After hiking 15 miles on yesterday I came to the road that leads to Monson, Maine. I had officially completed the 100 mile wilderness! More importantly good food, showers, laundry, a bed with pillows, food, and more food awaited me. Did I mention food? I was starving. I had enough food for 6-7 days in the wilderness doing little miles but with my broken lighters and pushing big miles I ate all my other food like crazy. All I had left going into Monson was 2 packets of pasta from the night I didn't get to cook. As I got to the road there was my buddy Coffee Break. We had met in Millinocket where he was recovering from an injury. He had already completed 50 miles of the 100 miles wilderness at that point and headed back on the trail the same day I climbed Katahdin. Jokingly he had said that I would catch him in the wilderness... well catch him I did. I bolted out of the wilderness and sure enough he was sitting there at the roadside parking area. There were 2 guys with a van supporting a fellow by the name of Karl Meltzer who is ultra marathon running the AT at a shot at the fastest thru hike record and he was due to come out of the wilderness at any moment so they were there waiting for him. I called the Lakeshore House Hostel to come pick me up from the trail. Coffee Break had a reservation also so he tagged along. Shower, laundry, a big burger, fries, a 12" pizza, a 4 berry cobbler, coca cola, chips and dip, and I was ready for bed. That was just in the first evening... I weighed myself and I had only lost 2 pounds. But I lost like 5-10 lbs off my gut and gained a ton of muscle in my legs which made up for what I lost. But I still need some fat so when I get into winter I am not freezing to death which is why I am eating a ton in town. I knew it was going to be like this and that I would have a massive appetite so I did budget for eating a lot in town. I am writing this at the end of my zero day (day 7 on the trail) and am looking forward to getting on the trail in the morning. Having 1.5 days to rest my legs was very important especially after pushing it like I did. I did over twice the distance as Coffee Break in the same amount of time as a reference. Everybody has to hike their own hike so I am not trying to judge anybody by any means I simply am using it as an example. The 100 mile wilderness was a magical place that I wish I could have spent longer there but the problems I had justified doing it quickly. I did see my first moose (although it was dead and lying next to a river so it doesn't count) that I forgot to mention I think. I also saw a bear on day 3 (second day in the wilderness) which was 100 ft down the trail but bolted off before I could even think about taking a picture. I don't think I ever got affected by drinking the untreated water much... at least not yet. I did have diarrhea a few times yesterday evening/night but that was it. I never had any fatigue or nausea and no more diarrhea so I think the little bit of a bug I did get from the water is gone. I would think most major water borne illnesses would have hit by now but we will see. It is interesting talking to NOBO's because about 50% of them never filter/treat their water and have never been sick. No thank you I am not joining that crowd. I got batteries though for my Steripen and have a thing of back up Iodine as well as a new lighter and back up matches so I think I should be set for future issues like I had in the wilderness. I am ready for a good nights sleep and will hit the trail in the morning. It will be 2 days to Caratunk, Maine where I will resupply/pass through and on to Stratton a few days after that. I will try to do blog updates every couple days or so we will see how the weather holds out and if I can get phone reception and data on top of mountains or not. Thanks for reading and don't forget to look at the pictures.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Please Read
Thanks to those that have made me aware of issues with the blog. I have spent the past 15 hours working on it with minor success. One issue is the background photo not showing up. On some posts it shows up and some it doesnt. I am at a standstill right now with it and am not going to touch it for a few weeks when i take my next zero. Also, the blog works best from a computer rather than smartphone which you may want to take into consideration. You may only be able to see so many posts on one webpage so you may have to look for a next/prev page button to see more posts. Remember to look at the pictures on my google account. The link to the picture account i think is different between posts at some point so if one doesn't work try the other. Please bear with me and hopefully i can solve the issues before New Hampshire. Thanks
Day 6: 100 Mile Wilderness Part 5
Don't forget to check out the pictures at https://plus.google.com/111376157723691672982/photos
With the photo's I am sure you read my previous post about why they are on my google plus account rather than here in the blog. If you want to know what you are looking at click on the comment link to each photo. I have made a comment to just about every photo posted so that you can know what it is.
Day 5: 100 Mile Wilderness Part 4
Day 4: 100 Mile Wilderness Part 3
Day 3: 100 mile wilderness Part 2
Day 2: 100 mile wilderness Part 1
Day 1: Mt. Katahdin
Remember to look at the pics on
https://plus.google.com/111376157723691672982/photos
Millinocket, Maine
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Link to my photo album
This isn't going as planned...
Ha! Fooled you there for a second you thought i was getting tired of the trail and thinking about quitting. No, the trail is great. What isn't working out is blogspot. I can't integrate photos into the journals all i can do is post them at the end. I cant even add a caption so that you know what you are looking at. I created a photo thingy with my google account which i will provide a link for in another post. Also, i have trouble remembering everything from each day at the end of the week due to tiredness, lots of miles covered, and so many things seen so i will be doing daily updates rather than weekly.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
50 hrs of Bus Rides Later...
This is a long post but its worth reading.
On Monday I boarded the greyhound bus in Lakeland at 6:00 pm and hit the road. My mother, sister, and Courtney were all there to wish me safe travels. Out of the five transfer buses i must say they were all relatively nice people except the first bus from Lakeland to Atlanta. On that bus the guy behind me just got out of jail and was eying my backpack but i stayed awake the entire way to Atlanta so nothing would happen.
Now comes the most interesting part of the trip to me. The bus ftom Atlanta to Richmond was running an hour late. Greyhound was on the ball though and had an express bus ready to go so we could be back in schedule. While on the bus we got a 20 minute break in a truck stop. Sitting across the isle from me for 12 hours on the different buses had been a woman with two children under 2 years old. The kids were adorable and had not screamed or cried the entire time. I could see she didnt want to get the kids up at midnight so i offered to pick up her dinner for her and pay for it. Well the McDonalds she wanted was closed and my choice was limited to a health foods store in a very overpriced truck stop... I bought her and her kids food though and handed it to them and said "God Bless." The cute little kids both even said thank you. I dont think that family would have ate if they had to purchase the food themselves due to the insane prices. I give the glory to God though because without the previous bus being delayed we wouldn't of been on that bus together. It also is not my money; it is God's and i am just a steward of it. For without him providing the resources for me to go hike i would have never been here in the first place.
But it didnt end there. On the bus to Boston we got delayed again. This time due to traffic issues. But during the entire ride to Boston from NYC there was an approximately 60 year old black gentleman sitting 2 seats in front of me. I could tell he had a lot of health issues due to his limp and horrendous cough. Right around the point in time where we were supposed to have been to the Boston terminal we were stuck in traffic and the man started yelling at the top of his lungs in pain. He was slouched over and was in pure misery. He yelled, Jesus, please have mercy on me; Jesus, I need your help..." And he said it in a pleading/yelling manner. I dont know exactly what happened at this point it became a blur. Something in my gut told me the man was having a heart attack and i have seen many people having them at the hospital so it looked familiar. I started praying asking God for prayer from others who may know me that i was in a time of need. I prayed for the holy spirit to come down on me and filter into him as i stretched my hand towards him what little i could because of the seat in front of me. All of a sudden i felt the presence of the holy spirit enter me and i declared that in the name of God this illness, this sickness be rebuked from that mans body. At that instant I felt the holy spirit leave me and within a matter of seconds the man leaned back in his seat not saying another word or crying any more. I wasnt sure what had happened because here he had been writhing in pain and nobody even looked to help him. Several minutes went by and this gentleman hopped out of his seat and walked back to the restroom like he was a young man. The look of pain and despair that once covered his face was replaced with a calm glow. As he walked towards the restroom in the back he sang praises of joy to Jesus thanking him. I know that man was healed due to his faith and I thank God that he used me for his greater glory. I didnt say anything to the man; his praises to the lord our father was enough testament of God's incredible power to those on the bus that i was satisfied. For anybody that knows me and was praying for me the morning of the 23rd thank you. I am so grateful God is already using me and i haven't even been on the trail yet. I look forward to the next occasion where God uses me. And for those of you who believe this was fake or the holy spirit doesnt exist i pity you. It is one of the most incredible feelings in the world to be overcome with the holy spirit..
Monday, July 21, 2014
Common Pre-hike Questions I've Been Asked
1. Why are you hiking the entire AT? Its been a dream of mine since my days in scouts. I was always intrigued that there is a trail that goes all the way from Maine to Georgia.
2. How long have you been planning the hike? I started planning over 2 years ago for this hike.
3. Are you going by yourself and if so why? Yes, I had several people express interest in joining me but it never panned out. There are lots of other hikers on the AT so i am sure i will have no problem meeting other hikers.
4. Why are you starting in Maine rather than Georgia like most people? The only place on the trail that closes during the year is the northern terminus, Mt. Katahdin and that is in October. This late in the year to do a thru hike you would have to start up north.
5. How long is the AT and how long do you expect to take to complete it? The AT is approximately 2180 miles long. The average thru hike takes 6 months. I hope to do it in 4-5 months but i am not on an official time schedule so if it takes longer then so be it.
6. How much weight will be in your backpack? My base weight (weight of pack without food or water) is 12.8 lbs. This weight is subject to change based on weather conditions. Water weighs 2.2lbs per liter and i will be carrying 1-4 liters of water based on the state and amount of rainfall. My food weight is about 1.75lbs per day. Typical food carried at any point will be 3-5 days. So anywhere from 15-25lbs will be normal.
7. How will i get food and water? Water is easy; i have a uv light steripen which kills all contaminates. If there is debree in the water i will filter it through a coffee filter. Water will be gathered from springs And streams along the trail. I will resupply food at towns along the way. Typical duration between towns is 3-5 days.
8. How will you know where to go or keep from getting lost? The trail is very well marked with white 2" x 6" blazes. Most of the time the blazes will be on trees but may also be on rocks or posts. An issue will be when the trail is flooded and i cannot see the blazes on rocks. I hear some areas are not blazed well but i will figure those out when i get there. I am carrying a trail guide which i split in half so at the halfway point i will get the second portion. The guide shows elevation profiles, distances to everything i will ever want to know down to the tenth of a mile, and maps of towns. On the town map it even lists all restaurants as well as providing prices/accommodations for hostels, hotels, and motels along the way. Lets just say it is very thorough.
9. What is a thru hike? A thru hike is hiking an entire trail from end to end. You will get different variants of the definition such as completing it within 1 year or not taking any extended breaks. For example, a person hiking the trail over the period of 3 years doing it sections at a time is a section hiker.
Trail Name
In the hiking community it is commonplace for hikers to be called by a "trail name" rather than your real name. I was given the name Sharkbait last year and it stuck. So I imagine you are wondering how I got that name. The story begins in the pristine waters of the Florida keys on a hot summer day. I was scuba diving and on the way back to the boat when I noticed a 6 ft nurse shark swimming parallel to me only 5 feet away! So I got the bright idea to swim over to the dadgum shark and wrap my arm behind its pectoral fins. That was idiot move number 1. So i was swimming with the shark in my arm for about 15 seconds when idiot move number 2 popped in my head. I wondered what would happen if I tickled the tendrils under its snout. Guess what else is under a sharks snout? Yep, you got it right, its mouth full of little teeth! I reached that left hand of mine over and started tickling those tendrils. About half a second later my hand was in that things mouth. I was in shock... and my fingers were being crushed as if a mack truck were parked on top of it. After about 10 seconds the sbark let go and swam on its way. My fingers were pretty bloody but they were still all there thank God. I have also been bit a second time but that story i wont talk about in this journal. Yes, it was my fault also.