Date: 2003-03-11
To: Harpers Ferry in the Snow
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

What a lovely Saturday I had. After having my pack totally stripped down on Thursday by Play-doh, it probably only weighted 18 pounds. That¢s a guesstimate, and I¢d much rather assume that it was that light because it still lacked my sleeping bag and several days worth of food. Now was the true test ¢ hiking with it ON!Play-doh was headed out to Harper¢s Ferry on Saturday and offered for me to come along for a training hike. He planned to take me up and down ¢THE GREAT EQUALIZER¢ three or four times to get me ready for GA. I was up for it, why not. I¢d rather feel the pain now instead of later; plus it was DC¢s first day over 60 degrees in a long time. I had to get out to take advantage of the weather. We arrived in Harper¢s Ferry around 10:30 (I bet Play-doh thinks we could have gotten there faster if he had driven ¢ I¢m a slow-poke on the highway) and geared up for the hike. We tinkered with my hiking sticks and off we went ¢ starting with an interminable stack of stairs that made my calves tighten up. The beginning section of the trail was great, no snow, no ice, just a little muddy. Over this stretch I gained my confidence with my hiking sticks. ¢Use them like four legs¢ and ¢move a stick with each step¢ kept repeating in my mind and I wondered if I¢d ever get the correct rhythm down. After shortening the sticks, my arms could finally keep up with my legs, and I found that when I didn¢t think about keeping the rhythm, my body fell into it¢s natural swing and the poles started working right on their own. We hiked over to and crossed the river that was bursting at the seams ¢ just rolling from all the snow melt and precipitation we¢ve had this winter. Down some icy steps¢¦up some icy steps. Along the trail of ice. And in this way, I learned to trust my hiking sticks. And they DID save my butt and face from falling to the ground on several occasions. About a mile and a half in to the trail, we hit snow, and lots of it! The further we hiked, the more there seemed to be. There were some host holes in the snow and I tried to put my feet inside them, but following someone else¢s stride is not always easy. I ended up making more holes myself ¢ sinking all the way up to my knees most times. Ugh. What an experience! On the way up, we saw Steama, also a ¢03. He was heading back down. That¢s when I realized that his were the only foot prints ¢ coming and going. Trek, trek, trek, up to the top. We reached the top of the ridge and I was hungry. I had a seat on a rock, busted open my bag of dried fruit and went to town! I think my break was all of 5 minutes before Play-doh insisted that we head down the hill. He didn¢t want us getting chilled. I was disappointed that I couldn¢t sit on my duff a little longer and I told him as much. It didn¢t do much good, so I harnessed my pack again and down we went. This time, we slipped and slid down the hill. It was low impact on the knees and it was fun! Oh, what a lovely time to just trot down the hill in the fluffy snow and feeling the slosh slosh of my wet socks in my shoes. After settling down back at the car and stretching out, we drove back to DC for a quick bite of BBQ. MMmm, tasty stuff¢¦I think it might even come in close competition for the best bbq I¢ve eaten outside of Lexington, NC. Summation of gear from 4 12 miles of hiking on Saturday: backpack feels great! I even forgot I was wearing it after the first mile. Boots ¢ need to be waterproofed again. I cleaned them when I got home, will waterproof tonight. No blisters, no foot pain. Along the way Play-doh asked what, if anything, would drive me from the trail. I let him know that I¢m trying to be realistic. I KNOW there are a thousand and one things that could make me leave the trail, from boredom and lonesomeness, to physical injury. But in this way, I¢m going in with no expectations. I want to finish but I can¢t make Katahdin this glorified destination because everything I see, whether I finish or not, will impact me. I summed it up this way: that it¢s better for me to go in with no expectations because then I¢m less likely to be disappointed. It¢s like going to see a movie and having these high expectations that it is going to be the funniest, greatest movie; it sets you up for being let down. Things that are overly inflated in my mind tend not to meet those expectations. That¢s why I¢m going in with very few expectations, very few rules to follow. So, in my Feb. 25 entry, I said I¢d think about promises to make to myself, but, ultimately, what I¢ve come to is that part of having no expectations is not making promises to set myself up either. I¢m not making any pacts with myself. Also in my journal entry on Feb. 25, I promised to use this forum to post my exercise regimen in order to get physically ready for the trail, but also because it¢s way harder to back out of something that you¢ve publicly proclaimed to do. So here¢s where I am so far in my workout schedule:Feb. 23 ¢ 5.5 mile walkFeb 25 ¢ 3 mile runFeb. 27 ¢ 2 mile runMarch 1 ¢ 3.5 mile runMarch 2 ¢ 6.5 mile hikeMarch 4 ¢ 4 mile walkMarch 5 ¢ 4 mile runMarch 6 ¢ 4 mile walkMarch 8 ¢ 4.5 mile hike with pack and two mile runMarch 10 ¢ 6 mile hike with packToday, I probably won¢t get anything done but some serious eating. I¢m going out to lunch with my co-workers for my last meal. Tonight my friend Bridget and I are going to the Melting Pot for Fondue! Hello Happy Stomach!!!