A Quick Update

Just a quick update:

Lisa is the only survivor to the P90X Club.  She continues her workouts, while Shauni and I have moved on to other things.  Like snacking and playing PS3.  But my next workout/weightloss push is going to start Sept 1 and I still have been playing the wallyball and doing some FitDeck workouts. 

I have been dying to try out Lisa's new Hennesey Hammock and this weekend I will head to the Rt 70 overpass and hike south to most likely Rocky Run Shelter.  I stayed there on the first night of my first Section Hike and it is a nice place.  Good water and lots of trees to hang from.   I'm going to try out a little reflector pad I made and use  a fleece liner and woovie as my bedding.  My pack should be a bit lighter on this quick overnighter.  I always pack like I'm going longer, as a training technique, but with the lighter bedding I may get under 30 lbs.  We shall see.

The trail is calling...

Summer Vacation Part 1

It is weird.  I have been so focused on backpacking for so long that it feels strange that I am doing something else. But I am in Cape May right now and having a great time getting into the beach mode. Of course I had to make a fire out back tonight, but I am having a good time. 

I made another fire out back on Sunday night while the rest of them played pictionary. There was a storm to the north. All you could see was the lightning flashing in the clouds with no sound of the thunder. It looked like some of the old gods were having a battle in the sky. It was cool. 

On Monday Lisa and I put the kayak into the harbor and paddled up the canal. It was around a five mile round trip and was nice.   The tide was pretty low when we put in and we had to walk way out to get launched. The breeze was in our faces the whole way out, but that gave us a nice push on the way back. 

Tuesday and Wednesday are sort of a blur.  I think we played Munchkins one night and of course the eating and drinking continued at a decent pace.  Oh, also Wednesday was July 4th, so we had burgers and dogs on the grill and everyone but me and Bill went to the fireworks down on the beach.  They hadn't done them at the Cape May beach for quite some time, so it was nice that they were close.  I dropped everyone off and they walked back after the show.  I stayed behind to confort Ginger if she became frightened, but she didn't even hear them.  I kept checking to see if they were going and caught a little of the finish, but it was right at the level of the houses and trees. 

Thursday we went to the Wildwood boardwalk.  It was hot and stifling, but we hung out at a place that served beer and found a new brand that we never had that was quite tastie, called Leinenkugel. 

We headed home on Friday around 5 pm and had no trouble with traffic.  It was a good week. 

Next is Conneaut in early August.

Some Lessons Learned, What's Next and P90X

The backpack trip was a success even though it seemed touch and go for awhile.  Shauni's blisters were a problem, but she pushed on through and we got to the end without a need for any kind of alteration or, gods forbid a rescue.

As always, I learned a few more things about multi-day hiking and hopefully I will remember them and put them to use.  First of all, tie your bandana in a loose knot on the pack strap.  I never even noticed that it was gone until we were taking a break and I reached to use it.  Also, it never hurts to carry at least two.

Also, I learned from August that weight is what you make of it.  If you want to carry something and can, than do.  I decided to stop sweating the small stuff.  I usually overpack anyway, but now I have some validation to my theory.  I can usually handle between 30 and 40 pounds without too many problems, so I won't sweat it when I'm up in that zone.  Of course, cutting weight still would allow me to make everything easier, but I won't debate about some gear choice as much as I think I have to from now on.

So now it is time to start thinking about what is next.  When I was reading Stat's updates, he mentioned doing an Aqua Blaze and a new plan was hatched.  I'm thinking about hiking south from Front Royal to Rt 211 and then riding a canoe back north to Front Royal on the Shenandoah River south fork.  It is very doable and I have started to make the calculations.  It would be nice to get a few people to come along, but the idea is there and I continuously refine it as I find out more information.

I also have a few other options like another 40 to 50 miles up in PA or to continue south from my southern most point at Snickers Gap to Front Royal, finishing the Roller Coaster.  The options are still many for now, since I have only completed 4.7% of the trail.

Since I have been steadily sliding into fat mode, I decided it was time to get back into a slimmer shape.  I can hike all day, but I would rather do it at a lower weight.  Lisa, Shauni and I have started the P90X program.  We are one week in and feeling the good soreness that comes with a new workout routine.  Hopefully we will continue for the whole program, but I will go as far as I can as long as it stays fun and I keep getting results.  

Appalachian Trail Hike - Snickers Gap to Harpers Ferry

Last Wednesday, my daughter Shauni, her boy friend Alex and I packed up our backpacks and headed towards the Appalachian Trail and spent three days hiking 20 miles from Snickers Gap to Harpers Ferry.

There were a few challenges, but we were able to get the hike done.  I love being out there.  It calls to me continuously.  Every time I enter a piece of woods, I look for a white blaze and want to strike out and keep going.

You can read the details at: http://www.trailjournals.com/jefe

I plan to get back to the trail as often as I can and add to my miles.  Some trips may be on parts of the trail that I have been to before, but that is the beauty of the trail.  You hike it where you want to.  There are some places that I am growing to like, but I plan to explore many different parts of the trail before I am done hiking.

Keep on Hiking...

Jefe

Harpers Ferry to Snickers Gap - AT Section Hike (Plan)

My next hike on the amazing Appalachian Trail will take place in a little over a week.  My daughter, Shauni and her boyfriend, Alex will head out with me to Harpers Ferry after dropping a vehicle near Bear's Den on Rt 7 in Virginia.  We will head south on the trail by climbing up to Loudoun Heights at a fairly steep angle.  Once on top of the ridge, will follow it south until we enter the "Roller Coaster".  We will do a few hoops of that before coming down to Route 7 at Snickers Gap and the end of our hike.  The plan is three days of hiking from around 6 to 9 miles each day.  I like keeping the plan fluid.  I created around 6 or 7 scenarios for the hike and we will probably wind up doing some hybrid of a couple of them.  We will hike to our abilities and stay flexible to each situation.  I can't wait!

I am getting excited once again.  Every time I step onto that amazing foot path and see the first white blaze, my heart speeds up and a smile draws itself across my face.  I love being on that path, with everything I need on my back and nothing but time to kill and miles to go.

Keep calling me AT.  I will be back on you, doing the miles before too long...

Blackthorne Inn Retreat

Last Sunday, my bride and I headed to Northern VA and checked into the Blackthorne Inn outside Upperville, VA.  We arrived and checked in.  Our room was down the road a bit past the pond in an old remodeled stable.  It had a beautiful large fire place and was very nice.  We opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed the afternoon on the patio overlooking a field.  The weather was perfect.

We went down to the pub for a few drinks and came back later for a wonderful dinner.  The owners are actual Irish people and the decor was very nice.  We watched a rugby game in the bar and one of the patrons had to explain a lot of the rules to us.  It was fun.

The next day marked our 24th anniversary.  We had a nice breakfast in the pub and later headed to a winery for a free tasting which was a part of the package that I had purchased on Living Social for one of Lisa's Christmas presents.  The tasting was nice and the winery was cool.  It was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, but it was set up well.  Really just a house on some land where they sold their own wine from grapes grown on the property.

After a little nap, we headed to the AT for a short day hike.  We found the well hidden driveway to the trail head parking and headed for the white blazes.  We walked along up and down through a forest that has sprung to life in this nice spring weather.  It had been cloudy all day, but it cleared up some as we hiked along.  Not too hot or cold, but I sweated pretty well as we hiked along.  We took the blue blaze trail to one of the PATC Cabins, Myron Glaser.  It was a nice cabin and we may want to come try it out some time.

We headed back up the trail and back to the car.  Dinner was a four course deal this time (part of the package) and was very good.

Early in the morning, I heard rain hitting the roof, but all was well inside the room.  We got up and one more large breakfast and headed home.

It was a good time.

AT Overnighter

Ginger and I headed to Northern VA and hit the AT for a short hike with an overnight stay near the Sam Moore shelter.  The walk out was beautiful, but this is the roller coaster and some of the hills were extreme.  We took nice breaks at the stream crossings and arrived at the shelter to find a college class and boy scout troop.  I found a nice tent area and set up.  As dinner was finished the expected rain storm arrived and the rain forced us to the tent for a while.  After the storm passed, we hung out by the large fire the scouts had made and talked to the other hikers.

Ginger sleeps scared and kept growling throughout the night.  Around 6 it started sprinkling again so breaking camp and breakfast was hurried.  We hit the trail and headed back to the car.  It rained off and on lightly as we hiked out, but I was more comfortable keeping myself warm by hiking instead of sweating in my rain gear.

We checked out Bear's Den on the way out and headed home.  A great needed AT fix, but it only stirs up more Jonesing for the trail