Feature on female 2004 thru-hiker

[SavageLlama]

FYI - Sheila Spizak's trail name was Lonesome Dove.
http://www2.townonline.com/concord/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=114027


Conquering a lifelong dream
By Chris Cassidy
The Concord Journal
Thursday, October 28, 2004

Sheila Spitzak loves a good challenge, but even she had to admit that a hike through Bath National Park in Maine four years ago was particularly daunting.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>During a five-day hike through high altitudes, the new pair of boots she was breaking in left her feet bruised and blistered. She scrapped the boots and hiked the rest of the 28 miles in a pair of Tevas.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"You could feel every single rock under your foot," said Spitzak, who had the help of 10 friends to carry her part of the way.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It may have been one of the most painful 28-mile walks she had ever done, but it wasn't enough to deter her from the activity she loves.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Over six months this year, Spitzak endured uphill climbs, downpours, snowstorms, hail, frigid temperatures, sore muscles, and complete isolation from modern-day technology to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 2,100-mile trek reserved for only the most determined of adventurers.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>She took the first steps of her journey from Springer Mountain in Georgia on March 23 and continued hiking north until she reached Katahdin, Maine on Sept. 17.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"Every day my feet would hurt," Spitzak said. "My knees would hurt. Everything below my knees, I wanted to cut off."
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ibuprofen became a staple. Carrying 30 to 40 pounds of food, water and supplies on her back, she found the downhill jaunts more painful than the uphill climbs.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"Your day is waking up, packing up your stuff and hiking," Spitzak said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"By the 12th or 15th mile, your feet just start to kill," she said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Not that the weather offered much of an upside. It rained almost every day in Virginia - all 535 miles of it. Spitzak was welcomed to North Carolina with an April snowstorm before the temperature dropped to 26 degrees. She had to sleep with her water bottles just to keep them from freezing, she said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Through it all, she remained about 10 to 15 miles away from any trace of civilization. Along the trail, there are shelters - three-walled buildings with a roof and floor - and the occasional out-house. The luxurious shelters had a picnic table.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For water, she relied on natural sources like brooks, but there were no faucets or well water.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"Yes, when you hit town, you want to watch movies and TV and definitely take a shower, but eventually you start enjoying the fact you don't have these distractions," Spitzak said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Before setting out in March, Spitzak had pondered the hike through Appalachia, but never seriously considered it until she talked to a few people who had already conquered the trail.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"The more I talked to them, the more I felt it was doable," Spitzak said. "I always thought of myself as a hiker, but I didn't know if I could commit to six months."
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>She started out hiking alone, but quickly bumped into other hikers, building camaraderie and forming friendships along the way.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>She lost between 15 and 20 pounds over the six months of hiking and said she has felt invigorated, not exhausted, in the weeks following her conquering of the trail.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"It's definitely a feeling of accomplishment, whether people are impressed with it or not," Spitzak said. "You kind of feel like things don't bother you as much as they used to. You feel like you can conquer the world."
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER height="8" width="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For more information on Spitzak's hike, visit http://www.trailjournals.com/spitzak

[Mr. Clean]

I followed her trip on trail journals the whole way. Great daily updates and thoughts.

[Peaks]

Where in Maine is Bath National Park? And where was the five day hike at high altitude?

[Lone Wolf]

No such place.

[Kerosene]

According to Google, there's a Phu Pra Bath National Park in northeast Thailand.

[attroll]

I was born and raised in the Bath-Brunswick area of Maine and I have never heard of Bath National Park either.

[walkin' wally]

I saw a lot of the photography by Lonesome Dove and thought some of it was way above average. Some of the shots were taken early morning or late afternoon and were quite striking. The photos have a lot of texture that shows the time of day and details in subdued light.

There is a nice photo of her atop Katahdin in unusual hiking apparel too. I don't know how to post it here though.

[Cuppa Joe]

LD said that was a misquote. It is supposed to be Banff, in Canada not Maine.

[gumwood]

Wow, Savagellama, thanks for posting my article! I got word from Cuppa Joe that it was up there. I thought it was just my home town that was going to see it. Can you tell that the author doesn't know a thing about hiking? I'm still trying to find Bath National Park. I've heard of Banff National Park though. Anyway, so much for fifteen minutes of fame. See you on the Trail. - Lonesome Dove

[gumwood]

Hey Mr. Clean. Thanks for reading my journals. Did you see the part where Crash and I were sitting eating lunch at Baldpate Shelter and we saw you immerge from the woods and then disappear into the woods again? I learned from the Cabin that you were the mysterious man. Wish I had known. I wanted to learn much about the mushrooms on the Trail. Was this a good year for that? - Lonesome Dove

[Mr. Clean]

and was interested to read it, cause I thought that I was the only Mr. Clean, but evidently there are three of us out there on the trails. I had hoped to catch you in the Whites somewhere, but work interfered again. Oh well, story of my life.