Date: 2006-03-09
To: 30 and counting ! - by Buoy
Miles today: 0.0

Today Buoy (Me) has actually time to write a journal. This is one of the perks of doing a sabbatical. You get to do things you normally would never attempt. The reader will quickly discover that my writing could be improved on and that my grammar is less than perfect. I am lucky that I always can pull the ¢German¢ and ¢This is my second language ¢ cards which most of the time is a great excuse for bad English. Oh and yes I make very long sentences. The name Buoy came to me the day when a sailboat I was on hit this large Buoy outside of the Golden Gate Bridge. This in itself would probably not have caused my trail name. The unfortunate fact that I was on the steering wheel did buy me that trail name. You should go sailing with me. I am starting to sweat when I see a buoy 2 nautical miles ahead. Ask my wife Lefty. She thinks its funny.Enough about that. We are all getting ready for the trail and count the days till we start hiking. I am reading other peoples trail journals and love their advice, their comments and their stories. The trailjournals.com website is truly wonderful. Last weekend we did a test hike into the Ventana Wilderness of Big Sur California. Michelle a very good friend of ours, who currently lives in Anchorage, joined us on this first prep stroll. This is a hike we have done many times before. Lefty and I love hot springs and this hike leads to one of California¢s most beautiful natural springs. It was a good excuse to test our shiny new equipment. In order to have a very comfy stay at the springs I usually carry half of our household up these mountains. Lefty makes fun of it every time. This time we went light and boy was that nice. We looked like a walking REI commercial but there is something to be said about light fancy equipment and synthetic fiber cloth. Its just makes it easier to climb the 10 miles up to these hot springs. The one thing we should have added was more food. I was hungry for most of the weekend and I now know that I will have to carry some more food than the girls in our team.We got to the springs shortly before sunset and set up camp. The weather forecast had predicted heavy rain for both of the days we were hiking. For people who do not live in California. The weather forecast here means nothing. I almost think that some of the weather forecast people spread the bad weather rumor in order to make sure they will get a campsite during their own camping trip. It was great for us. We had no rain at all and lots of campsites to choose from. We put up our brand new Rainshadow Tarptent. I love how light it is. It also sets up pretty easy. It looks real cool at night with its reflecting strings. Somehow during the whole night I felt a little claustrophobic. The tent ceiling seemed so close to my face. I am not sure who figured it out the next morning. It was not me. We had slept the wrong way and were trying to squeeze our heads into an area that was designed for our feet. We had a great time at the hot springs with Michelle and wished she could join us for a part of the AT.We also tried our Esbit stove. It actually worked pretty well. I had used it before during my time in the German Army and I had forgotten about it until Tim a friend of mine showed up with it during a hike we both did in Seattle. (this was an example for one of my long sentences) We melted snow with it for our hot tea and I was hooked. We also really like our new way of water treatment. I never looked too forward to the chore of pumping water. Now we are using this Steripen Water Purifier that works with ultra violet light. I hope it lasts for 6 months. Since there is no pumping involved it surely is fun to use.It was a fun hike and we learned some valuable lessons. Sleep in your tent with the head in the correct position. Do NOT ever lift up banana slugs unless you like slimy hands for the rest of your hike. Bring enough food for the guy in the team. Do not believe anything the California weather forecast is saying.CheersBuoy