Monday, October 11, 2010

so i think i've taken the lazy route and decided that i'm not gonna start up a rigorous workout routine to get myself in shape for the AT. that's not to say i'm going to be sedentary until i hike; it's just that the general consensus is that the only way to condition yourself for the trail is just to get out there and hike.

i finished another book today. "long distance hiking: lessons from the appalachian trail." highly recommended... two thumbs up sort of thing. it was written almost 20 years ago, but it's got a lot of really good information in it. i enjoyed it, anyways.

i think i'm gonna try to make it to virginia next month for a two or three day outing. can we say excitement? =)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

so i've not found a tent yet. or was it a sleeping bag that i was looking at first? i never really read my last entries before i decide to post a new one. either way, i'm still doing research and definitely have not figured anything out yet. but when he got off work last night, blake went camping somewhere upstate. he brought his pack in to work so no one would take it out of his jeep, and it made my AT fever flare up.

i bought another book. it's roland mueser's "long distance hiking: lessons from the appalachian trail." i read a lot of it at work yesterday because we were so slow. this brings my book count to four. =) lots 'n' lots o' research.

i had an epiphany earlier. i was totaling all of my bills up for this month and paying them and whatnot. when i hear people say, "oh, you should have $1/mile saved up to get you through your thru-hike," $2,100 seems like a ginormous figure to me. but i got to thinking about it... i'm going to lay out my current bill situation here:




cell phone 105
student loan 300
truck 455
insurance 120
gas 250
rent 575
electric 75
water 62
groceries 300
total 2,242


so really... it's more expensive for me to stay in society than to leave everything behind and get out on the trail. on the trail, the only expenses that i can think of that i would have would be my cell phone bill, a monthly storage unit to keep all my crap in, and food. and whatever i decide to do with my dogs, i'll still need to feed them.

on the trail, i could get rid of my rent and utilities and i'm planning on selling my truck anyways 'cause i can't afford it anymore. poof! 90% of my bills would be gone!

also, i don't know whether i'm going to try to train really hardcore for the trail anymore. the more i read, the more i discover that a lot of people seem to think that the only decent conditioning for a thru-hike is to just get out there and hike. this last book i bought said that after 6 weeks of being on the trail, your fitness level is pretty much good enough to hike the whole darned thing.

i use flip flops pretty much everywhere i go, so i've got decently tough feet. my vff's have given me blisters numerous times, so my feet have toughened up from those bouts.

i just can't believe my bills are so much each month. =( society sucks! i'd like to be a hermit now, please.