke off inside my kneecap) and my knee always twinges me in that same spot, but even so, I find that things like the stairclimber and the stepper just place way too much stress on that particular fulcrum.

If the step training doesn't work out for you, I'd say give the elliptical a shot. That gives you intensive leg work but seems much easier on the knees, especially for those of us whose knees have already hiked around a block or two!

Jane in CT

[Nightwalker]

Wait until you see what a few years of it does to your legs. I have had people just freak out at my calves and shins..

Just keep hiking and it'll get easier. In ten years of backpacking, I went from a fully-loaded 65 pound pack to a fully-loaded 25 pound pack. The latter is much more fun.

BTW, eat whether you want to or not and you'll have a lots better time of it. :)

[jet airliner]

I have to agree with you about the hammock. I did the same section as you at the beginning of May and loved the good nights sleep I got. I only had one nights broken sleep when a coyote kept coming to sniff under the hammock. I did not have any problem with the vaious tree diameters. I used 1" tree huggers. On small trees, I wrapped them multiple times, and on larger trees, I would wrap them once or partially around. The one thing I didn't like was the amount of poison ivy growing on the trees. I am very allergic, so I was extremely paranoid about getting the plant oils on my tree huggers. Is poison ivy the state plant of Georgia? ;) I swear you couldn't step 1 foot off the trail without trying to avoid it.

[Grinder]

AH HA!!
Coyotes live there, huh??

During my one partial night in the shelter, I awoke once and heard what sounded like a dog running on a tile floor, leaving the shelter ASAP. I'll bet it was a coyote.

There was a hiker with a dog, but his dog was on a tether at all times.

Miles of smiles
Tom

[Nightwalker]

I love the coyotes. They're a sign of eco-health in the woods.

Talk back to them. It messes with 'em bad.

[oldfivetango]

A five year old kid in New Jersey was attacked by a coyote in
his yard yesterday.
Oldfivetagno

[Nightwalker]

A five year old kid in New Jersey was attacked by a coyote in
his yard yesterday.
Oldfivetagno

I'm sorry to hear about that. Coyotes should be shot on sight in residential neighborhoods and on farms. There's an open season in almost all of the states, for reasons like that.

I still am glad that they're back again out in the woods. Would you rather hike with hundreds of wolves?

[buckowens]

Nice report! Thanks for the time you took in making it. :D

[TIDE-HSV]

LOL... With global warming, expect more of it. Poison ivy thrives in disturbed ground and the periphery of clearings, roads, etc. Think "trailside." I'm very allergic also. Years ago, I had undertaken to hike all the trails in the GSMNP. I've accomplished all the major ridges (except for Hyatt, where they've abandoned the trail) and drainages and a lot of the cross-trails. At one point, I needed to do Thomas Divide, which begins south of Newfound Gap and ends at Deep Creek, around 15-16 miles, I think. Well, Thomas Divide is dry, with only one campsite along the ridge and even its spring is a quarter mile from the site. So, I decided to run it. I got some Cherokee friends to take me to the top and then drive my car down around to the Deep Creek campground. I had on running togs, along with a light daypack with water. At the time, PI grew up to 3500'; it's higher now. The first part of the run was uneventful - good foot path, broad, along an old railway. When I approached the 3500' level, I started to see the three leaves here and there, then more. I started to zig-zag. Finally, the whole damn railway bed, probably 15' or so was solid PI. I quit zig-zagging and just started cursing with every footfall. When I got down to the creek, I remembered that I had a small tub of Go-Jo in the trunk. I retrieved it and sat down on the creek bank, with the Go-Jo, stripped off my socks and shoes and washed all - feet, shoes, socks, thoroughly with Go-Jo. Result - no rash, no blisters. The antigen, urushiol (Japanese for "eternal," I think) is an oily resin. Anything which dissolves grease or oil, even dishwashing liquid, will bind it and wash it off, if you reach it before the antigen penetrates the skin. Living here in north Alabama (about the same latitude you were) on a mountain top in the middle of 3.5 acres of woods, and, yes, poison ivy, my wife and I routinely wash off in the shower, knees down, with Dawn liquid after working in the yard. I haven't had a rash in a long time...

[greentick]

Mainly the loaded climbing part.
Here in Florida, it is hard to find a hill.

Miles of Smiles
Tom


Does a local high school have a football stadium?

[Yahtzee]

If I could make a suggestion about uphill climbing. Walk heels landing first. It took me forever to realize this. When walking on your toes or the front of your foot you are focusing most of your energy on your calf muscles. My experience found that this led me to get out of breath and, subsequently, tired and cranky. By landing heel first, you are using much more of your entire legs. It seems like you are going slower, but you don't feel the need to stop as often. It really is hard to describe but the next time you hit a hill give it a try. It's like plodding uphill. Or grinding.;)

[Nightwalker]

If I could make a suggestion about uphill climbing. Walk heels landing first. It took me forever to realize this. When walking on your toes or the front of your foot you are focusing most of your energy on your calf muscles. My experience found that this led me to get out of breath and, subsequently, tired and cranky. By landing heel first, you are using much more of your entire legs. It seems like you are going slower, but you don't feel the need to stop as often. It really is hard to describe but the next time you hit a hill give it a try. It's like plodding uphill. Or grinding.;)

I do that going downhill. It builds up the muscles on the shins and keeps you from wearing out just one part of your legs.