Date: 2006-04-09
To: final prep
Miles today: 0.0

Have had a bunch of folks ask if I would keep updating my journal for this springs section hike, so I guess I better keep everyone informed. Only two weeks till we will be back on trail and I still have stuff to do around the house. Since I won't be here for the prime planting month of May, I need to get things all set up for my mom to be able to plant the flower beds full of annuals. Also have gotten 2 upside down tomato planters that mom will plant tomatoes and cucumbers in growing down with herbs and flowers growing up.Also have several cleanup jobs to get done in the backyard before I leave. My training is going pretty much as planned. I'm not able to do as much as I thought I would do, but am staying pretty consistant. Physically I think I'll be in good shape. Carrying 5 to 6 pounds less weight with the new equipment helps also. I feel a little cramped in the BigAgness Seedhouse 1 tent compared to the 2 man version of the Seedhouse I used last year. But it takes up much less room in my pack, is quicker to set up/take down and holds all of my gear quite well. My new MontBell #5 sleeping bag also works pretty well. It does not keep you warm at 30 degrees I found out one chilly night on the back porch. But then it is only rated to 45 degrees. So using it in my tent, I think I can get away with about 35 degrees if I also wear all of my clothes.   Don't think it will get any colder than 35 degrees for this section of the AT, this time of year. Had to patch my rain pants as I tore a very small hole in them on some briers. Then wore my rain suit in the shower to test it and I stayed dry, so that is one less thing to worry about. Will only wear it if it is very cold while it is raining though. You know....the hypothermia type of weather. Other wise I'll just let it rain on me and rinse clean anything I am wearing. We will start out from Damascus ( 459.5 miles ) with 6 days worth of food and resupply from ' Lucky's ' truck at the Mt. Rogers Headquarters parking lot, ( 523.3 miles ) where he will leave it after we drive down to Damascus VA., then have another 5 days worth to get us to Bland VA. ( 579.2 miles ) where we can pick up enough to get us to Pearisburg. Pearisburg ( 621.7 miles ), Catawba ( 694.7 miles ) and Glasgow ( 771.2 miles ) will be my official mail drop sites.If we get to Waynesboro ( 848.2 miles ) with some time left to hike, I'll just resupply there for a few days worth of hiking. Think we will be in Pearisburg about May 8th, Catawba about May 15th and Glasgow about May 22nd and Waynesboro about May 29th. If it actually happens that way, that would leave us a good 5 more days to hike. Could possibly get to Luray Va. Luray is at about 927.6 miles from the start at Springer Mt. Georgia. Anyway, that is the basic plan for this section, of course I'm always open to changing things to meet our needs if circumstances dictate. Must be flexable you know. But getting almost to the halfway point of the trail is pretty good for now. Will cut my hair and beard on the short side to start out with this time as it will be getting pretty warm as we progress along. I have decided to use some flavoring ' crystal light, lemonade ' to help with water intake. I don't drink enough and get dehydrated easily so hope the yummy lemonade flavor will encorage me to drink more.   Don't like using an artificial sweetener because of how the chemicals break down in the body.......turns to formaldehyde at 86 degrees and the body stores formaldehyde in the brain....... not a good thing since there is a direct link to the growing number of brain cancers and artificial sweeteners. But I think I can handle it for 6 weeks, as long as I do some herbal cleaning when I get back to help the bad stuff work its way out of the body. So there is the plan for this section hike thru south and central Virginia. Lucky will pick me up at 0-dark thirty on Saturday April 22nd, we will drive over to Dayton to pick up Tim, then drive down to Damascus. Lucky will then take his truck up to the MT. Rogers Headquarters parking lot, get a ride back to Damascus and all three of us will hit the trail early on Sunday morning April 23rd. I'm asking for sunny weather with the temps in the 50's. With a little good luck for a perfect trip, we will end up in Luray on June 3rd ready for the ride back home.The adventure continues !!Vitaman