practice hike and skiing report

Last Tuesday, my mom, Beau, and I went to a presentation by Jennifer Pharr Davis. 

She is a 3 time thru hiker, author of "Becoming Odyssa", and currently holds the record for the fastest thru hike (not that the ATC even recognizes "records" for hiking...). Her drive and pain tolerance is AMAZING. She finished in 47 days, averaging 47 miles per day. Hearing about how she continued on despite terrible shin splints and hypothermia makes me resolve that I will finish my thru hike within the measly 5-6 month time frame no matter what the challenge is.

My parents and I set out for a short overnighter last weekend, starting at Bears Den and heading south.  It was a good opportunity to use some of my new equipment.  I love my new stove- the Soto OD1R from REI.  It's nice to have the auto starter instead of lighting a match with cold fingers.  I do wish it had a hard plastic case like the MSR Pocket Rocket, but I can deal with it.  Even with such a short trip (3 miles in to the shelter on Friday, 5 miles on Saturday) I had some good take aways:

- I need to organize my pack better. My pack has lots of pockets, which is only awesome when you know which pocket you put everything in.
- Friday morning, I decided to hike in running tights instead of hiking pants (partly due to my misplaced hiking pants, mostly for comfort) and decided tights are far superior. a) they're comfortable b) they dry quicker c) they don't pick up mud and wetness like regular pants do and d) they are way more flattering than my hiking pants.  Because the trees really care what I look like.
- Being by myself will be kind of scary. I'm glad I'm starting on a "normal" start date where there will be lots of other people around. At the beginning, anyway.

my cute mom at the Sam Moore shelter

I take back what I said about my change of apparel being more flattering

Why wasn't Beau with us, you ask? Beau is to hiking as Mackenzie is to skiing.  Skiing is okay for me, but I am happiest with easy terrain, lots of breaks, and maybe actually just spending most of my time in the lodge people watching.

Beau and his dad and two brothers had a great weekend in Park City.

How awesome is this picture??

Oh, and Beau shaved his beard into a "monkey's tail" on a dare from Quin. Love it.

of Tarp Tents and Frogg Toggs

edit on 5/24/2013 -- I am selling my beloved Tarptent Notch to swap it out for a two person TT. It is priced at $200. Please email me if interested! mackenzieparks@gmail.com
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First item of business: someone landed on this blog the other day by searching 'best earrings for a thru hike'. What?

Moving on:

Lots of gear has arrived in the mail recently... tent, rain gear, AWOL guide book, patagonia jacket, sleeping pad, and the third pair of boots after I wasn't happy with the first two.  And a food bag.

Behold! The TarpTent Notch, as seen on the right.

Beau thinks they look like little space ships. Stratospire2 on the left, Notch on the right

I've set it up a couple times and it's pretty quick and easy.  I'm a little concerned about needing to pitch it when the ground is too hard to get stakes in, as it's not free standing.  But I've spoken to a few thru hikers who have had tents like unto this on their hike and they said it was only an issue a couple times and it turned out okay.  My dad just got the StratoSpire 2 for him and my mom, and we had a TarpTent party in the yard.

On one of my (many) research trips to REI, a 2010 thru hiker englightened me about using Frogg Toggs for rain gear.  Orginally made for fishers and hunters, these two piece suits are incredibly light and durable.  I chose the DriDucks Dura-Lite Rain Suit.  It's 10 oz for the whole suit.  I'll keep both the top and bottom for the colder weeks, and ditch the bottoms when it's warmer.  I should take a picture of these, becaue they look pretty ridiculous.  But I think it will work really well and I'm excited to try them out. Actually, that's a lie.  I hope it never rains the whole time I'm hiking except for on zero days or when I'm sleeping in a shelter (but the springs will magically stay flowing).

I am super happy to have found a jacket and boots I love- a hot pink Patagonia Micro Puff, and I switched to the mid-ankle option on the Keene Voyageur boots.  The low ankle boot was creating weird pressure points where the tongue lay on my foot, but the mid ankle length is working fine.  I LOVE the wide toe box and they are just great. 

Also, 2 copies of the AWOL guide- one for me and one for Beau, my official thru hike coordinator.  Initial perusing has brought an immediate sense of panic towards resupply stops.  My type-A personality will have quite the experience adapting to the "figure it out as you go along" nature of thru hiking.

I'm electing to use the AT Guide over the formerly universally used Thru Hikers' Companion, mostly because of the handy profile maps.  And the distances listed to the next three shelters, instead of just one like in the Companion.  I just love the comparison found on their website:

My gear list is just about complete!

weekends

The past few weekends we've done some fun things, but I didn't take ANY pictures.  So instead of being able to document our Spy Museum trip, game night with friends, bike rides, dinner party, more games with friends, temple trip, or a Superbowl party.... I have nothing.  But I decided to make up for it this weekend.

My goal was to document everything we did.  I had moderate success.

We made pizza on Friday night, a common occurrence, especially when Harris Teeter has dough for a $1 on the weekly ad.

first layer of toppings, and me looking like I'm about to stab myself

Beau's self portrait

I highly recommend making pizza on the barbeque.  You roll out your dough and put it on the grill for a minute or two (just on one side).  Then top your pizza on the side that's been cooked.  Put it back on the grill for a minute or two and you're done!

Saturday was a busy day for us.  Beau took the much anticipated GMAT, the aptitude test for business school.   He's been studying SO MUCH over the past couple months, and he did really well.  He'll be applying to a few local school and maybe a couple others as well.  Details to follow.

So while Beau was having a super fun time taking the GMAT, I went running and used my Groupon for a massage! Ha.

I found a wetlands refuge!

This is my first run in quite a while, as I've been resting some tendonitis.  I was/am really afraid of it preventing me from thru hiking, so I've been playing it really safe and not running. At all. Huge bummer (Who am I? Who likes running, anyway?) and I miss my long run Saturdays.   Anyway, it's finally at the point where I have no residual tension on my ankle and I'm looking forward to getting back to (short... slow...) runs.

Anyway.

The remainder of the day:

- Drop by to Z&J's

yes, Millie is always dressed cute, even when just lounging on a lazy day

- Perusing F Street

Amorini Panini

love this pay by the ounce stuff

- The National Portrait Gallery, something I'd never done before but I definitely suggest for best DC museums.  And the building is amazing! Will someone please have their wedding reception there and invite me?
- The Holocaust Museum's Nazi propoganda exhibit
(My goal to take documenting photos is clearly slipping....)
- As luck would have it, we ran into Steve and Lauren at Costco and spent the evening with them
Hooray for fun Saturdays!

Sunday we went on a delightfully cold walk on the first day that has actually felt like winter.

Then we went to church and made Valentine's cookies and that is THE END.

anecdote from John

"I'm thinking that Shauna and I will quit our jobs and go with you.  We will hike the first week with you, then fly up to Connecticut and start hiking south.  We'll see you somewhere in Shenandoah Nat'l park.  We won't tell each other where we are, we will just see each other when we see each other.  The anticipation will be tremendous.  If we read each other's entries in the shelter journal we will know we missed each other.  If that happens, you keep on going.  Shauna and I will shuttle back to run into you. 

- dad "

a thought on mail drops

Why do them?

See here, here and here.

Seriously, I'm interested in opinions. They seem like a huge hassle and potentially a waste of time.

(Packing too much food, packing not enough, getting sick of the food you thought you'd like, not arriving in town when the post office is open, expense of mailing, worry about package not getting to where it should be... etc.)

Enlighten me!

routines

I love having a routine.  I love having a schedule.

(Unless I'm on vacation, in which case the only scheduled activities should be meals, reading, and watching animal planet.)

After Jimmy went back into retirement, I found myself a little lost in the evening.  Get home from work at 5:30 and then.... what now?  Beau has been going to the library most evenings to study for the upcoming GMAT, and the other nights are occupied by basketball.  I remember just a few months ago when I LONGED for just an hour of free time or hanging around with just Beau.  Now I find myself looking for new things. Book club? Don't mind if I do. Actually putting time into visiting teaching? Sure!

Over time, I've developed a schedule that makes me happy. Admittedly (embarrassingly?) way more chill than ever before.  Monday is library night. Tuesday is Power Pump class. Wednesday is Biggest Loser. Thursday is yoga night. Friday is make-a-treat-from-Pinterest night.

I find so much comfort in daily, hourly, minute-ly routines. After my morning workout, I set out my station at locker #94- gym bag in the middle, work clothes on the right, lotion and deodorant on the left, shower shoes on my feet and towel hanging by the door. Get to work, wake up computer, make my morning oatmeal- 1 packet + 2 handfulls oats + smidge of coffee creamer. Bed time: pack gym bag for the morning, brush/floss, roll around on the foam roller, read scriptures, read my personal book, prayers, cuddle, sleep.

I wonder what my schedule will turn into when I'm on the AT. (I was trying to keep this a thru hike free post.... nope.)  The routine I'll have for breaking camp, packing my backpack, and planning the mileage every day.  Systems for resupply and zero days.  Sometimes I think of it like any other time you have major changes in your life- things will be different, but I can adapt! I can adapt and create normalcy. A new kind of normal.

suggestions and tips from successful thru hikers

A compilation of suggestions and tips from successful thru hikers (mostly from recent email correspondences):

Equipment

"For clothing, I'd highly recommend buying as much merino wool as you can.  Merino wool is amazing for a bunch of reasons. It keeps you cool when it's hot and warm when it's cold (even when you're wet). It's very odor resistant. My friends and I would hike 5 or 6 days straight and my unwashed clothes would smell better than their freshly washed synthetic clothes.  I still wear my wool hiking clothes from my thru, and I can assure you theirs have been tossed into the garbage."

"In an effort to save weight, I got an extra-small sleeping pad, which only reached down to my butt. This was great for the warmer weather, but horrible when cold because my legs froze on the cold ground."

"I recommend wearing lightweight, wicking running shorts instead of actual "hiking" clothing. The running shorts dries much faster, weighs less and overall more comfortable"

"If I could do it over again, I would have carried a Kindle with me rather than actual books. Kindle weighs less. And I often finished my book before reaching the next town, which was very frustrating and wouldn't happen with a Kindle (read lot at night before sleeping)."

Food & Mail Drops

"My advice is at first (till you get food supply down to a science), carry "emergency food" that you haven't built into what you think you need between towns. For me, this was a packet of Raman noodles and a giant protein bar."

"I recommend AquaMira drops for purifying water. Pumps are heavy, I saw a number of SteriPens break on hikers, and iodine tablets taste horrible."

"Here are a few things I recommend getting in mail drops: roll of toilet paper (seems they only sell the rough stuff one at a time in the stores), however many multivitamins needed to get you to the next mail drop (weighs less than carrying big bottle of them), proper number of pain reliever meds (again, lighter than the bottle full), pre-measured protein powder in a zip loc, pre-measured gatorade powder in a zip loc, needed amount of calcium chews (because of the beating your body takes, especially as a woman), any food you need."

"I bought all of my food along the way, and yes mail drops are a hassle.  I used a bounce box for my laptop, camera batteries etc and it was such a pain trying to guess where you'd be in 2 weeks and then rushing to a town before the post office closed."

Mental Attitude

"Take your time in the beginning. The hikers I saw fall off the trail with overuse injuries were the ones that from Springer were trying to do 17 - 20 miles a day. Just listen to your body"

"Don't get too committed to hiking with one person or one group. I saw lots of people mess up their hikes by hurrying to catch up with friends or waiting around for friends to catch up. It's funny how bonded people get, and how quickly. Just move at your own pace. You will make amazing friends, and they will still be your friends after the hike is over. "

EDIT- Post hike, this is my FAVORITE piece of advice:
"Nothing is ever as bad or ever as good as people say on the trail. You will notice people trying to convince you that you are going to die in the Smokies, for example. Just make your own judgements and don't over-plan or expect anything too extreme to happen. "

"I wish I'd paid more attention to deteriorations in my gear and in my health. On the trail, little things tend to turn into big ones if you neglect them."

"The trail is close enough to civilization so you can make new decisions (about gear, food, etc.) as you go, so don't worry about figuring everything out perfectly ahead of time."

"It's funny how the brain works and what this trail does to you. I only look back on my experiences in a positive light, it's like I forgot all the pain and misery or maybe I like it?! You'll know what I mean once you finish the trail (notice I said FINISH!). Seriously, short of actually having a major injury, this thing is pretty much all mental."

Other

"I would suggest starting mid week (as opposed to on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) to avoid the huge crowd and also, to be a bit later."

"Here's a random piece of advice: pee rags are awesome."


Random indeed.