The Walls of Jericho

On Sunday, we drove down to the TN/AL border and hiked the Walls of Jericho trail. It was approx. 7miles round trip with something like 1200+ feet of elevation gain on the way back up from the walls... We met my dad at the AL trailhead as well as my sister and her family. I warned everyone ahead of time that this was a pretty tough hike but I'm not sure that they fully grasped what was in store. The group started out in good spirits at 11:25am and we moved along at a pretty good pace on the downhill section. I carried my full pack and tried to imagine what it will be like carrying it for weeks on end in this kind of rough terrain... I can honestly say that my pack weight was not bad at all (approx. 31 lbs) and Im feeling REALLY good about my level of preparedness for my thru-hike.
  By the time we got to the "walls" at the bottom of the gorge around 2:30, everyone was pretty worn out. At that point there is still a short scramble up the creek bed and a few rock faces before reaching the "end" of the trail at the waterfall/pool. My dad had stopped at the creek, shy of the pool, so I encouraged him to push ahead since he'd come this far. It would have been a shame for him to have done all the work and not seen the falls. He made it and we got a photo to mark the accomplishment. He earned it! It was a TOUGH hike back up to the trailhead, even for a young guy, let alone a 70 year old. Needless to say I'll be thinking of him on my thru-hike whenever I need a little inspiration to keep moving.
  Dad and I brought up the rear and made it back to the trailhead around 5:45pm. There were a few bumps & bruises and some seriously worn out folks but we ALL made it and had a great afternoon! I had a great time enjoying the trail with my awesome family and feel blessed to have them in my life. I'll be thinking of this trip often while walking to Maine....

Walking with Sasquatch t-shirts!

Super comfy and great for hiking (85% polyester / 15% cotton)... All proceeds will go towards snickers bars & cheeseburgers (i.e. My trail fund!)

Thanks friends!!
available here: http://www.hisnamewasluke.com/index_files/Page577.htm

Thru-hike training with Longhorn cattle

I loaded up the pack this weekend, laced up my new Merrill Moabs, and headed down to the rolling TN hills on my Dad's farm to give my legs a little workout. I'll admit that I got a little winded up the first hill and started wondering if I would be able to haul myself over endless mountains for six months. It didn't take long to get into my stride though and I'm feeling pretty good about my pack weight. The cattle were very curious about my pack and before too long I had a whole heard of longhorns following me around. Thankfully, the wildlife on the AT doesn't have horns and weigh 2,000 lbs!
It was great to get out and haul my pack around for a bit and I'm confident that I'm in good enough shape to start my hike. I did have some trouble with the Merrill Moab trail shoes and ended up returning them to REI today. The sole is a little narrow and protruded into my heel. It HURT! That's the last piece of gear I need and I'm running out of ideas.

 ** 2/21/11 UPDATE: I ended up with a pair of Patagonia Drifter AC trail shoes and absolutely LOVE them. They're quite possibly the most comfortable shoes Ive ever had on my feet... Looking forward to logging A LOT of miles in them.

Weird Guy With Backpack

I've been wearing my pack into work in the mornings and climbing the 4 flights of stairs to my office. I get some pretty odd looks from the corporate folks (I've also been developing a wicked headstart on my beard)... I'm pretty sure they think I'm a homeless man who's been sleeping in the stairwell someplace. Today I'm going to start walking the hills of downtown Nashville on my lunch hour in an attempt to get some muscle strength built up in the legs/back. I'm in decent shape but every bit helps. Plus I'm jonesing to start hiking and this is as close as I can get for now. Still playing gigs on the weekends so I'm not able to do any real hikes until I leave for Springer.

I met up with Bungalow Bill at Cumberland Transit yesterday and had my pack weighed. Base weight without food/water is 21.8lbs. Right where I wanted to be. I added some toiletries last night so that adds a little weight but I'm not concerned about every little ounce. I feel good about my gear choices and have faith that this setup is going to be comfortable. Still need to pick-up a pair of camp shoes and I'm debating on wether or not to spend the money on a new pair of hiking shoes to break-in ahead of time. I'll be starting in my trusted Asolo boots but want to switch to a Merrell type shoe after I'm thru the snow. I already have some well worn New Balance trail runners and plan to use those at some point as well. Also considering purchasing some gaitors at the suggestion of Mr. Bill... Trying to hold onto my trail money tho! The days are flying by and I'm LOVING the awesome weather we've had the past few days. Ok. I'm off for some urban hiking!!

Bungalow Bills AT presentation

I had an opportunity to attend a thru-hiking presentation last night at Cumberland Transit hosted by Bungalow Bill (aka Bill Bailey). It was my first "in-person" encounter with others who share this fascination with thru-hiking and I got a BIG charge out of meeting everyone and listening to the trail talk. Bill has hiked the entire trail twice. Once solo and once with his wife. He shared some great photos, stories, and invaluable advice with us would-be thru's and his attitude and positive vibe was contagious. I met another guy who will be starting his hike just a few days after me and I'm looking forward to running into him along the way. I'm heading up to the store again today on my lunch break. Bill said he'd help me weigh my pack. On paper its weighing in right around 20lbs before food/water. It feels much heavier in real life though. We'll see what the scale has to say. Tik-Tok.... March 19th is fast approaching!!!

Gearing Up...

My gear is laid out in the spare bedroom awaiting it's fate. I've been accumulating the necessities over the past month and finally getting close to a final setup.
Tent - MSR Hubba 1
Bag - Marmot Pinnacle 15 degree - down
Pad - Therm-a-rest ProLite 3/4
Pack - Osprey Kestral 68
Cook Setup - Primus canister stove, MSR Fuel Canister, GSI Pinnacle Soloist cook set, snowpeak titanium spork (thanks Thomas!), and MSR frying pan...
Clothing - Mountain Hardware synthetic "puffy" jacket, REI rain jacket, TNF rain pants, TNF Paramount Peak convertible pants, Mountain Hardware wicked lite Tshirt, Mountain Hardware wicking longsleeve shirt, REI wicking boxer shorts, REI midweight thermals top & bottoms (sleep), wool hat, wool gloves, smart wool socks x 3, (Town Clothes) Royal Robins synthetic pants & Sasquatch T-Shirt (poly-cotton blend), wicking ball cap
Footwear - Asolo Fugitive boots (x2 pairs), Patagonia Drifter AC trail shoe (x1 pair), Crocs Classic (camp shoes)
Light - Petzl Tikkina
Water - Katadyn Hiker PRO, 1L Nalgene widemouth, 4L MSR Dromedary.
Tools - small compass, Leatherman
Sacks - dry compression sack for down bag, dry bag for clothes, food bag.
Small First Aid kit - Advil - Ibuprofen, Multi-Vitamin, Neosporin, Assorted Band Aides, Gauze Pads, Gauze Wrap, Medical Tape
Small Toiletry Bag - Dr. Bonners Peppermint Soap, Lip Balm, Sunscreen, tweezers, toothpaste, toothbrush
Assorted Misc. bag of: extra batteries, safety pins, extra straps, bic lighters, clothes line, rubber bands
50ft. light rope for hanging food bag
Standard Orange trowel for cat-holes + 1 roll TP
iPhone - camera, video, email, phone, blog updates
2011 Thru-Hikers Companion

That's most of what I'll be taking. Plus food ofcourse. I think it's a good start and I'll adjust as I make my way north! Im weighing in around 28 lbs before food/water.

Are we there yet!

With just a little over a month left at work my Springer fever is starting to become unbearable... Only 37 more days before Alex drops me off in GA!!! It shall be a GRAND adventure!