Little by Little

A couple of weeks ago I went on a much needed vacation. Usually on vacation I eat like a pig and stay away from a scale for a while! But this time I tried to eat in moderation (most of the time). We stayed in Augusta house sitting for my in-laws for 6 days. During that time I decided to start walking. On Monday through Friday that week I walked at least 3 miles each day! Needless to say my muscles were a bit sore. I took off the following Saturday and Sunday. Then on Monday my left knee started hurting. So, I wore a knee brace for a few days and took it easy.
Now that I am back from vacation and my knee seems to be doing better I went walking yesterday (2.76 miles). My goal is not to go fast, but to build up strength & endurance. Today I took my bicycle to a friend's house and we worked on it for 3 hours (putting on new tires, adjusting the cables and tensions, checking the brakes, and cleaning up everything). It has been many, many years since I rode my bike. But now I have bike riding as an option for exercise. That should help my knees and also be enjoyable.
One of the things I realized while walking during vacation is that 3 years from now will be my 40th anniversary for hiking the Appalachian Trail. So I decided that I want to spend the next 3 years getting back into shape. And on April 12, 2020 I will climb Springer Mountain, which is the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. It will be 40 years to the day when I first climbed that mountain on my thru-hike. I also decided that on September 4, 2020 I will climb Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine. That will be 40 years to the day of when I completed my thru-hike. I know it is 3 years away, but it is a goal to shoot for!
I also realized that much of the Appalachian Trail can be "day hiked". That means you don't have to carry a backpack with camping gear as long as someone drops you off and picks you up along the way. In order to get ready for the 2020 hikes, I will probably do some day hikes. I did quite a bit of hiking on the Appalachian Trail both before and after my thru-hike. I'm going to go back and reconstruct all of the hikes that I remember. I'm pretty sure I have done all of Georgia in pieces, all of the Smokies, from South of the Nantahala River to Fontana Dam, a week in Virginia, and some other hikes. It's a long shot, but perhaps I could eventually day hike most (or all) of the Trail again in pieces. That would probably take the rest of my life to do!
And a weight check, I'm at 201 right now. I went up a few pounds right after my vacation, but I have already trimmed them back off. I'm making progress little by little!

Time To Start Again!

One of the things I learned on the Appalachian Trail was to never give up! Some days were tough, but I just kept going. It was an important life lesson! For those who read this blog, I have been silent for quite some time. The main reason is because my Dad went into the hospital on Dec 6, 2016 and (other than 9 days at home in March) he was in either a hospital or rehab until June 26, 2017. The good news is that he is finally home and is much improved.
Because of this, I have had terrible eating habits and have put on weight. For the first time ever my weight went over 200 pounds! Last week I started walking again and started trying to eat better. I started at 203 pounds and have lost a grand total of one pound so far. But it is a start. My first mini-goal is to get below 200 pounds (and stay there). But I still want to get back down to a healthy weight of 170. So stay tuned for more updates from time to time. God bless!!

First Injury

So, this morning I thought I would start out easy and go for a walk. I walked 2.1 miles in my neighborhood. Being totally out of shape, it was a work out. Later in the day my left knee felt a little bit weird. All I did was bend down to look at something on the lower shelf at Walmart and I felt it. When I got into the car I could feel it again when I rotated.
Five years ago it was my right knee. This time it's my left knee. So I'm sitting in my bed with my leg propped up and a knee brace on. I took an Ibuprophen. Hopefully it's just a little bit sore. I'll rest it and take it easy the next time!

Getting Back on Track

It's hard to believe that my last post on this blog was almost 4 years ago. A lot has happened since then. A couple of weeks after the last post I hurt my knee. I'm not really sure how it happened, but it hurt too much to run. I rested it for a week and tried to run but it hurt again. I waited two weeks and tried again and it still hurt. I wound up wearing a knee brace for a long time.

In the midst of the knee problems, my Mom decided it was time to move from Arkansas to McDonough Ga. Her house went under contract and I had to help her find a house to buy. I also had to arrange people to replace the flooring on the new house and paint it before she could move in.

Then I had to fly to Arkansas and help her finishing packing (which was a BIG deal). It was difficult for her to move since she had lived in the same house for 35 years. A friend drove the first truck load back to Georgia. I drove the second truck load back to Georgia with my Mom following in her car (with her 4 cats). I got a call on the way that the painting was finished but the flooring guy I lined up bailed on me. He was able to connect me with someone who could finish the job but it was a two day delay. That worked out since technically we had not yet closed on the house! So, we officially closed on a Friday. The floor was finished the next day. And we crammed all of her stuff into the new house.

Needless to say, with all of the chaos and my knee problems my weight loss project was out the window.

My knee eventually healed. A doctor told me that I was probably too old to run on a regular basis (something about being 54 and too much pounding on the knees). Life happened. I got busy and stayed swamped most of the time. The weight loss was something that I was going to get to “sometime”.

Last week my wife and I celebrated our 28^th wedding anniversary with a week long trip to Pigeon Forge, TN just outside of the Smoky Mountains. We rested a lot. We ate a lot. And we had fun. I’m afraid to step on a scale right now because I’m sure I put on more weight. Before the trip I weighed in at 196 pounds.

Now it’s time to start getting back in shape again. Exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight is a challenge for a lot of people. I’m certainly not “obese”, but I do have a gut that needs to be trimmed down. And my heart will probably benefit from some regular exercise. I will have to get creative about the kind of exercise to save my knees. I’m thinking bicycling, walking, light weight lifting and perhaps some swimming. And of course I will have to watch what I eat. I’ve done it before, I can do it again!

The last day of our trip we drove through the Smoky Mountains. We stopped by the mountain stream at the Chimney’s picnic area. We stopped at Newfound Gap (over 5,000 feet high) and took in the views. The Appalachian Trail crosses through that area and I walked up the trail for a few minutes. I took a picture of the sign which shows the distance to Mt Katahdin, Maine as 1,972.0 miles! It’s hard to believe that I backpacked that whole distance in 1980! On the way down we saw a herd of elk grazing in a field and a large flock of turkeys in another field. It was great to get back out into nature. Stay tuned for more updates as I am able to post!

Running Out of Food Is NOT Fun!

I began to hike through some rugged trail. Well, all of the trail is rugged, but this section was particularly difficult. When I was in Virginia I could put in a very long day and walk 20 miles. But in this section I put in very long days and barely made 15 miles. It was tough!

Hikers are always hungry and I had a standard supply of food designed to last for one week. For several months this worked out, but I found myself in a very unusual situation. I looked at the miles to my next re-supply point and then evaluated my food. For the first (and only) time, I had more miles left than food. At my current rate I would be one day short of food. In the deep wilderness, on foot, miles from any road (and who knows how far from a store), this was a crisis!

I looked at the food supply long and hard. Was there any way I could walk faster? A detailed study of my mileage data book showed that it was not possible. The only solution was to eat less and “stretch” the food to last. I began to eat less. And, for the first time, I was truly hungry. Oh, sure, I was always hungry and could demolish a plate of food in short order. But now I was hungry all of the time. As I laid down to sleep, I felt the gnawing pains in my stomach. I was miserable. How many days would this last? Just a few more I told myself.

The next day was equally miserable. All I could think about was food. Toward the end of the day I found something. No, it wasn’t food. It was a paved road. I decided to hitch-hike until I found a store. It didn’t take long before a logging truck stopped and picked me up. In a few miles I spotted a small store on the side of the road. Shouting my thanks to the trucker, I dashed in and drooled over the shelves packed with food. Well, if you saw it then you would have thought that it was a tiny “hole-in-the-wall” store with limited inventory. But for me, it was a bonanza!

I honestly don’t remember what I bought and ate at that store. I do remember buying a 2.5 pound can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and a large package of Oreo cookies. I hitch-hiked back to the trail and carried my treasures with me about a mile until I found a shelter. I pulled out my stove and very quickly it roared to life. My large pot was soon filled to the brim with the ENTIRE 2.5 pounds of the Dinty Moore Beef Stew. Steam wafted from the pot as my large spoon began to shovel the tasty meal into my hungry belly. In short order the pot was empty and licked clean. Now it was time for the Oreos. One by one they disappeared as I savored the sweet taste of victory. When nothing was left but an empty container, I sat back satisfied for the first time in what seemed like years.

I slept soundly that night and woke refreshed. I was back on “normal” eating and ready to continue my quest for Mt. Katahdin in Maine. I knew that I was going to make it!

The Hardest Mile

   J.R.R. Tolkien wrote "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (which I have read several times). While writing these books, Tolkien reached the point where Frodo and his companions were in the mines of Moria and had just reached Balin's tomb. Readers don't usually know this, but Tolkien paused for about a year when he reached this point in writing. I can understand that. It's been about 9 months since I have posted on this blog. Life happens, and there are many distractions. But I remember learning in kindergarten, "if you start something, finish it!" And so, after a long pause, I am going to try to finish this blog. So, dear readers, here we go:

   All of the Appalachian Trail is physically challenging. Some sections are harder than others. In Virginia the trail follows a lot of ridges which makes for easier walking. Other places have lots of steep ups and downs. But there is one mile on the Trail that is the hardest. It's called Mahoosic Notch. I'm pretty sure that it's in New Hampshire, but it is very close to Maine.

   What makes Mahoosic Notch the hardest? Imagine a narrow valley with steep sides. Now imagine giant boulders the size of small cars fills the bottom of the valley. That's Mahoosic Notch! Hiking through a giant boulder field with a full pack is not easy. I had heard stories from other hikers, so I knew what to expect. Some hikers would take a long time to traverse this mile, exploring the remnants of ice still present under the rocks even though it was past mid-summer. When I got there, I was by myself so I knew that I needed to be careful. But I also love challenges. I decided to see how quickly I could get through this one mile stretch.

   Under normal circumstances I could hike about two to three miles per hour (as long as I had some rest stops along the way). But this was not your normal trail. I quickly discovered that my hiking staff was no use, so I put it in my pack which freed up both of my hands. Following the white blazes that marked the trail, I scrambled up and over the boulders. A few times I had to squeeze through narrow holes between boulders. The challenge was on and my stopwatch was ticking away. When I finally reached the end of the one mile boulder field, I laid on the ground utterly exhausted. How long did it take? Right at one hour.

   I was through the hardest mile of the Appalachian Trail, but I still had many miles to go. I knew that if I kept going I would eventually make it to Mt. Katahdin in Maine and stand on the summit in victory. Onward and upward!

Lonely Thoughts

   Morning broke quietly in the halfway house on the slopes of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The old abandoned building was boarded up. It kept the wind out but also blocked most of the light! I remember cooking breakfast by the light of my little flashlight (a first for me, since I have never been an early riser). Ted the Head and the Strohs Brothers wolfed down their breakfast too. We loaded up our gear and squeezed out of the window by pushing on the lose piece of plywood. I half expected to see the park rangers waiting to arrest us, but the coast was clear.
   In the light of day we were able to look back at the summit of Mt. Washington and see how far we had walked the night before. The mountain towered above us and was very impressive. It was the last gigantic mountain I would see before reaching Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Yes, there were lots of other mountains to climb, but not like that one!
   We started walking down the road and made good time. Before lunchtime we reached the base of the mountain and civilization. There was a hostel near the road and we went in to take a break. I need to clarify this statement. "Take a break" for me meant a half hour or maybe an hour. But "Take a break" for Ted the Head and the Strohs Brothers meant that they checked in for the night! Their next thought was where they could find a beer. I was invited to stay, but I politely declined. We were past the most dangerous part of the White Mountains. I appreciated their companionship, but my goal was Katahdin in Maine, not a party.
   The climb up the next mountain was not terribly difficult, but it was different. For one thing, I was now hiking through forests (a welcome change after all that hiking above tree line). But the biggest difference I felt was solitude. The constant banter of Ted the Head and the Strohs Brothers was suddenly gone. I stopped and listened to the silence. It was peaceful, but a bit lonely.
  After a brisk climb, the trail came to a rock outcropping. It was a great place to take a break and soak in some sun. The temperature wasn't very cold, but still a bit cool because of the elevation. Sitting on that rock I began to think about being alone. It had been months since I left home. I had less than 400 miles to go before reaching the final mountain in Maine. I knew that I would make it. I also knew that I would see other hikers soon, even if I never saw Ted the Head and the Strohs Brothers again.
   I sat with my lonely thoughts, soaking up the sun and resting my tired muscles. But then there was something....a tiny noise. The trail has lots of sounds if you pay attention. But this noise was a bit unusual. It sounded a bit like scurrying. I looked around to see the source of this unusual disturbance. Much to my delight I spotted a small chipmunk. I was scurrying across the rock, oblivious to my presence. At that moment I laughed inside, realizing that I was not really alone!
   My new friend was busy going to and fro. I pulled out my camera and tried to get some photos. Have you ever tried to take pictures of a chipmunk in a hurry? Well, if you have then you know what I went through. If the light was right for a shot, the chipmunk ran too fast. When he was still, the light was too dim to capture the moment. By the time I got close enough to get a really good shot, he saw me and dashed away.
   Isn't that just like God to send me a tiny friend when I needed him most? My dark mood was gone. With a smile on my face, I hoisted my backpack and continued walking on the trail. I had miles to go before I would sleep.