Date: 2007-11-24
To: Warner Robins
Miles today: 0.0

Odds and ends, ¢¦AT ROCKS!!   For some reason it occurred to me in the beginning to collect a rock from each state as I passed through. Glad that I did. My intent is to display them appropriately in some as yet to be determined fashion.I also did the traditional ¢carry-a-pebble¢ from Katahdin to Springer. I¢m sure Springer is much better off because of it. Couldn¢t help but think that the pebble I carried south was deposited on Katahdin by some weary NOBO.MONEY. For a long while I had planned to address Gear and Money topics in agonizing detail. But those issues have been discussed time and again in several good forums, so I¢m a little hesitant to throw my two cents (get it?) into the fracus. The short of it for me is that it seemed to cost much more than I had anticipated. The town food and beer were not only luxuries, but I believe necessities to keep the morale running on high and to keep my body strength up. Consequently, I went through $4000 like a hot knife through warm butter, draining my savings account almost dry. However, I¢m convinced that I would have gotten off the trail at some point if I had to depend on dehydrated ¢bag food¢ the entire trip.GEAR. I mostly discarded all gear which I did not need to get me to the next hostel and/or town. That process began as soon as I exited the 100 mile wilderness by sending home my stove-pot-cup, extra socks, jacket, etc. By the time I reached the mid-Atlantic states, I was no longer carrying a tent, water filter, or rain gear.Now understand that I have had at least some rudimentary ¢survival¢ training AND first hand experience, so I never felt that I was in danger nor being too risky. There were one or two nights where I literally rolled up in my 6x6¢ ground tarp and crawled under a ledge for protection from the weather. Not the happiest night, but not life-threatening. By no means am I suggesting that the average hiker would be comfortable in those conditions, and don¢t even consider going this light in the winter. It¢s one thing to watch survivor-man on TV eat a bug, but quite another to actually sit in the cold rain for six hours waiting for enough light to hike to safety.So by the last half of the journey I was only carrying my backpack and sleeping bag, with just a very few additional items (e.g., aqua mira). The majority of the weight came from liquids. I carried two 80oz bladders of gator aide and/or water as full as I could keep them all day long. Please believe me, I am not promoting ultra-light. The items I did carry were standard fare (weight-wise) in terms of off-the-shelf equipment. I simply eliminated those objects which I deemed were unnecessary for my style.Having said all of the above, on an overnight ¢miles-don¢t-count¢ trip, I will gladly carry tent-stove-etc, if the intent is to enjoy the ¢outing¢. My dad and I are already planning such a trip. Different journey, different gear requirements.STATS.   I registered at the ranger station in Baxter State Park on July 4, 2007 and was listed as SOBO # 184. Nervous as hell, but anxious to get started. On Sept 14, I registered at Harper¢s Ferry (the ATC) as SOBO # 32. Quite confident at this point, knowing and understanding my own limitations and strengths. and finally, on Nov 3, I signed the register at Amicalola as SOBO# 6. I acknowledge that many thru-hikers never bother to officially sign at either end, but still, those are the stats as I know them to be.I averaged 20 mpd when hiking and took relatively few zeros ¢ the stats in TJ are as accurate as I could make them. And speaking of TJ, ¢¦THANKS to TRAIL JOURNALS.   None of this (journaling) would be possible without Leif (98) and Zipdrive(99). They have my undying support and gratitude for their efforts. Everyone reading this should give a huge round of applause (or perhaps a few dollars) for making this website possible. Tell ¢em the Doctor sent you.Thanks for reading.   ~ Dr Jekyll (Obie)   ME-GA 07