Date: 2014-02-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Paul -Greetings. This is my first entry into this is my first entry into the journal. I will introduce myself since Delight failed to do so. My name is Paul Faletto and I have known and worked with Delight for over 20 years. Delight will be doing the majority of the blogging here, and I will attempt to add clarity and reality to what she posts. Let me first answer a few questions.- Why are you hiking? Because Delight asked me. I do not have any unresolved issues, need to find myself, need to make money off this, or anything like that. I retired from the Army about a year before Delight, so I have the time and think this would be a great way to see part of America. - Why did Delight invite you? You will have to ask her, but I suppose I am her 3rd or 4th choice. We have done a couple weekend trips over the years and know that we can trust each other. Years ago, after several drinks, she told me, "I think we get along because you annoy me less than most people do." I am working on my ability to annoy her more. - Are you ready? I suppose everyone that starts thinks they are ready. - What did you to prepare? I spent 27 years in the Army and did a lot of "Army backpacking". Army backpacking is like regular backpacking but you carry twice the weight and people want to kill you. I have also spent the past year walking and hiking with another old Army buddy, Ric Salgy. We typically averaged 4-9 miles a day. - Are you taking a gun? No. If you know me, you know I like and am fairly good with guns, but we will be walking through many states and towns that are very not gun friendly. So I am carrying a Kabar TDI knife. It is small, fast, mean looking, and very difficult to disarm even if you know how. Plus, my walking poles collapse into a pair of pretty effective batons. Thanks to lessons from Jared Wihongi & Tyler White, I am confident that I can use these tools to convince the most ardent of aggressors to rethink their actions. If you get through those, then you will get the benefits of years of MMA training from Eddie Mori at Mori Academy & Rob Handley at Absolute MMA. Ultimately, my goal is to walk 2,000 miles, not fight. So I will do my best to walk away.- What about bears? Bear sightings are rare. Any weapon needed to deal with an attacking bear is too heavy to carry 2,000 miles. Besides, I run faster than Delight. We will stay alert and give the bears a wide margin. Snakes will be given the same distance....unless we get hungry.- What gear are you carrying? Backpack - Kelty, Tent - Big Agnus Fly Creek UL2, Sleeping mats - Klymit blow up skeleton & Thermarest Z folder, Boots - Merrill Moab, Sleeping Bags - Merlin lightweight / Heavy down bag for the first month, Mountain Hardware rain jacket, Golite rain poncho, OR gaiters and hat, Columbia down jacket, Northface fleece, Sweetwater water filter.-Food? Our plan is cook oatmeal that we reinforced with raisins/nuts/powdered milk for breakfast. Flatbread sandwiches with Nutella or peanut butter, fruit, veggies, power bars, boiled eggs, hard Italian salamie, for lunch. We will cook again for dinner. Canned and dried meats with rice or noodles. a big part of our diet will be dictated by what we can buy along the way. Eating "real" food in diners will always be sought out. We should typically carry no more than 1-4 days of food at a time.- How far will you hike? Delight wisely set our pace to average 12 miles a day. I agree. I see too many people blow out knees, IT bands, ankles, and get blisters by starting out too fast. We will have days that are more and days that are less. We are both retired and have the luxury of time on our side.- What concerns you most? Physically, I worry about any injury and foot problems. Mentally, multiple days of rain and being wet. Attitude is everything. Know it is coming, prepare, and accept it. Fighting it only makes it worse. I learned this early in my career from Ranger Dunford while attending the John F. Kennedy School for Delinquent Boys. SWC. I hope you enjoy following us as we travel. Thank you for reading and we welcome your comments. Posts from here on out will be slightly diminished since they will be sent via cell phone.