SavageLlama
07-23-2004, 13:14
Update on Hiker Dave..
Hiker Dave encounters lion, bears and snakes
2,174-MILE TREK
The Des Moines Register is following the journey of Dave Readinger as he walks the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Look for the next update in late August in IowaLife.
By Bob Modersohn
July 22, 2004
The Des Moines Register (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(%20'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=dmrg');void(0);)
"Grizzly Dave" Readinger has gained confidence at this stage of his trek, nearly four months and halfway into his journey up the Appalachian Trail.
The Des Moines south-sider is cutting the mustard, so much so he's becoming a bit of a hot dog.
"Dave said his comfort level in his ability to live in the wild is at an all-time high," said Mary Ellis, Readinger's wife. "Especially now that his toe is healed."
It's amazing what a new pair of shoes will do.
Clarification from Dave: He actually was off the trail in Troutdale, Va., for 25 days earlier in spring, not just two weeks, letting an extremely sore toe heal.
"He didn't want people to think he was so far behind schedule for any other reasons," Ellis said.
Hoofing some 16 miles a day, Readinger, 68, is calling it the "Trip of Deprivation."
Like many seasoned backpackers, he's learned to carry the fewest items possible, with many items being multipurpose.
He's in Shenandoah National Park (where there are places to eat, but not civilized places to sleep) parallel to the famous Skyline Drive highway.
"The scenery is gorgeous. Huge vistas, but potentially dangerous drop-offs along the trail," Ellis said.
Then there's the wildlife.
Readinger saw five bears in the park, each at a different time. Four were adults but one one was a cub all by itself.
He also saw a mountain lion, apparently a rare sighting in the park, and witnessed a huge tree blow over in high winds.
Last week he encountered a rattlesnake. He didn't discover it was a rattler until he poked at it with his walking stick.
"Then he saw it coil and he heard the rattle," Ellis said.
More common, though, were long black rat snakes that hang around the camping shelters because they find mice there.
On his last night in Shenandoah Park, he was fined $50 for camping in an illegal spot. He was supposed to be camping a half mile off the paved road, but it was dark, and he was tired and had somewhat lost his way.
"The ranger was not forgiving," Ellis said.
Dave has been wearing shorts and is paying for it. He's covered with bug bites.
"Some are swollen to the size of pencil erasers," Ellis said.
Dave has reached the stage where he has apparently used up excess body fat and is probably burning protein (muscle). So he's hungry all the time.
He can't carry enough food to match expended energy, so Ellis added high-protein drink powder (mixed with water) from a health food store to his food supply.
It's apparently helping.
Tourist restaurants through Shenandoah Park also have helped satisfy his appetite.
Don Hoke, another hiker who was on a short overnight trip in the park, witnessed one of Readinger's eating binges during lunch at the Loft Mountain wayside eatery.
"We went to the wayside and Dave had a ham and cheese sub, I believe," Hoke wrote in an e-mail to Ellis. "Plus a hamburger and two large cups of milk and a blueberry milkshake, plus some chips. I then drove him up to the camp store where he bought some food."
A final unrelated observation from Hoke:
"Dave is doing great. He didn't even smell bad."
Hiker Dave encounters lion, bears and snakes
2,174-MILE TREK
The Des Moines Register is following the journey of Dave Readinger as he walks the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Look for the next update in late August in IowaLife.
By Bob Modersohn
July 22, 2004
The Des Moines Register (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(%20'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=dmrg');void(0);)
"Grizzly Dave" Readinger has gained confidence at this stage of his trek, nearly four months and halfway into his journey up the Appalachian Trail.
The Des Moines south-sider is cutting the mustard, so much so he's becoming a bit of a hot dog.
"Dave said his comfort level in his ability to live in the wild is at an all-time high," said Mary Ellis, Readinger's wife. "Especially now that his toe is healed."
It's amazing what a new pair of shoes will do.
Clarification from Dave: He actually was off the trail in Troutdale, Va., for 25 days earlier in spring, not just two weeks, letting an extremely sore toe heal.
"He didn't want people to think he was so far behind schedule for any other reasons," Ellis said.
Hoofing some 16 miles a day, Readinger, 68, is calling it the "Trip of Deprivation."
Like many seasoned backpackers, he's learned to carry the fewest items possible, with many items being multipurpose.
He's in Shenandoah National Park (where there are places to eat, but not civilized places to sleep) parallel to the famous Skyline Drive highway.
"The scenery is gorgeous. Huge vistas, but potentially dangerous drop-offs along the trail," Ellis said.
Then there's the wildlife.
Readinger saw five bears in the park, each at a different time. Four were adults but one one was a cub all by itself.
He also saw a mountain lion, apparently a rare sighting in the park, and witnessed a huge tree blow over in high winds.
Last week he encountered a rattlesnake. He didn't discover it was a rattler until he poked at it with his walking stick.
"Then he saw it coil and he heard the rattle," Ellis said.
More common, though, were long black rat snakes that hang around the camping shelters because they find mice there.
On his last night in Shenandoah Park, he was fined $50 for camping in an illegal spot. He was supposed to be camping a half mile off the paved road, but it was dark, and he was tired and had somewhat lost his way.
"The ranger was not forgiving," Ellis said.
Dave has been wearing shorts and is paying for it. He's covered with bug bites.
"Some are swollen to the size of pencil erasers," Ellis said.
Dave has reached the stage where he has apparently used up excess body fat and is probably burning protein (muscle). So he's hungry all the time.
He can't carry enough food to match expended energy, so Ellis added high-protein drink powder (mixed with water) from a health food store to his food supply.
It's apparently helping.
Tourist restaurants through Shenandoah Park also have helped satisfy his appetite.
Don Hoke, another hiker who was on a short overnight trip in the park, witnessed one of Readinger's eating binges during lunch at the Loft Mountain wayside eatery.
"We went to the wayside and Dave had a ham and cheese sub, I believe," Hoke wrote in an e-mail to Ellis. "Plus a hamburger and two large cups of milk and a blueberry milkshake, plus some chips. I then drove him up to the camp store where he bought some food."
A final unrelated observation from Hoke:
"Dave is doing great. He didn't even smell bad."