My hiking staff was a constant friend

   Hikers have all kinds of different equipment. My fully loaded pack weighed about 40 pounds (including 14 pounds of food for a week and two full canteens of water). In 1980 I weighed about 135 pounds (skinny as a rail). The trail is not a smooth path. It has rocks, and roots, and downed trees, and small streams to ford, you name it! One of the most important pieces of equipment that I carried with me was my hiking staff. It is a long, sturdy stick to help me keep my balance and not fall. Believe me, I would have had all kinds of injuries if it had not been for my hiking staff!
   I saw all kinds of hiking sticks that other people used. Now some people use two lightweight ski poles (but I only remember seeing one guy do that in 1980). My hiking staff was a "hoe stick". Think about a garden hoe with a long wooden handle. If the handle breaks, you can buy a replacement handle. That's what I had! On the bottom I put a rubber tip, like the ones used on crutches (I went through several of these). By the time I got to New England I noticed small cracks in the bottom of the stick, so I wrapped it in several places with first-aid tape and some clear packing tape.
   The most memorable thing about my hiking staff was what I did to it. At the beginning of the trip, I carved a little flat place toward the top then put in the initials "GA" for the State of Georgia. I tried to carve the very top into the "AT" symbol (A on top with the T superimposed on bottom) but it broke off. So I just rounded out the top and left it alone. My hiking staff was a constant friend and a reminder of where I had been and what I set out to accomplish. I wanted to have a "notch" for every State on the trail. Every time I would hike into a new State, I would carve the initials of that State on my staff. "GA" was at the top, then I had a place for my hand to hold the stick. Next was "NC", then "TN", then "VA". I continued that practice in all of the 14 States and eventually carved a "K" at the end while sitting on the top of the last mountain in Maine, Katahdin!
   May 23, 2011: I'm holding my old hiking staff in my hand and remembering all that happened when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. The notches have dirt in them, but it gets lighter in color as the newer States were not exposed to as much dirt and weather. The tape is still there along with an old rubber tip that is worn completely through! It's a great keepsake to remember the trail!
   This morning I weighed in at 180.4 pounds! After seven weeks, I have dropped 6.4 pounds (a little under my goal of one pound per week, but still respectable!) I think part of my larger than normal weight drop in a day was due to too much salt (it makes you retain water). Also, I didn't eat a lot yesterday but I wasn't hungry either. I have been jogging this morning (that is 3 times in the last 4 days). I have a big salad for supper in the fridge. I hope to keep making progress and taking my belt down a "notch"!