Date: 2010-02-25
From: Home in Colorado

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

How can it be time to go already. I hardly have my taxes, honey-do's, and packing done. I leave for the airport late tonight for an early morning flight to Roanoke. The good people at the Outdoor Trails Outfitter in Daleville have received my mail ahead box of stuff not allowed on the plane and will meet me at the airport and drive me back to Daleville to get my boxes, buy alcohol (stove type for sure, after that?), and get me to a motel where I will put my gear back together and get ready to hike on Saturday.Speaking of gear, I have made some changes and they are not yet entered into the gear listing section. Here are the basic changes.   OLD                                 NEWOsprey Aether 65L Pack                  Luxury lite frame and belt                                       ammended with 2 35L Sea to Summit                                       E-vent dry bags and a 15 L Sea to                                       Summit Dry bagPacka rain coat and pack cover         Marmot Nano rain jacket   switched to a Montbell            and a homemade sil-nylon pack cover   lightweight rain coat               that looks like a pillow case with a    in Hot Springs                     drawcord and lok-tight on the bottomUpdate Journal at Library or motel      Peek Pronto emailer   along the wayIn addition a few minor changes to clothing that I will discuss along the way as well.My pack weight without food and water last year was just about 32 pounds, this year I've dropped the weight to 23 pounds.Osprey pack was fine, I am experimenting with a hybrid Luxury Lite as a means to cut weight.The Packa worked as advertised. However my body moisture began soaking my pack as it was trapped inside my Packa with me. There was no place for the moisture to go. There are zip vents but in the rain I was getting soaked from both inside and outside with the vents open.The Montbell raincoat leaked from the very first day I tried it in the rain. Not at the seams, all over. Drops of water came through everywhere within 5 minutes of being in the rain. In general I love Montbell products but I took a soaking on the rain coat(intended). I live close to the Montbell store in Boulder, CO and took it to them. They would not even discuss it with me, no other satisfaction from them on that regard either. I have many Montbell items and have bought some since but I have to strongly NON RECOMMEND their rain jacket.Last year a good part of my zero days were spent updating my journal. I am trying the Peek this year and will email my entries to my son, Flash, who will paste them into the journal. I will report on that from the trail after I have used it a little bit.More on gear as I work my way north.I am a bit anxious about the weather. We have had a crazy winter here in my part of Colorado and the weather along the trail has been hammered with snow and storms. Last year everyone asked if I was crazy to go hike without a partner (I explained about meeting people and making friends on the trail). This year everyone asks if I am crazy to go while it is still winter. The only constant is that I seem to be crazy. Glad to get that out in the open right off. It will explain a lot if you come back to read more of my journal.So I am watching the first few flakes of snow drop and wondering if I will get out on my flight tonight. I'll let you know. Hope to do another entry from Daleville tomorrow before hitting the trail.For now, I have to go do another project.See you on the trailJohn