12 rolls of TP MS must be swaddled in TP from the waist down like a mummy. His wrappings may end up in Harpers Ferry museum and treated like the Shroud of Turin
oh well..........at least she hiked a few miles..........and now it is in her blood......Originally Posted by Lone Wolf
Cardiomegaly too? Will the health problems never end?
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
Isn't there a quote somewhere to the effect that what you carry in your pack is a reflection of you fears? He lightened up his load from last time, so he apparently is getting more comfortable being out there. I'm sure as he goes along he will lighten his pack even more, finding what works for him.
I have a lot of respect for him, going back out there. From all the grief he's gotten here, he could have gone many different directions. He seems to have chosen to still follow his own path. The part that I the greatest respect for is that it looks like he chose his goals based on what was important to him. I'm not so able to tune others out. If as many folks gave me so much grief about something, I'd keep doing what I was doing just to spite everyone. Instead, he is going for a more 'pure' hike (whatever that means to him), and is trying for a faster pace, things that he got a lot of s--t for not doing last time while still hanging on to some other things that the elite here are still smacking him around for. Kudos to him for doing what feel right for him.
I'm really sorry FaithWalker has had to leave the trail. If everyone listened to the voice of reason and didn't try things that there was no way to finish then not a lot of cool things would get accomplished by anyone. She sounds like an awesome person, and I hope I get to meet her someday.
I hope it doesn't seem like I am condemning the guy. However, I do find humor in what he carries. I love eccentric types and people that do their own thing.
From what I gathered he finished the trail right?
That was his goal. How he got to the end is personal choice along with what he has in his pack. When he puts out the effort to hike and does it his way that is what I think counts. He may have some hang ups with TP and bottled water. Hell I got a ton of hangups and weird things I do. I just think it is great he completed the trail, and can say eff off to all the people that gave him crap and didn't finish what they set out for!
While there are no warm and fuzzy conversations in my future with either of them, I do wish them the best.
Better to give it a whirl. Dreams etc.
Anyone know how many they hiked? TJ says 670 but they've only been out a 10 days or so.oh well..........at least she hiked a few miles..........and now it is in her blood......
Status....
We made it to Porter's Gap near Talledega on Wednesday 12/31/08. Think that is about 15 miles south of Cheaha State Park, maybe 52 miles from Flagg Mountain. Went into Talladega to clean up (had 4 days of rain in middle of the 10 days we'd been out). We took the dog of a bus company's bus (15 hours overnight, predominantly spent sitting in bus terminals waiting on connections) back to relative's house in NW FL to retrieve my vehicle, so can drive to other relative's house to shrink mail drops still at his house to one-hiker size. Am also waiting on first relative above to return from out-of-town trip to be able to transport me to Porter's Gap (with Faithwalker there to bittersweetly see me off as well).
I am glad Faithwalker gave a thruhike what I consider a decent try. We took no zero days WRT hiking during our 10 days, if you don't count our unintended (but not worthless) afternoon on the Alabama Trail on our starting day. She is physically quite strong in a lifting sense, with a stoicism and endurance that often have exceeded mine, including on our day hikes earlier this year in Colorado and Utah. I wish beyond words she had been able to finish in Maine with me, to see for herself firsthand all the views, terrain, distances, and good people the Trail includes. She did get a taste of that, though. It is unquestionably better that she listened to her body earlier rather than later, so does not injure herself longterm, keeping future options open. She intends to visit me along the Trail at certain points during my continuing hike, about which I am quite happy. She has also been fully involved first-hand what is involved in setting up extensive mail drops with specific dietary requirements, trail journaling, etc., and is considering offering these as paid services for other hikers. (She is a long-experienced transcriptionist for medical facilities and book authors, among her other accomplishments.)
We are in the meantime working on the 1st relative's lawn (raking, removing fallen limbs, applying lime/fertilizer/trace elements) and other volunteered chores as partial recompense for their hospitality and upcoming 2nd of two 4-hour drives to central AL. I made green tomato and eggplant baked tempura last night, after a Thai buffet for lunch yesterday. I will try to talk her into going to a midnight showing of the venerable sci-fi movie "Heavy Metal" at the local discount theater tonight (if we can stay awake that long). There can be compensations for unexpected times off the Trail.I expect to be back on the Pinhoti by Friday.
I am humbly appreciative of the many people who have offered or rendered assistance to us so far, both on the Internet and the many kind locals we met in 10 days. These have ranged from informational, logistical, material, and encouragement. The eminently forgettable other sorts, well; they weren't hiking, when we were...
P.S. on the undying TP/water issues:
I buy the generic, smaller rolls of TP (cheaper and easier to fit in a pack) that are at most half the size of name brand ones, so need at least twice as many of them. It's pretty simple math. There were also two of us, and we were set up to go as much as 10 days between resupply points. My pack was still over a dozen pounds lighter (est.) than when I started at Amicalola in Feb. 2006. I don't ever ship water, though have dropped off some distilled water when stopping by a future maildrop place for some other reason, such as when in 2006 I hit Mountain Crossings to buy some last-minute equipment about 3 days before I began my 2006 successful AT thruhike attempt. I did make two useful water caches of a gallon each on the Pinhoti the day before being dropped off at Flag Mtn., carrying out the containers to proper disposal.
There are several places to bail to Talledega, but my contacts say between 50 and 65 miles. At least it was a blistering pace!!
Isn't a road walk starting at Flagg Mountain? Hard on the feet, hard on the heart. Not the best place to start a hike, especially if you're a newbie.
Don't forget the cheese and crackers!!
"For me, it is better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
Carl Sagan
Minnesota Smith
You got it man. You don't need to explain your TP situation to ANYONE. My wife just watched Scarface for the first time in her life about a month ago. While Tony Montana is certainly not someone to aspire to re-create in real life, he does give some very important life lessons.
Namely, F*%& Em if they don't like what you are doin.
peace
mf
Keep it up MS! Don't sweat my TP comments. It is just a way for me to pass time as I rest before my hike.
I think it was pronounced "purdy"
Never knew U could slack pack nearly the entire state of Maine, including the 100 mile wilderness, until I saw MS do it! Guess those six rolls of TP he was carrying just got to be too much of a burden on those knobby knees! BUT, YES, he did hike the hike! Good to see him out on the trail.
Baloney
Oh, baloney. If you can walk, you have a chance. I personally hike with osteoarthritis (neck, shoulder and toes), obesity, high bp, asthma, anterolisthesis (unstable c-spine), piriformis syndrome (like sciata - different nerve in hip), pinched nerve in left knee, neuroma (inflamed nerves) in feet and a HEAVY PACK! And I hike alone. (Cue George Thoroughgood...)
Granted I've never thru'd, but I've got ~1400-1500 miles under my belt.
And to tell you the truth, when I hike for any decent length of time, I feel better than ever. So...better to give it a shot than sit home and whine that you can't do it.
I couldn't swim the English Channel either, but if I had the opportunity, I just might be crazy enough to give it a go.
If you're in a hurry, why are you walking?
Plus 1 on that...well said!
Good Lord, all these people so young with all these medical issues. What did you folks do in your 20s?
The best advice I got on the AT when I first started long distance hiking was "keep persisting"
It takes many people 6-8 weeks to get their thru-hiking trail legs and used to the routine.
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