Date: 2013-03-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

With less than one month to go (!) I have identified my two main --let's not say "fears" let's say "areas of concern".The first is my fitness level, which I have discussed before. It was never going to be where I hoped it would be, anyway, but it has taken even another step backward. I have been lying on my couch for three weeks, whining, with a bad case of bronchitis! I haven't had the energy to make it into the kitchen without stopping to catch my breath, so climbing up Blood Mountain certainly seems unattainable! But, after a week on antibiotics, I'm a new person (almost) and went back to the gym yesterday. Ouch! I was able to do only 3/4 of my previous distance, at half the incline. Bumped it up a little today. I've got my work cut out for me, to be able to keep up with the others on my slackpack. I am glad that I won't have the weight of my backpack at the beginning of my hike, but I can't really cut down the mileage. In a slackpack arrangement with others, we all get dropped off and picked up at the same place. I can't just decide to call it quits for the day when I get tired! I still have about three weeks, and I will be working at it!My other concern is about the cold. We are having an exceptionally cold spring here in the south. I have been reading trail journals of those who are already on the trail, and they are really struggling with snow and below freezing temps. It seems like quite a few have gotten off, some have had to be rescued, and I did read one fellow's journal who has frostbitten hands! I'm hoping that the three weeks I have to build up my endurance will also be long enough to allow spring to come.Otherwise, I'm ok. My gear is good, at least it would be be if I would leave it alone. I can't seem to stop second-guessing my selections, and tweaking them. I keep reading, and reading, and then find myself questioning my gear choices, even though I selected each item after careful research and field testing. Hey, maybe I need a Steripen! A bigger tarp! Glow in the dark tie-outs! Because I'm worried about the cold, I considered down booties (too bulky) and down pants ($$). So next I thought about fleece pants. Then I decided a fleece sleeping bag liner would make more sense. Didn't want to pay for one so I decided to make one. Next thing I knew, I was staring at a huge pile of 100% polyester fleece that I had bought to make a sleeping bag liner, and was appalled at how big and bulky it was, and knew that it would never fit into my backpack. And then there is still the ongoing drama with my electronics. Which I still haven't figured out. I just need to get out on the trail!People always want to know about food. What do you eat on the trail? I understand, I think about food all the time too. Any new type of situation, the main thing I want to know about is what do we eat? So for trail food, it has to be light weight (that's the most important thing. Food is the heaviest thing you carry, besides water. You carry about 1.5 to 2 pounds of food per day. You can see how quickly that would add up.) It should also be small in size, hopefully inexpensive, and able to be prepared without much in the way of utensils, counter space, and other ingredients. In fact, you have to be able to make it in a tiny little pot, on a stove made from a cat food can. So, in other words, Ramen noodles. Or other starchy type foods like instant rice or instant mashed potatoes. You can add individual packets of tuna or chicken and some dehydrated vegetables, and season it. Of course, there are other choices, but this is a standard approach, and it's how I plan to start out. I'll have instant oatmeal or grits for breakfast, or a breakfast bar of some type. Probably gorp for lunch, or jerky and cheese. I'll investigate other options when I get tired of this stuff.How do you obtain the food while on the trail? While it is a wilderness trail, there are many road crossings, and you're actually very seldom more than 3 or 4 days away from a small town. So you resupply when you get to town. Some people use mail drops, which are packages that you prepare yourself in advance, and have your family mail to you at pre-arranged times. So when you get to the small town, instead of going to the grocery store you go to the post office and pick up your package, voila, you are re-supplied. There are advantages to using mail drops, especially if you are on a special diet or if you need prescription meds or another box of contact lenses, etc. And if you go to the trouble to make up your own dehydrated meals in advance, your food will likely be better than that of the other poor hikers eating Ramen. There are disadvantages, too, and to me the main one is that it ties you to a schedule. If the reason you are on the trail is to get out of deadlines, schedules, appointments, having to be a certain place at a certain time, getting mail drops sort of puts you back into that world. Post offices will hold your mail drop for up to a month (I think) so it's not that, it's that post offices keep short hours, and they are about to get even shorter. Imagine walking into a small town to retrieve your mail drop on a Friday afternoon, and finding that the post office is closed and won't re-open until Monday morning! Without being tied to a mail drop schedule you have more freedom to stay longer in one place, move on more quickly from another, take an interesting side trip, etc. Most experienced hikers advise against mail drops. It's easier and less expensive to buy on the trail. Usually if there's a post office, there's a store nearby.Originally I wasn't going to have any mail drops. I wanted to be able to set my own schedule, travel light, change my mind about what I like to eat, try new foods that I learn about from other hikers on the trail. Then in my research I found that there are a few places where mail drops are recommended due to an area's poor selection, high prices, etc. So I decided to add a few mail drops. Whiteblaze.com has a couple of very helpful articles about re-supply in general and mail drops in particular. So I used their recommendations, and set up a schedule. Now I have a lengthy list of mail drops, that I have listed in the blue column on the left side of this page. A few friends have asked me if they could send me stuff along the way, so this list is for you, if you are so inclined! Everyone loves getting mail, and I can just imagine how exciting it would be to get messages from family and friends when I am out on the trail. To send me a letter or package at one of the locations I have listed, you address it to General Delivery, and the post office listed, and write: "Hold for hiker Kathleen Stephens, ETA (then put the approximate date I will be in that town). I will try to add the ETAs as I go, or you can always guess by estimating by my current location and traveling speed. Or you can contact Mike, my husband and support person, who will have a pretty good idea. It would be better to let me know in advance that I will have mail at such-and-such a post office than to try to surprise me, because if I don't know it's there I may not stop (if I'm not expecting one from home) or I may only be expecting one, and neither I nor the postal clerk will know to look for a second package. Here's a good article from whiteblaze.com with tips for sending a mail drop:http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?30