What I will miss the most...

Driving to Wisconsin last night I started to think about what I will miss while I am on the AT.

From Marquette I will miss my Youth Center kids the most hands down, next the friends I've made and finally all the great recreational areas. There are so many places in and around Marquette that are absolutely beautiful.

From Wisconsin I will miss our families, especially our nephews and our friends. We are very blessed to have such great friends and family.

 In general I will probably miss toilets, face wash, sweatpants, a bed to sleep in, not being in physical pain, and showers....

Then I started to think about after we hike I am sure I will miss the trail. Peaceful nights in the forest, feeling tired and accomplished at the end of the day, the closeness to God one feels when they are far from society, endless days of adventure, spectacular sights, meeting new people and living simply.

Billy Joel lyrics come to mind when I think about all this

'Say Goodbye to Hollywood'


"So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last
Some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again"

Quitting?

Hmmm...

Lately Elliott, Marit and I have been talking about reasons why people quit the AT before they finish….

Here are a few of our thoughts 

1. Rash decision to hike the trail.
2. Did not plan ahead financially.
3. Romanticized view of hiking meets physical pain = quitting.
4. Carrying too much weight.
5. Lack of determination.
6. Mental break downs.
7. Missing comforts of “civilized” life.

Hoping we don’t fall to any of these…

Can you think of other reasons why someone might quit the AT?

Dehydrated Food Photo

In the photo you see
- Pre-dehydrated peppers on the dehydrator trays.
- Dehydrated apples and pears in the plastic bag on the left
- Dehydrated green onions in the next bag
- Dehydrates spaghetti sauce in the tray on the table

Yummy!

What are you going to eat?

Many people have been asking what we are going to do about food on the AT. There will be towns every 5 to 7 days along most of the trail so we will only have to carry about a weeks worth of food with us at a time, but the follow will tell you more information about food while backpacking. 
 

There are two main thoughts of food preparation while on long backpacking trips; preplanned and pantry style. Preplanned is a meal that has been planned in advance so that all ingredients are in your pack ready for boiling water. Months before the trip you will find yourself measuring ingredients and bagging each meal with cooking instructions written on the bag. It is also recommended to test your recipes before committing to eating them in the woods with no other resources. After a long tiring day of hiking this method can really pay off because usually all the hikers have to do it boil the water, throw in some food and shabam spaghetti dinner with meat sauce. On the other hand this method does not allow much creativity when cooking and can become boring to the hiker. Pantry style on the other hand allows variety and creativity while cooking. The hiker will pack bulk dehydrated foods and decide at each meal what to prepare. For example; hummus, dehydrated green peppers, tortillas and some cheese make a great dinner wrap, but you could also use the hummus, dehydrated eggs, cheese and a tortilla for a filling breakfast. This method is great because the hiker gets to pick which ingredients they are craving on a daily biases, but at times hikers find themselves with bulk items that they rarely use which equals extra weight. Elliott and I are going to use a mixture of the two methods. We will have a few preplanned meals and a few bulk items in our pack. This will allow us the luxury of “just adding water” when we are exhausted and the freedom of throwing in extra ingredients for variety. We have been dehydrating fruits and vegetables to add to various meals along the trail and are starting on preplanned meals. Last weekend our friend Sam Crowley came over to let us try his dehydrated spaghetti with meat sauce and give us a few pointers. Check out photos of some of the kayaking adventures Sam has go on at www.seakayakspecialists.com.

Hot Dogs Get Your Hot Dogs !

I have been working at a hot dog stand on the weekends to make some extra cash to help out with the AT. I usually work Thursday and Friday nights from 12:30 am to 3:00 am and make $25 an hour plus tips. Last night snowflakes were falling, the hot dogs were steaming, I was shivering, the icy wind cut right through my pink coat and drunk people were stumbling in and out of the bars. As I took in my surroundings I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation… ‘all of this to live in the dirt for a few months’. I flashed forward in my mind to the AT after a long day of hiking, setting up camp and making dinner. I imagined we were reminiscing on what we had to do to get where we were at and the conversation we centered around hot dog sales. In my imagination I looked back fondly on my adventures at the hot dog stand, but was glad that I wouldn’t have to do that again for awhile… at least until we start prepping for our next big adventure.

Hot dogs get your hot dogs… and give me a big tip so I can save up to hike the AT!

Welcome

Welcome to our blog where Elliott, Karen and Dan will all be sharing their thoughts and experiences about the Appalachian Trail. In the next couple of months you will see posts about equipment, food, training and research.

The Appalachian Trail is the most iconic American hiking trail ranging roughly 2,175 miles in distance. We will be starting on Springer Mountain in Georgia and ending on Mt. Katahdin in Maine. In 2010 1,460 hikers started at Springer Mountain in Georgia, it is estimated that 25% drop out with in the first 30 miles of hiking and another 25% drop out by Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which is half way.  Of the 1,460 hikers that started only 303 made it to Katadhin to finish the trail.

With these statistics in mind we continue to plan for our journey with high hopes that we are able to finish the entire trail.

Get more information about the AT at http://www.appalachiantrail.org.