I did it! On April 12, 2011 I started out to reduce my weight to 165.0 pounds. I started out at 186.8 pounds. Now after 157 days I finally reached my goal. As of today I have lost 21.8 pounds. That is about 2.2 ounces per day or about one pound per week.
It wasn't easy. Sometimes I lost weight and sometimes I put weight back on. But through it all I kept focused and continued to persevere. I changed a lot of my eating habits, but I refused to starve myself. I started jogging, then running. I had to deal with severe cramps in my calves which were major setbacks. But after my body healed, I kept on going. My daughter gave me the nickname "sweaty man" because I would come home from runs soaked in sweat.
My clothes aren't tight anymore. And I was able to take some clothes down from the top of my closet and actually fit in them! My blood pressure is normal (and I don't take any medicine). I have a lot more energy now and I haven't been sick since I started exercising (probably a stronger immune system).
And of course I have written many blog posts about the Appalachian Trail. As a matter of fact, this blog post is number 100! It is also the first that doesn't have a trail story in it. I haven't quite finished telling all of the stories about the trail, not yet! So, from this point forward I will just write about the trail until I finish the stories. I appreciate you, the reader, and your encouragement. You are welcome to leave comments if you want. I'd love to know your thoughts about this journey.
Moving forward I intend to keep on exercising and trying to eat right. If I ever get above 170.0 pounds in the future, then I will immediately go into diet/exercise mode until I get below 170.0. I have other goals in life that I hope to pursue. One is to run one mile in under 5:00. My best time when I was a student at Georgia Tech was 5:12 (then I had mid-terms and lots of homework followed by finals!) I may start working on that project next.
As for the trail stories, it has been good to write them down. Some folks have encouraged me to put them in book form. I am considering that, although it would need to be edited some. Don't worry, I won't leave you at the "halfway house" just below Mount Washington in New Hampshire. I will make sure that you get the stories all the way to the final mountain, Mount Katahdin in Maine. Onward and upward!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
We knew that it would be very risky to keep going down the trail since nightfall was not far away
We continued our climb up Mt. Washington. Before long we passed the tree line. The wind began to kick up. We passed giant boulders and some small pools of water. The trail kept going up and up. When we reached one of the huts it was getting late in the afternoon. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers tried to talk the hut keepers into letting us stay the night, but they insisted that they were full. We tried to get permission to sleep on the floor of the common room but were also turned down. The only solution was to keep on going.
We kept on climbing. It was August, but we were cold even though the sun was out on this summer day. After a long climb we finally reached the 6,288 foot summit, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States! At the peak is a giant observation tower and weather observatory. At this location, the highest windspeeds in America were recorded (231 mph on April 12, 1934, exactly 46 years to the day before I began my hike of the Appalachian Trail).
We also saw lots of tourists at the summit. There is a road that leads to the top and many vacationers drive up to the top. It was interesting to suddenly enter a place that looked like Disney! Now it was REALLY getting late in the day. We still had a lot of miles above tree line before the trail dropped in elevation. There was no way that we could get below treeline for the night. We tried to get the rangers to let us camp inside the weather station (it is very large and has lots of room). Again, we were flatly refused.
Now we were stuck. The light would fade soon and we had to camp somewhere. Were weren't about to go back, there was no place to camp in that direction anyway. We knew that it would be very risky to keep going down the trail since nightfall was not far away. The chance of missing the trail in the dark could be disasterous! There was only one solution. We began to walk down the road. Almost all of the tourists had already headed down the road so we had it to ourselves.
On a rare occasion every thru hiker takes a different route, sometimes a road. The point is that we walked the entire way. Yes, we missed a few miles of rugged trail, but that was minor in comparison to the over 2,100 miles that we walked. And safety is always important. I kept remembering the sign we saw before we climbed Mt. Washington warning of extreme conditions that could lead to injury or death. They weren't kidding!
We kept walking down the road. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers kept up a constant banter as we walked. Night fell and we were still above treeline but we were making progress. After a while we saw an old ramshackled house on the side of the road. This was called the "halfway house", not because it was a place for ex-convicts to live! It was about halfway from the base of the mountain to the summit.
Ted had a "great idea". We could camp inside this old, abandoned house. I was quite skeptical. It was locked and boarded up. It looked like a stiff wind would knock it down. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers began looking for a way to get into the house. I imagined that they had practice in this art when they had locked their keys in their own house! Suddenly I heard a shout. A way in had been found. One of the sheets of plywood over a window was loose. We were able to squeeze in!
Or flashlights cut beams through the dusty interior of the old house. We were amazed at how much warmer it was inside. It wasn't actually warm, but we didn't realize how cold the wind was outside! Before long our campstoves were cooking hot supper and hot tea. We snuggled down into our sleeping bags, glad to be in a warm, dry place, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Mt. Washington was tough, but we had made it. There would be many more challenges ahead, but none that compared to the extremes of this giant mountain. We dreamed of good food, home, and standing on Mt. Katahdin in Maine. The final mountain was getting closer and closer.
2011 update: Today I weighed in at 166.8 pounds. That is (drum roll please) 20.0 pounds that I have lost! It's been a long journey, but worth it! I'm so close to my goal of 165.0 pounds. So, I'm getting radical. I'm going to hit that number tomorrow. All I had to eat today was my regular bowl of oatmeal, two almonds, a big bowl of salad (with one carrot and almost no fat free dressing). I went running this morning. Then I went running again tonight. After I run tomorrow, I will have run over 10 miles in 24 hours (a lot for me). So, tomorrow is the big day. Say a prayer for me that I make it!
We kept on climbing. It was August, but we were cold even though the sun was out on this summer day. After a long climb we finally reached the 6,288 foot summit, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States! At the peak is a giant observation tower and weather observatory. At this location, the highest windspeeds in America were recorded (231 mph on April 12, 1934, exactly 46 years to the day before I began my hike of the Appalachian Trail).
We also saw lots of tourists at the summit. There is a road that leads to the top and many vacationers drive up to the top. It was interesting to suddenly enter a place that looked like Disney! Now it was REALLY getting late in the day. We still had a lot of miles above tree line before the trail dropped in elevation. There was no way that we could get below treeline for the night. We tried to get the rangers to let us camp inside the weather station (it is very large and has lots of room). Again, we were flatly refused.
Now we were stuck. The light would fade soon and we had to camp somewhere. Were weren't about to go back, there was no place to camp in that direction anyway. We knew that it would be very risky to keep going down the trail since nightfall was not far away. The chance of missing the trail in the dark could be disasterous! There was only one solution. We began to walk down the road. Almost all of the tourists had already headed down the road so we had it to ourselves.
On a rare occasion every thru hiker takes a different route, sometimes a road. The point is that we walked the entire way. Yes, we missed a few miles of rugged trail, but that was minor in comparison to the over 2,100 miles that we walked. And safety is always important. I kept remembering the sign we saw before we climbed Mt. Washington warning of extreme conditions that could lead to injury or death. They weren't kidding!
We kept walking down the road. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers kept up a constant banter as we walked. Night fell and we were still above treeline but we were making progress. After a while we saw an old ramshackled house on the side of the road. This was called the "halfway house", not because it was a place for ex-convicts to live! It was about halfway from the base of the mountain to the summit.
Ted had a "great idea". We could camp inside this old, abandoned house. I was quite skeptical. It was locked and boarded up. It looked like a stiff wind would knock it down. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers began looking for a way to get into the house. I imagined that they had practice in this art when they had locked their keys in their own house! Suddenly I heard a shout. A way in had been found. One of the sheets of plywood over a window was loose. We were able to squeeze in!
Or flashlights cut beams through the dusty interior of the old house. We were amazed at how much warmer it was inside. It wasn't actually warm, but we didn't realize how cold the wind was outside! Before long our campstoves were cooking hot supper and hot tea. We snuggled down into our sleeping bags, glad to be in a warm, dry place, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Mt. Washington was tough, but we had made it. There would be many more challenges ahead, but none that compared to the extremes of this giant mountain. We dreamed of good food, home, and standing on Mt. Katahdin in Maine. The final mountain was getting closer and closer.
2011 update: Today I weighed in at 166.8 pounds. That is (drum roll please) 20.0 pounds that I have lost! It's been a long journey, but worth it! I'm so close to my goal of 165.0 pounds. So, I'm getting radical. I'm going to hit that number tomorrow. All I had to eat today was my regular bowl of oatmeal, two almonds, a big bowl of salad (with one carrot and almost no fat free dressing). I went running this morning. Then I went running again tonight. After I run tomorrow, I will have run over 10 miles in 24 hours (a lot for me). So, tomorrow is the big day. Say a prayer for me that I make it!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
I Meet Ted the Head & the Strohs Brothers
As I continued to hike through the rugged White Mountains I started to get concerned. Hiking by yourself is ok in lower elevations, but in the Whites it's not a good idea. I stopped for a rest and was pondering what to do when I heard the familar "clomp, clomp, clomp" of hiking boots on the trail behind me. I was not an Indian tracker, but I could tell that it was more than one person, so I waited.
There are notebooks in almost every trail shelter where people can sign in and write notes. I signed in to almost every one that I saw. I also read what other hikers wrote too. For a long time in the South I had read entries by "Ted the Head & the Strohs Brothers". But in Virginia I had apparently passed them while they were off the trail. But here, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I finally met Ted the Head and the two Strohs Brothers.
You can tell by their trail names that they were known for "partying". But they were very friendly to me and greeted me enthusiastically. When they realized that I was alone, they insisted that I hike with them for a while. I was glad to have the company. These guys were quite a sight! One of them yelled, "piss break" and immediately all three of them turned in unison, pulled down their zippers and peed on the side of the trail. I found out how I had passed them in Virginia. They had gotten "some good stuff" and spent several days getting high. That was when I passed them and they were just now catching up to me.
We kept gaining in elevation as we approached Mount Washington. We passed a sign that warned us of danger. It said that conditions above that point could be hazardous and could result in death in bad weather. All hikers should proceed with caution. We kept on going. It was a nice summer day, but the temperature high in the mountains was a bit cool. At another point we came to a short, shear cliff. A metal ladder was bolted to the rock. Each of us began to climb the ladder. It was harder than you think because we had our backpacks to carry too. One of the rungs was a little damp and I slipped. I didn't fall off the ladder, but I did smack the side of my head against a rock. Boy, did it hurt! Ted the Head & the Strohs Brothers gathered around me to make sure I was ok. I was a bit dizzy for a minute but recovered. I joked about the benefits of having a hard head! I also was thankful that I was hiking with some other guys. Things could have gone very bad for me if I had been knocked out by my slip on the ladder. This was a time of safety in numbers.
We approached the treeline as Mount Washington loomed high ahead. It was going to be a challenge!
2011update: This morning I weighed in at 167.4 pounds. That is 19.4 pounds lost since the beginning of this project. It also means that I am 2.4 pounds away from my goal of 165.0 pounds. If I can hit that weight just once then I will be satisfied. Long term, I have decided that I want to always stay below 170.0 If I pass that weight in the future then I have to immediately go back on strict diet and exercise. Today I ran 3.4 miles. It's time for a salad!
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