new beginnings...

redial

field trippin'

won't be long now...

Thanks to Annette for showing us the beauty of Doughton Park. We got to hang with Brian and get in two good runs over the weekend. I'm nowhere near ideal fitness for the BMT. Maynard Ferguson belts out Balboa's ballad on trumpet over a chorus reminding me: "it won't be long now..."

the buildup

six degrees

While we're on the subject of this unusually warm weather, I've been reading a book by Mark Lynas entitled Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet. Sobering stuff...

And then the latest issue of National Geographic fell into my lap (thanks, Lily) with a great article by Peter Miller. Check it out. Perfect timing as we embark on our energy unit.

All this has me thinking of an even greater challenge post-BMT: a zero-emissions summer. Zero is a near impossibility, but how close can we get?

And of course this rules out some traveling that would otherwise be very appealing.

hot indeed!

The Trot thru Hot 70-mile two-day fastpack went down last weekend. It was a lot of fun and quite a workout.

Mohammed, Uwharrie and I drove from Marion to meet Scott and Liz at Davenport Gap early Saturday morning near where they had camped. Scott left his suburu and we all drove in one car to Asheville to pick up Adam and Kevin. By this point, we had a clown car scenario with six of us plus dog plus gear piled in one small vehicle.



Fortunately, we had less than an hour’s drive to get to Devils Fork Gap, our northern starting point. Adam was gracious enough to return the car to Asheville for us on his way to Black Mountain for Brian’s Seven Sisters Summit.



The five of us plus U-dog were hiking/running by a little after 8AM. We had 35 miles of rugged trail separating us from the town of Hot Springs, NC and about eleven hours of daylight. With the sunny weather and in the company of good friends, it doesn’t get much better than this!



I hadn’t been on this section of trail in eight years and thoroughly enjoyed the rediscovery of it all. We ascended through a waking forest to the summit of Big Butt where lingering snow contrasted with projected record highs.



While crossing a wonderful ridgeline field, we came upon an iced over pond with lively amphibians chirping and bouncing all over atop the ice. This frog phenomenon was quite a sight. The snow and ice would be a blessing to cool off with as temperatures began to soar.



By the time we scrambled over Blackstock Cliffs, it was downright hot! No one was acclimated to such heat. Hydration became a struggle especially during the latter dry stretches of the day.



Scott and Liz, veterans of the Trot to Hot, had intentions of a full resupply and motel stay in Hot Springs. As such, they got to live it up on the trail with small packs compared to us three stooges (plus dog) sporting relatively monstrous overnight gear.

Liz took full advantage of her ultralight status and flew on ahead of us to town. Kevin, Scott, Uwharrie and I descended to the French Broad about half an hour later around 6PM. We rested outside a store while gazing across the river for Mo. Eventually, Liz and Scott decided to go shower before dinner. Since we were planning to camp a little ways south of town, the first and last order of business for Kevin and I was to EAT.

Kevin and I ended up eating at the Smoky Mountain Diner. We split a veggie plate and a Greek pizza. I brought a hot dog to Uwharrie who was waiting patiently outside. We ate and rested in the diner past closing time (7PM) and then started hiking out of town. In less than a mile, we found an old roadbed splitting from the AT and used it for our stealth camp.



With daylight savings, we got up a little later than I was hoping. I think we were hiking up to Deer Park Shelter for water and a breakfast break by 8AM. We left a sign for Mo, Scott and Liz to let them know when we had passed this way. We hoped everyone could finish the second day of running by 5PM. Day two was going to be tougher. Again, it was 35 miles of rugged trail with a tad more climbing thrown in.


The highlight of the day was, of course, Max Patch. Kevin, U-dog and I lounged on top in the sun for quite some time while waiting for the others. We even met up with Mike Jackson, a local trail runner and family. His wife snapped a picture of us on top since we were both without a camera (kudos to Mo for lugging the digital box on most of this adventure).



The last dozen miles crept by as our energy waned. What a workout! After Snowbird Mountain, we had a bomber five-mile descent to finish at Davenport Gap. Scott and Liz had hitched from Max Patch to the finish, so they were waiting for us as we came in at 6PM. In another hour and twenty minutes, Mo arrived and we made our way back to Asheville.



This turned out to be a great adventure and just the kind of training I needed. I’ve got some ideas to take back with me regarding this fastpacking business. Here’s the simple breakdown:

Gear: everything held up well. I need to beef up the grosgrain treehuggers for the hammock. I may also explore a bivy option and ground out until I’m comfortable with my ability to stay warm while suspended. The aluminum origami pot seems to be a little too flimsy to be reliable.

Food: gotta get more of those coconut bars! Snack crackers are tried and true good warm weather munchies. I had a little bonk session at mile 14 on day one, but attribute that to not really having breakfast.

Feet: did not wear socks all weekend in my old faithful ’08 fastswitches and suffered no foot problems, but I need to get better at washing the grime off my feet at least once a day for longer excursions. The legs also held up well, which makes me think I took in sufficient water and electrolytes.

Dog: she’s probably game for the Gorge to Gorge. What a beast!

Now, a must read: Carl's like-minded adventure going on a little further south on the AT!

packed & ready

The weather will be unseasonably warm this weekend, which is perfect for a fastpack. I'm pumped to test out the BMT summer set-up for a two-day 70-mile excursion along the Appalachian Trail. Uwharrie's pumped too.

Here's the semi-final breakdown on it all:

2 kg | 4.4 lb. | gear/clothing (not worn)

2 kg | 4.4 lb. | water

1 kg | 2.2 lb. | food

5 kg | 11.0 lb. | total weight

As for food, I'm carrying just over 2500 calories/day for the two days and plan to eat a meal (or two) in Hot Springs, NC. I have a stove/pot system for a warm meal (or two), which will be tested. The packed food list looks like this: