Date: 2006-11-14
To: Prep #58--Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
Miles today: 0.0

Alright folks...the three amigos (as pictured here) decided to go on an overnight cold-weather shakedown hike. It is at this time I would like to hand out prizes to my friends and myself:First Place For Falling First And Most Creative Use Of Socks:Goes to Nicole....we all had bets we'd personally be the first to fall, but Nicole hit a slippery spot on a wooden bridge and down she went. It was very graceful though, because she caught herself and was balancing like a tri-pod on 2 legs and one arm. Of course....I stood there and laughed at her....I'm just that kind of friend.She then realized her sealskinz gloves had ZERO thermal properties and her hands were freezing, so she made a fashion statement by using a pair of Smartwool Hiking Socks as gloves. Not uncommon from what I understand...cuts down on weight when you can use your socks for two purposes....but I'm not sure about doing that with socks I've worn for 3 days you know? Luckily Nicole had clean socks....and her hands finally got warm. First Place For Coolest Gear And Coolest Snacks:Definitely has to go to Toasty. She had yummy yummy snacks like dehydrated blueberries, pumpkin seeds, and cool little individual servings of Jif Peanut Butter. As for her gear....I think both Nicole and I are now coveting these crazy OR waterproof gloves that Toasty refered to as her "nanoo nanoo" gloves (think Mork and Mindy here). I guess they're called lobster claws, but I thought they looked like a camel foot. Nonetheless....I think I need to invest in some, because my Zyflex mittens soaked through with the sweat from my hands.First Place For Being A Slowpoke In Camp And Making Sure No Hunters Would Shoot Us:Yup...that prize is mine. *Disclaimer: This WAS only the 2nd time I've put my hammock up by myself* Like I told Toasty and Nicole...I get hung up on the sequencing of things...like do I change clothes first or eat dinner first? Do I eat breakfast and then pack up camp or the other way? Do I eat my frozen snickers bar before or after the 3rd time I had to get up to water the leaves? This over-analyzing is a curse of those of us who predominantely acces the left side of our brains to figure things out. I make sense of my world through time-efficient steps. The beauty is that when I'm on the AT, I'll have nothing dictating how long it takes me to do anything...other than making it to Kathadin by Oct. 15. Toasty and Nicole were gracious and very patiently hung out until I was finished packing up in the morning. As for my fashion statement...just think "orange" and LOTS of it! I have orange Frogg Toggs(my rain suit) and a blaze orange pack cover. It's hunting season and the universal color stating "Hey Mr. Hunter...please don't shoot me...I'm a human being just like you!" is orange. We were safe...very very safe.Overall...it was a BLAST this weekend. We got wind, rain, AND snow! (ok...so it didn't stick...but it WAS snowing). The temps were in the low 30's but the wind made it feel like it was in the 20's...brrrrrrrrr. We built a really pathetically embarrasing "fire" (can't even really call it a fire) that lasted for about 15 minutes--the length of time it takes those fire starter sticks to burn out, which I brought thinking it would make life easier. Everything was too saturated to burn, so after a quick dinner, we all retreated to our chosen hammock/tarptent/tent at 5:27 p.m.!!! We were all laughing about that, but we didn't have any other choice. It was COLD!! All I can say is thank the goddess for my MP3 player. I listened to NPR and it helped me forget how cold it was. So, I'll close for now, but my next post will give more details about my gear and warmth issues and how I solved them. Until next time......