Yukons Quest: What, is your quest?

Yukons Quest: What, is your quest?: *to post a comment click on the title^           I would like to thank you for taking the time to visit my website and I hope you are ins...

Backpacking not hiking

This is a raining night in Georgia that is nothing new it rains here all the time.  But hiking in the rain is different  setting up your tent, cooking, and trying to sleep in your tent. Waking up the net morning packing up your wet gear and moving on hiking again for 10-12 hours a day. For 6 months everyday. Well that's me I will be hiking the Appalachian Trail. Some of you will say  again, yes  again.


I have learned a lot  in the last 3 years of my backpacking life. I am not a hiker. I am a backpacker. I will carry all my needs on my back for 6 months. When I get home I will do some major downsizing. Who needs all this stuff. On Wednesday I will leave Springer Mountain the southern terminus of the Trail. 2,179 miles long Not including the walk to the shelters and to water sources and walking around town or to town. So it is many more miles.

 Why? I say its just a training hike for me. I will do all the long distance trails I can find. I love the planning part. This year I will send myself food boxes to places that are hard to get resupplies. We will see how that works. Food is so far the heaviest part of my pack. It does go down in weight as soon as I eat. Then gets heavy again as soon as I get my resupplies. And all the towns are in gaps. Which mean I have to walk up and out to get back on the trail.


This year another thing I am doing different is I have support. I have a family of 40 women I have met through Facebook we are all hiking but at different times, We are called the Summit Sisters. And a very good friend is hiking with me. Susan Logue, she also has  hiked part of the AT and knows how to live off the land. She has promised to cook me a squirrel dinner with wild onions and potatoes. We will see.
I have no doubt that she will cook it, I do have doubt if I will eat it.

I am more determined to hike the whole trail then ever before. There is so many wonderful trail all over the world. And this one will get me in shape  to continue on. This is no dream. I have read one book on the AT. That did not inspire me to hike. Backpacking you have to live it, breathe it and just do it. Some go out to find something. I am going out well lets see. For me. Nature I love it.

Home

Off trail for a little bit.

The Red Handkerchief

Red handkerchief has saved my life today. You never know what piece of equipment you have in your pack that will become the thing that you need the most. Last night the weather was cold and rainy. Made the trail very sloppy and I had to hike slow. Each footfall was carefully planned. I didn't want anything to happen so early into my Appalachian Trail Hike. This trail will lead me to Maine and then if the weather is suitable to hike in I have plans to keep going on the International Appalachian Trail. I have printed out all the information and I have my Passport in the last food drop box to be mailed to me in Maine.

Since it was  cold  this mornings I  had oatmeal with bananas  and hot coffee. I had a snack about 10. A Delicious Cliff Bar. Pumpkin Spice. I hiked on. I have seen two hikers out for a couple of days they were very nice and we chatted about the trail conditions and maybe a chance of snow. I love to hike in the fresh snow the air is so crisp and clean and the quite in the forest is so almost Eire. Almost spooky. I can scare myself so easy. I finally got through the spooky part and kept going.

I was surprised at how fit I was. The elevation changes didn't bother me as much as they did in the past years I have hiked the AT. Or maybe I just knew what was coming up. As I walked along the now really wet and slippery trail I was starting to look for a camp site with a fire ring. I know everything is wet but I was wanting to try this a new way I read about starting fires with wet wood. And  it was about 3:00 by now and I had enough for today. 

I remembered a sweet spot (haha) to camp but wasn't sure how close I was to it. As I started to worry about setting up camp in the cold and dark I came around the bend and there it was. The perfect place for me to spend the night. I looked around to make sure no one had already claimed this perfect place and I was good. I took off my pack and started to set up my tent get it all ready so all I had to do is get in to bed. I got a fire going which was really tuff to do. Everything was so wet. I couldn't decide what to have for dinner, Since it is only the second day on the trail I have plenty of food. I poured myself a hot toddy and had some hordervers. Sat by the fire to get warm. Just like home. My home for the next 7 months.

This crash and rustling noise was far away I was listening but not to concerned and then it sounded like it was getting closer. I paid more attention now. I quickly hung up my food bag. Which is so easy to do I just have never figured out why some people just cant do it. After that I went back to the fire thinking what ever was out there would not come close to the fire. Well I was wrong.

My first aid kit and ditty bag.

http://youtu.be/G_1vvoqjFJ8

I am ready.

           My new journey into the wilderness will be nothing like I have experienced before. I have some trails under my belt and I have experimented with gear. All kinds of gear. I now have 3 cooking kits, 2 tents, 3 backpacks. The pack I really want to carry well I cant fit all my stuff I want to bring in it. Yea I know. At this point in my backpacking life I am not ready to downsize again. Now, maybe while I am on the trail, I will find some of my equipment that I brought might go home or be given away to another hiker. But for now I feel like I have just the right amount.

I have been looking into the Gila Wilderness for a backpacking trip. I want to be in the true wilderness, I just don't want to hike in it I want to live there. I want to go were there is a challenge. Were not to many people are. Maybe a few other backpackers here and there would be fine. Not be in hurry to get to a certain place by a certain time. Of course my food supply would have a lot to do with the amount of days I could be out without resupply. And as always I have a tendency to carry to much food. I will jouneal my whereabouts as I wander around. 

Wilderness the wisdom of the wilderness you must be open to hear her talk to you. She will tell you. Just listen.

I do have a trail planned for this year. It is the APPALACHIAN TRAIL. From Georgia to Maine  There is hundreds of books written about the trail, people who have hiked the trail, equipment you need, food to take, shelter, Everything you could possibly think of. And if you need more information there is hundreds of UTUBE Videos. You can learn everything you need to know between the books and the videos. 

What you cant learn. Is the....Well I cant tell you. You will just have to get out and hike. No, not hike. Backpack. I am not a hiker.

I will see you on a trail somewhere in the world.

"Sweetspot" wandering the American Trails: FOOD FOR A DAY

"Sweetspot" wandering the American Trails: FOOD FOR A DAY: FOOD FOR A DAY. See here I go again food ,food ,food. I have to get over that. One day. BREAKFAST 2 packs of Oatmeal with Nildo Mi...

Bean Soup

BEAN SOUP

1 pound of red beans soaked over night
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 chopped large yellow onion
4 chopped celery stalks
1 chopped green pepper
4 large cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
cayenne pepper
sage
parsely
tyme
vegetable broth
2 cups water
Rice.

FOOD FOR A DAY

FOOD FOR A DAY.

See here I go again food ,food ,food. I have to get over that.
One day.


BREAKFAST



2 packs of Oatmeal with Nildo Milk. 320 cal.
1 trail bar snack                                 190 cal.
coffee


LUNCH

Peanut Butter on a Tortilla                 280 cal


Snack Trail Mix                                  150  cal

DINNER

Knorr side of some sort                     280 cal
Package of chicken                            70 cal

Tea/coffee/cider

I will have to find something other then chicken and the Nildo. Still working on that.

All that comes to about 1600 cal a day. They say when you are hiking long distances you need 3 -4,000 calories a day. I am looking into what I can supplement with. Maybe some protein powder.

I will change the menu to my taste. Each day will be different but I have thought of seeing what I could eat for 30 days at at time.

It is very hard for me on the trail to stay a Vegan. Still trying.

When a long distance hiker gets to town its normal for them to eat and eat and eat.
My grocery shopping is not the same anymore. I am always looking for food for the Trail.

Right now as I write this I have a pot of bean soup cooking and  will go into the dehydrator.
My trip.
My trip ha. Next 6 months on the Appalachian Trail is more then a Trip. Its a TRIP.
Wait till read about that.
 

MY NEW JOB

My new Job, I have had the same job for over 45 years. This new Job is by far the most difficult thing I have ever done or attempted to do. I had to learn new things do lots of research  I was looking through one of my book cases and found a Appalachian Champion dated 2006 so I guess I have been preparing for this hike since then. 6 YEARS.
Yes, My new job is backpacking. Long distance backpacking. miles and miles. 6 months at a time. This is the way you must treat a long distance hike, You must get light with your gear but still safe. You must be aware of water were it is and isn't. Which is hard to do when the guide says water and  yuo get there and there isn't any. You always ask south bounders were the next water is. Usually in the spring there is plenty of water but if  a dry winter maybe not. You will learn. The wilderness is not forgiving.  Do not go out there and think you will have a leisurely walk in the woods. As many new Long Distance backpackers think they are going to go for a walk in the woods. Oh I cant wait, I retired ,I quit my job, I got a divorcee, I read this book on the Appalachian Trail, I went to the Smokies or the Whites when I was 7 and always wanted to hike the entire trail.

It wont be anything like that. You will be miserable, you will hurt, you will be hungry, you will be tried  you will be cold, you will be wet. All you stuff will be wet. all your food and your maps will be wet. You will wonder why am I out here, what a I doing?

So if you treat this like your new job. I get up and hike. I get up and hike that's your new job. Hike, hike hike. As you go along day after day you will get better at all the new things you will be learning. Cooking in the rain, eating cold food when you run out of fuel. Packing up a wet tent. Putting on frozen socks and frozen shoes and walking out of camp. Putting up a wet tent. Carrying a wet pack on your back.

Getting into town thinking you will have a room. Ha.
Also when you get to town you think oh finally I get to rest. Well its more tiring then hiking. You cant jump in your car and run to the store buy grocery and come back to your room. You will be walking everywhere. You have to take the much needed shower, wash your clothes. I remember as I was taking a shower I washed my clothes at the bottom of the tub. Like stomping grapes. the laundry at in the hotel was broken. While you are in town you also will be looking for food. Real food you don't have to cook or think about what to eat. I have never thought the AYCE places made any money when hikers came to town.

Lots of people think they are going to read. Most people are to tried to read. I am thinking about a Kindle. They are very light. And if I get held up somewhere I will be able to at least read. Still thinking about that.

You will meet the most wonderful sincere people you will ever meet. And some will become long life friends. Some you will plan more hikes with. Some you will hike away from. But on the most part you will have the time of your life and see yourself for what you really are. Not what your job made you, not what your things made you, not what you have done in the past. No one cares. You wont even care when you keep hiking day after day.
If you are a flower or a tree person there are beautiful places that have wild flowers. If you want to see wildlife in the wild you will. If you want to test yourself to see if I can do this. You will, your hike will be what you want it to be. But I will remember this ITS MY NEW JOB.

Traildino | European Trails

Traildino | European Trails

Summit Sisters

Summit Sisters how did they come about? It all started on White Blazes a Hiking Forum mainly for the Appalachian hikers. I have been reading the forum for a couple of years. Years of experienced hikers are active on there and helped me out a lot when I was getting ready for my hike on the Appalachian Trail.

There is a women group and Connie saw a need to form a club or a group for older women that were interested in hiking and most are first timers. As she befriended each one of the women from White Blazes Forum it evolved into a group of wonderful, independent women all ages and hiking experiences.

One of the group members, Donna opened a Facebook page for all of us. And then all hell broke lose. It was the best think that happened to all of us. We are now a group of 35 hikers. All wanting to hike Long Distances. We all have become great friends and talk almost daily. Start dates are all different and we have some on the west coast hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and most doing the A.T. Even thought we all wont be starting the same date we all have made a pack to meet at Trail Days.We then will all meet in person. Looking forward to that day.

One chat we were having on Facebook it was suggested that we have a name for our group. Well I personally like to have the trail name me (which it did). I thought the trail would come up with a name. Then I said we should have a mark on us a ribbon or something so in case we happen to meet on the trail we would know. Shes part of this group I have been talking to for  6 months on line. Didn't quite work like that.

April one of our members took it upon herself to not only name our group but to make a logo with our group name and the year we hiked. 2013. And another member Susan took it upon herself to find out were to get the logo made into a patch. All with no asking input from other members.

It ended up being the best name and the best patch. So when you see a Summit Sister Patch you can think to yourself. How wonderful the internet brought all these great women together for one purpose.To tru- hike the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. I am proud of our group of women. You will be hearing from all of us.

Perfect

There comes a time when you must stand alone, feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams.. You must be willing to make sacrifices, be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved..
There are times when familiarity and comfort need to be challenged, where you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.
Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better. Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by. Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life...
Do not stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way. ♥ Take one step at a time and keep moving forward ♥ :')

My Fear

Holidays are not my thing. Any of them even Birthdays. What do I like? Thats a good question. I have worked since I was 15 years old. If you want to count all the Babysitting I did well it would be 12.

Sometimes it would be 20 years before I even got a day off. Now in my twilight years I have found Long Distance Backpacking. 

Long Distance Backpacking you say. On one of my most cherished Facebook Page is a group of women all having the same dream. ( I cant say its a dream for me. ) We call ourselves The Sumit Sisters. A few have met. Some have dropped out some have moved to another trail. Some will hike, some wont, some will make it some wont. But on a recent post about the fear of not even trying came to hit me in a way that made me think about my life.

Since I have retired. I have a fear of not having anything to do. Oh yea I have cleaned out my cabinets, etc. But the hiking. Its not even hiking its Backpacking. Everything I will need on my back for months on end. When I come back from a backpacking trip I always think I don't need this or that.

People who have never done Backpacking don't understand and most don't even care. They don't even know how to talk to me. Thats ok  not to much of a people person. 

The wilderness. I crave it I want to be out in it ,to live there. It can be harsh at times and is not to forgiving. But the freedom you get is the most rewarding life you will ever have. Its not the views from the tops. Unless you are in the west. Its not the life long friends you make along the way. But they are nice to have. Its not the fact that you can live on the trail eating and drinking the same thing everyday.

For me. its the inner peace I get from being out in the Wilderness. My fear is not being able to ever do that again.

You now what they say. You carry your fears in your pack.  Well  I must think I going to starve. I always have extra food when I get into town for resupply. I start out with 4 days of food and then I put another day in just in case.

In case of what you ask?

I could be really hungry from hiking all day and eat more then I allotted for that day.


I could have to stay in a shelter for a day because of weather or I'm sore and need a day of rest. So I would eat my 5th day of food then.

I could come across a backpacker that has lost all his food to a bear and I would have plenty to share.


I could come across another backpacker that has simply  ran out of food because they didn't pack enough.

So I want to make sure. I pack food. 4 days of food and one extra day.

Appalachain Trail 2013 4 days of food.

So many trails so little time.

As I prepare for my upcoming hike on the Appalachian Trail and have met some wonderful tru hikers some many times. I just want to go hike. My problem I am having I want to hike them all. I know I am on the down hill side of my life . Of all the hikes which ones do I want to do. I keep going back to them all. The west pulls me everyday. And the hikes there go through places I have lived. So that would be fun to hike into Pie Town on the CDT or hike into Skykomish Washington from the PCT. But hiking the Appalachian Trail I can hike into Washington DC were I was born. I really don't need to go there through.

So where to go were to go. I m thinking I can park at one end to to the hike to the end. Get a shuttle/plane. Get in my truck drive to the next rail and do it again, Every state has trails. I think about the children and adults that never get out of their boxes and explore the Great American Trail systems that people have made for us. People have spent a lot of personal time and as you know when you are volunteering money out of your own pocket.

The first is the thought. Then contacting the government whether is city, county, state or  federal. Somebody had to go speak to the fathers that be. Then the land owners. Years it takes to make a trail. For who. US. We get to enjoy the outdoors. It is ongoing. There are Associations that still fight in city hall all the way to Washington. For US.

I have volunteered my whole life. Millions of miles on my vehicles. Millions of hours in my life. It was all very rewarding and I still keep volunteering but now its for the Trails that I love. I encourage everyone that has the same passion to Join the clubs that help keep the trails open for us.

 I want to walk them all get to know each one for their own legacy that they have. The history, wildlife, plants that I see that I don't know what they are. The challenges that are unique to each one. The remoteness, mountains, rivers, were to get water.  I want to feel it all.

The Trail Family that I have  well its hard to explain if you have never had one. People always ask why? I say because its there, because I have learned you can carry everything on your back for months. You don't have to answer to anyone but yourself. Which I always did what I wanted to do so that's not much different. But why does the Trail pull me in? Is there a big magnet that is not seen by the naked eye? Yes there is. And if you have never had that pull on you. IM sorry its your loss.

I was hoping if I wrote I would be able to decide what Trail to do now. I am packed so I could just walk out the door. Maybe I will.

Sweet Spot

Time of year

It has to be something in the Autumn air that makes me want to go out into the wilderness. Here I am again looking at trails, upgrading equipment, dehydrating food. My tent, I have either been using my sons or my friends one man tent. Unless my husband goes with me in which we take the 2 person Kelty that I love. So this year since I have decided this long distance hiking is not going away. I have bought a Tarp Tent Notch. I got the one with tall sides to help the sand and snow out when I hike the PCT and the CDT. I haven't used it yet but I have high hopes for it. The next new equipment is my backpack. I got a Hyperlite Mountain Backpack its water proof so no more rain cover to deal with.  It is very lite so this should ease up on my pain.

I am thinking about hiking this year starting Jan 1st at Key West.
I will keep you posted.

Sweet Spot

Again

September 24,2012,

There isn't a day goes by that i do't think about hiking. Well not even hiking more like long distance backpacking. Weeks if not months on a trail. i have so many trail I want to do, I have plan to hike the Lone Star Trail soon. I am getting ready to hike the AT for the third year in a row. I can tel you I am not looking forward to Georgia and North Carolina again. It is very hard. But I have don it twice before so no big deal right.

Every time I go to the store I am constantly picking up trail food. And about once a week I fix a dinner that I would cook n the trail. Mainly to see if I like it and how much fuel it will take to cook.

I have hooked up with a group of ladies all hiking next year. They are so enthusiastic and it's getting me into the mood. I can't wait to meet them all in person.


Will write again.

Sweet Spot