Springer Mountain Prep

I haven't been doing a lot of hiking, just local walks and time on the elipse and treadmill. I spent some time today going thru my gear in preparation for my trip to Georgia and Springer Mountain.

I have been carrying a first aid kit (14 oz) and an emergency kit (18 oz) both in nice cloth but not waterproof cases. I'm thinking after all this hiking that I might be able to cull some stuff from these two kits and make just one kit. I dropped band aids, small bottle of iodine, several gauze things and a sling and other stuff. I also dropped an extra pen, 2 mini bungees, extra nail clippers and tweezers (I didn't realize I had!), etc. Overall, I trimmed 10 oz from the two kits and managed to put everything I kept in one case. I still kept things like duct tape, emergency blanket, extra flashlight batteries, tent repair goo, antibacterial cream, gauze pads and sport tape to name some of the important stuff. I feel confident that I still have emergency and 1st aid supplies for crisis situations but without the extra weight!

I'm still on to meet my Tiger Bomber friends at Tiger Bomb's house in West VA on Apr 7th and then caravan down to Dahlonega Hiker Hostel on the 8th. I'm pretty darned excited.

2/25/08 Turner's Gap to Rt 70

We were out of the house by 0830 and met Kathleen and Wally at a Boonsboro park and ride location where we left Wendy's car. Wally drove us up to Turner's Gap and dropped us off then headed up to Rt 70. Since today is only a 5 mile hike, he's not going back to his camper, he'll park then hike in to meet us. By 0910, we were dropped off and on the trail The weather started cool, about 38 degrees, and cloudy. The trail lead up the ridge but at a gentle slope, not too tiring. About 1 1/2 miles in, were were at the Boonsboro Washington Monument. We spent a few minutes there. I climbed to the top of the monument for a view of the valley and we all had a quick snack. Wally hiked the 3 1/2 miles to the monument in the time we hiked the mile and a half! While there, Wally took a group photo of us which Kathleen has posted on her Trail Journal site. Just as we were getting ready to go, a park ranger pulled up. He asked us if we saw anything unusual, we said no. He said there was a report of a naked man running around in the park. We all laughed and said it was pretty cold for that but no, we hadn't seen anyone. He said thanks and drove off and we got back on our way. the last 3 miles were as easy as the first and I wa at Wally's car just behind Denny at 1210. Kathleen and Wendy were there about 1230. On the drive back, Wally said he believes the ranger thought he was the "naked man". The ranger met Wally at one of the road crossings to ask hime some questions and again at the car park at Rt 70. Pretty strange! Wally was hiking in shorts but he had on a green pullover sweater. On the ride back to Wendy's car, we decided to meet for supper at Appleby's as it is my last day here. I had a great time this week. Wendy's a great host and I'm only 19 miles short of completing Maryland AT!

2/24/08 - Crampton Gap to Turner's Gap

The day started pretty much as it did yesterday only we met Kathleen and Wally at a thier camper and picked up Kathleen. We're leaving Wendy's car at Crampton Gap and Wally will pick us up at Turner's Gap later. We got to Crampton Gap and started hiking north. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. We had sunshine right from the start. This Gathland Park is a historic site and we read quite a few of the markers as we hiked by them. There was about an inch of snow on the ground but as we gained elevation, all the trees and bushes were covered with a layer of ice. Up at White Rock, near the top of Lambs Knoll, the trees and bushes were just beginning to drop thier ice covering. The ice was dropping all around and on us, like a crystal shower. We took a lunch break at Rocky Run Shelter. Trail maintainers are repairing the old shelter and adding a new one at this location. Kathleen and I were ready to move on just before Wendy and Denny (changing his trail name to Geezer from Katahdin Kid) so we did. Shortly after rejoining the AT from the blue blazed shelter trail, we met Wally. He decided to hike in from the Turner's Gap end to meet us. A nice surprise. His ankle (damaged severely on the CDT last year) is mending nicely and felt well enough for a bit of a hike today. We're only about 1.5 miles from the gap and Wally decided to hike ahead. Even with a bad ankle, Wally can out hike us all and got to the car well ahead of us. The trail took us past a civil war location, Fox Gap, and the monument there to General Reno (the Reno Monument). I took a minute to read the plaques there. By now we were all hiking at our own pace and Wendy and Denny, who normally hike faster than me, had not yet caught up. By 2:10pm, I was at the car before everyone but Wally. By 2:30pm, everyone else was back and we were headed home. Again today, the trail was pretty easy and as it was a nice Sunday, there were lots of people on the trail. We did 8 miles today, a good day of hiking.

2/23/08 Crampton Gap to Harper's Ferry

As usual I was awake at 6am, got up, ate, finished packing my pack and was ready to go by 8am. We met Kathleen and Wally at the ATC HQ cause I had forgotten my hiking poles on Wednesday and wanted to pick them up. I left the group and hiked from the ATC HQ north to the park and rail road bridge at the Harper's Ferry historic district (about a mile or so) and met the rest of the group there. We then drove up to Crampton Gap trail head in Gathland Park in Wally's car, leaving Wendy's car at the park for our return. Today is realatively warm but there's snow on the ground so a fog is surronding everything and frosting all the trees and bushes. Looks like a fairyland, very beautiful, even without the sun. This is a very easy trail with no significant climbs and about 4 miles of canal path, flat and smooth at the end back to Harper's Ferry. We stopped at lunchtime in the Ed Garvey shelter. This is a nice shelter, 2 floors and nice deck with picnic table. Unfortunately the water source is 1/2 mile away at the bottom of the ridge. Not good, glad I wasn't camping there. However, a guy was there from the night before, name of No Pain. A black guy from Washington DC, on his 6th AT thru-hike. He also has done the PCT and the CDT. An interesting guy wo seemed to know or know of most of the movers and shakers in the hiking community. After lunch we left No Pain and moved on south. I took a side (blue blaze) to Weaverton Cliffs for the view. Pretty awesome. When we got to Keep Tryst Road, we met several people recovering from having thier cars broken into. They'd only been gone a couple of hours. A jeep had also been broken into (window smashed), probably belonging to 2 guys we passed on the trail. The park rangers had gone to try and intercept these guys. We commiserated with the victims then moved on to the canal path. We hiked the last 4 miles pretty quickly, spying many ducks, geese, and pilated woodpeckers along the river bank. Talking with Kathleen on the hike, she's looking for a new trail name. Maybe Glinda? Ranger? We were back at Wendy's car about 4:30pm. The day's milage for me was about 11 miles. I had wrapped my toes in band aids this morning, which worked pretty well at preventing further hurt and damage.

2/21-22/08 - Rest Days

I'm taking a rest day to heal my groin and toes. Both 2nd toes are severely bruised, I'm not sure why it happens but it's painful just to have socks over them. I may avail myself of LLBean when I get home for a second opinion on boots. Anyway, Wendy went to do some running around chores and I read James Patterson's "Jack and Jill". I did bestir myself to go with Wendy to the grocery store to buy supplies for tomorrow's dinner with Kathleen, Wally and Denny. We decided crock pot beef stew would be appropriate. The groin hurt every time I lifted my knee to get in the car. Oh well. Later in the day I did sit on my bed without a thought. A good sign. I finished "Jack and Jill" and borrowed a book from Wendy called "In Beauty May She Walk" by Leslie Mass. The weather reports for the 22nd are poor, lots of ice so it looks like I'll have plenty of reading time. I bought a paperback at a swap shop we were at today to read later. Only 50 cents so both it and the "Jack and Jill" will be donated to a trail shelter. Wendy also has a book I'd like to read, "Blistered Kind of Love: by Angela and Duffy Ballard about thier hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

I am up at 6am on the 22nd and the ice storm hasn't been too bad overnight. I earned my keep by shovelling the drive and walk in case Kathleen and Wally make it here from southern Virginia. I also helped Wendy get the beef stew started. After that it was just read, read, read, finishing the Leslie Mass book just before Kathleen and Wally arrived at 6:30pm. We had a nice dinner with planning for Saturday's hiking and tales of our hiking exploits. Bed by 9pm for an early start in the morning.