Date: 2015-04-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Last night I put my phone and kindle in a ziplock bag along with two pounds of rice. This morning the phone was acting funky - it would not charge and the buttons would not work. The kindle appeared to be dead. I do have replacement insurance on the phone and I was trying to decide if I should pull the trigger on that - in the end I decided to wait another day and see how it went with the phone.For lunch I went on a quest to find a book to buy in order to have something to read on the trail. I couldn't find anything in this town other than Romance and Western novels - neither of which appealed. I did find a big heavy trade edition of some dudes adventures on the A.T in the local grocery store. I reluctantly bought it.Later on the phone situation improved slightly - it will now take a charge.***I guess this is a good opportunity to make some observations. First off, thanks to Tim, Victor, Tuck, Carl, and Jim for the encouragement. It does help to hear from folks! I would also like to thank my friends in FB land who have come over and give encouragement as well. Finally, a big shout out to Elle who is my logistics Angel!So... first up... Trekking Poles! I have done a lot of backpacking in the past and never cared for them - before now. The footing on the trail in the southern bit of the A.T is uncertain at this time of year. We have had so much rain that it is common to come across sections that may extend up to a mile that are nothing but three inches of mud at a 30 degree slope. I was spending more energy going DOWN a mountain than UP. I bought trekking poles at the Top of Georgia hostel. A $150 well spent! Life is much better with the poles - my footing is more sure which translates into less energy going down hill and less stress on my knees.Carl, the PCT method of bear bag hanging is that you throw the line over a branch, attach one end to a 'biner on your food bag, and then thread the other end (the 'pull end') through the same 'biner. You then pull the bag up to the bthe 'biner. Now the bear can't cut a line to get at your food and they can't grip the pull end of the line.ranch, and at head level you tie a stick onto the pull end line. You let the line go and the stick catches in Here is a link to a video on it:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAhWqbtd2p0 Jim, best of luck on your next attempt. Injuries seems to be really common out there. I have a constant low grade fear of that myself. I have a story to relate and I don't want you to feel it relates to you at all, but it's an interesting one that I picked up a couple of days ago.I feel that a lot of people are pushing too hard to quick and not listening to their bodies. There is an ethic on the A.T of 'walk through the pain' which is necessary because without it you will never make it, but some people are taking it too far. The other night I heard the story from a group I was camping with about a guy who had hiking with them for a while. He got a really bad blister on his heel, and decided that despite the pain he would continue. It got infected and every day got worse despite bandaging and everything he could do. After three days the pain was so bad he went into an Urgent Care clinic, and when the doctor cut off the bandages the doctor exclaimed 'holy s**t!'. They had to cut out a part of his heel. That ended his A.T journey.