The Pre-Hike that Wasn't

Well, today was supposed to be a good hiking day for me. Although I stayed up too late last night finding hymns I want to print out and learn all the verses to, I didn't know that I was going to be tossed around like a leaf in a gale.

Back in March, when I traded my AT&T phone for the Verizon Samsung, which I later traded for an iPhone [Samsung puts too much 'stupid samsung stuff' on their phone and the learning curve for ANDROID was confusing], I asked the smooth talking salesman at the Flea Market in Sevierville, TN, to make sure that my contract was up. WELL, he was more interested in selling me a Galaxy One ... Stellar ... same/same ... and LIED to me.  AND he sweet talked me into "helping" him get extra points by giving him my iPhone 3s ... which he probably sold.  Had I kept that phone, I'd have had Dad's voice mails.  But I wanted to help ... and put MY needs aside  ... and I didn't check my ATT account and I didn't THINK about my voice mails ... I assumed they'd follow my phone number.  ASS=[u]=ME.

Long story short, I now owe over $200 to ATT for EARLY TERMINATION ... Two lousy months early. I would have waited had Mr Smooth Talker been honest with me. Not only did I lose my Dad's voice on the voice mails, I now have to pay a FINE .... my IRS refund is now unavailable for use on my "Half-A-Thru-Hike."  I will HAVE to sleep in the Shelters or under the poncho tarp and I won't be staying at Allenberry Resort $40 Hiker Special or the Port Clinton Hotel $49 plus $10 refundable Key Fee, but I will stay at the Doyle in Duncannon, PA because I have to go to pick up Prescriptions there and at various Hostels that charge $30 or less a night] I have to recoup that money and put it back in my savings account for emergencies.  But, okay, LESSON LEARNED.  Never ever ever will I trust another salesman or any person out to 'sell' me something.  "Thanks, but no thanks."

NEEDLESS to say, Cellular Sales will NOT be getting a renewal from me in March 2015.  I've already marked my calender!  And my YELP REVIEW about them is not positive.

SO besides having to go get another steroid/novocaine shot in my 'other' knee ... the right one this time, going to pick up a prescription and eye drops and finding out that someone else got one of the two OTC but behind the counter Eye Drops I ordered from Rite Aid two weeks ago and I could only get one because the second box was gone ... and getting GUT PUNCHED by AT&T ... It's been a day I don't want to repeat ever again.

I am so angry at myself for being SO gullible ... It's MY fault ... and my own fault for not double checking my AT&T contract and for being so easily persuaded.   I am 68 and I STILL think I can trust other people. You'd think after two divorces that one day I would learn. It seems as if the minute I let my guard down, the minute I fall for a bunch of compliments, I get mistreated.  At least THIS time there was no wedding and divorce.  Let's look on the Happy Side of Life.

Tuesday is another day ... and I leave for Georgia on Friday morning so I need to get cracking and packing!  Tuesday is going to be a GOOD day.  I'll ice my knee, I'll do a load or laundry, I'll sort and pack.  And I'll drink a lot of water and juice.

Maybe I NEEDED this day to get my guard up for this hike ... and to learn NOT to fall for compliments coming from smooth talking people, especially, or ANYONE who says he/she to want to help me.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  Well, I am ashamed.  And it will take me a long time to forgive myself.  It's my fault ... I just didn't 'think it through' ... I wanted a Verizon phone so I could talk and text while in the Appalachian Mountains ... like my friends could.  There is no 'undoing' this mistake.  If I'd just kept my iPhone 3s, this post would not have been written and I'd have my IRS refund to use to stay in Hostels while on the Trail.  After all, I could have gotten a Verizon phone here instead of East Tennessee.  I will not dwell on the "If Onlies" ... I will not allow them to depress me.

The face of a sucker, isn't it?

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I'm remembering this recent post from Datto ...

... it seems our lives are filled with so much worry about past events we can do little about, yet our condition is made from the sum of our past decisions.

Many times we feel as victims, yet it's only because we have chosen not to make a decision, not to take action. We sometimes dwell on past mistakes and think those foretell our future ... and we become paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake. Our choice becomes one of doing nothing.

Datto 10/1/2000 Crocker Cirque Campsite, ME


I did something.  I didn't just just sit back ... I did something and I ended up hurting myself ... I'm going backpacking ... I'm going to walk off all this 'sum of my past decisions' ... and keep my guard up.  And keep my Focus on Hiking to the next Shelter or Campsite.   I can live without staying at places that charge more than $30 a night.   [I just checked the cost of the Inn at the Long Trail ... $79? That's NOT happening.  I'll pick up my mail drop for the $5 fee and walk on.] [Crawford Notch Bunk with supper and breakfast is $77 ... that may not happen, either.]  I've already spent too much money getting ready for this hike.  And my 7 mail drop boxes don't have Postage on them yet, either.  That's another $100 plus the UPS box will probably be in the $30+ range.   I will mostly resupply food at various trail towns and I've read that the 'great' North East grocery stores are more expensive than our 'greater' Southern ones.  Groceries could well take most of the money I'll have available.

Maybe DAD, I didn't think this through well enough.  I'm reading on WhiteBlaze that I should expect to spend $1000 a month on my hike.  After expenses, I have $600 to $700 to spend.  I am going to have to think "white bread and cheap peanut butter" ... and not Kashi Go Lean and Peter Pan Peanut Butter.  Well, the FIRST Thru Hiker, Earl Shaffer did it with White Bread and Peanut Butter ... So Can I.

I'm NOT going to talk myself out of this hike.  I may have to skip Motels and Hotels and Resorts and I may have to stealth camp after stopping at a Trail Town until I get to Maine ... but if I have to do it, I have to do it.  I have no choice but to stay at Hostels or Hotels in Maine ... well, I guess I have a choice, but I think making a mistake in Maine [fortunately there are $8-$12 tent pads in New Hampshire] could be more expensive than staying at a Hotel ... I was checking recently and would you believe that there are States that refuse to accept my brand of Medicare Advantage?  And ObamaCare hasn't kicked in completely yet.  When it does, I no longer have Medicare Advantage.

Enough Negative ..................... I'm going to do this ............. DAD told me to do it and I want to make him proud.

But first I have to Hike.

Psalm 25: 4-6 Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are god my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

Pre-Hike Number Six and Observations

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Yesterday was a great day for hiking. I carried 25.8 pounds on my back and hiked my 8 miles and felt really good. I was even able to do a short bit of running ... uses different muscles ... on the gravel road.

I met a couple of people while hiking yesterday and gave them my Blog info. I hope they have time to check on my progress occasionally.

I had nearly everything in my pack that I'll have on my first leg of my hike. I have culled everything extraneous from my gear and have what I consider are my bare essentials ... I do have some gear that is heavier than other hikers might carry ... I carry an MSR Miniworks Water Filter because I trust it, others use the Sawyer Squeeze Filter or Aqua Mira drops. I carry Five Fingers Trek Sports because stream crossings in Crocs or Flip Flops can be dicey. I use a bivy and poncho tarp because I don't like bugs and I do plan to use shelters if it rains or WHEN it rains, if at all possible. Bivies and Shelters work well to keep the mice and buggies at bay. I've had the bivy in mild rain but never in a torrential downpour ... if the poncho doesn't provide enough cover, I may order a BearPaw Wilderness Designs tarp. 10x6.5 in brown for stealth camping. It weighs 12 ounces while my Poncho Tarp weighs 9.5. I carry a rain jacket for warmth as much as for rain. I like the poncho in the pouring rain in the summer.

After reading a few Trail Journals, I am considering sending myself my stove and cook pot when I get to Maine. It can get cold and I might want a way to heat water and even to cook some meals. It's a thought I'll have to consider. I'm definitely using my EMS Rewards to purchase a 9.3 ounce Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Plus sleeping bag liner. This with my lightweight thermals is about the same weight as my mid-weight thermals and I believe will keep me warmer in my sleeping bag. I will also be using the 4.7 ounce silk liner with this liner. Layering being the key to warmth.

Sometimes I think it's not in my best interest to read Trail Journals when they accurately describe the White Mountains and Mahoosuc Notch  and such [see this  VIDEO]  ... I can look at the map profiles and shudder ... and reading about the days and days and days of rain and cold and wind ... and 18 inches of snow in August or September in Maine ... and who had to get off the Trail due to this injury or that illness ... and biting flies ...and Lyme Disease ... Oh, it was 'fun' to see the 'real' Maine Climbs ... rebars and ladders and all. But worrisome that I won't be able to carry heavy enough winter gear should it get freezing cold or should we have an early winter ...

Making it all the way is my goal ... but just hiking 'today' has to become my focus. In the past, I've lost my focus by concentrating on the goal. But THIS time, I'm setting my goal to be focusing on 'today's' hike ... and letting the miles pass while doing so.

If I had any sense, I think I'd start in GA and hike half way to MD [and my Mom's] or hike SoBo from MD to GA ... I feel 'comfortable' in the Southern half of the Appalachian Mountain Range ... but the Northern half creates the same 'fear' as when I went to Italy in the early summer of 2001 ... totally uncharted territory ... But I hope and expect the experience to parallel that of Italy ... once I got there, I had a great time ... even if the 'tour guide from hell' did leave me in Florence to fend for myself and leave a group of us in Rome ... I and we all found our way back to the hotels ... and I got to wander Florence on my own ... which was super cool.

I'm not planning to rush through this Half-a-Thru-Hike ... my 'schedule' is mostly in the 8 to 12 mile a day range ... one or two 'nearly 20 mile days' ... with the Caveat that if I don't want to hike that far, I have the Bivy and I can 'cowboy camp' anywhere on the Trail ... except where there are posted signs saying I can't ... and even THEN, if I'm dead tired, I will not repeat what I did in 2009 and push too far and create a situation where I talk myself off the Trail.

When all else fails, Take a Nap when tired. HAD I DONE THAT in 2009, I might have completed that 500 mile hike.

Today I'm resting my knees and legs ... and finding that they're recuperating a lot faster today than they after my last Pre-Hike hike just a couple days ago. I've got a few maps to study and the Maine Guide book to read [I'm leaving it here, putting my notes online and accessible to my iPhone] today.

ONE decision I've made ... I'm buying an external battery charger for my iPhone and leaving my camera at home. That way I can email my photos to myself to 'save' them and download them when I get back to Maryland.

But FIRST, I have to hike.

Pre-Hike Number Five - 8 Miles

Middle Tennessee Weather today was expected to be rainy with high winds. So I headed out to Stones River Battlefield to hike with a 25.8 pound backpack. I put my rain cover on the pack but I was hiking in shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

I hiked the 1 3/4 miles from the Visitor's Center in 42 minutes. The pack carried well and my legs were stronger today than they were two days ago. I hiked the half mile perimeter trail around the Slaughter Pen and hiked back to the Visitor's Center in order to have lunch. I made great time and hiked the entire four miles at 2.25 miles an hour.

After a 45 minute lunch break, I hiked the same trail a second time. The cloud cover solidified and the color of the clouds ranged from medium to dark grey. I failed to notate the air temperature. Hiking back, the rain finally came but didn't last very long. I didn't stop to put on my rain jacket.  I hiked at almost 2.5 miles per hour.

When I got back to the house, I made a Protein Drink and took an Epsom Salt soak. I'm gonna miss the Epsom Salt Soaks. My knees 'burn' but are not in pain. My feet are feeling better today than they did two days ago.

I think I'm developing my Trail Legs.

A Four Hour Pack On Pre-Hike Hike

I hiked for four hours today.

I dropped off some recycling, then went to Stones River Battlefield Park. I shouldered my 21 pound pack and hiked for three hours before taking a lunch break of forty-five minutes and then put my pack back on and hiked for another hour.

I was blessed to run into two visitors to our fair State, Mike and Teresa and their two Yorkies, Bear aka Barely There, and Maggie. They have a nine page bucket list. They take their RV around the Country visiting all the places on that list. One of the things they'd like to do is hike the Appalachian Trail. Mike called me his 'hero.'

Later I met a man whose son had hiked on the Appalachian Trail for two weeks in the Boy Scouts. He called me his 'heroine.'

I'm just a Senior Citizen living a dream, Chasing the Trail. But thanks for the complements.

I came home, soaked for 20 minutes in Epsom Salts and found a TICK on my leg.

Tomorrow, if it's not raining, I'm spraying Permethrin on my hiking clothes and shoes.

Pack on Pre-Hike Hike Number Two

On Thursday, I took another pre-hike hike ... in the misty rain. Temperature was again 48* and my pack now weighed 22.4 pounds. I left the house a minute to one and I returned an hour and thirty five minutes later. I cut my time by 10 minutes, although that was not the goal. The goal was to strengthen my legs for my AT Hike.

Friday, I had a doctor's appointment for a shot of steroid [dexamethasone with lidocaine]. As it turned out, the arthritis was so 'thick' [for want of a better term] in the inside of my left knee that the Physician's Assistant had to place the injection from the outside ... yes it hurt when she pushed through to the meniscus. 

However, I also learned that there is a new technique for rebuilding the meniscus that I will be referred to after I return from my hike.

I went shopping for my backpacking meals after I saw the doctor and came up with an array of foods which I spent the rest of the afternoon and after supper sorting and boxing. My boxes weigh from just over ten pounds [Monson, ME to Abol Bridge Campground through the 100 Mile Wilderness] to 4.6 for my mail drop in Port Clinton, PA. I'm quite satisfied with these weights. I have solid food plus a 'whey-soy-milk' drink for supper time which will help in restoring and rebuilding my muscles. I've done a lot of reading on the subject and I believe that this will help me stay healthy on the Trail.

I've had some problems falling asleep and last night I was awake all night. But I also spent the time thinking about my gear ... and realized where I can drop a few ounces and pick up an ounce. I don't need to take my gloves, for instance, but I will send them to me when I get to Sherburne Pass, VT.

Also, I will be 'bear bagging' the PVC Method" and I will try to get my son to make me a small piece of PVC for this style bear bagging.

Today, Saturday, I'm headed to REI in Nashville, TN, with my granddaughter. I have til tomorrow to use my 20% off coupon and I have just over $16 in a dividend. I'm going to purchase a Pack Cover and some Seam Grip and potentially a day pack and a pack it cube which one Thru Hiker suggests is a great Bear Bag ... it's translucent, so you can see what you're looking for without having to dump the entire bag out. I'm going to look at it to see if it's worthy of a purchase.

Well, here it is, nearly time to get up. After we get back from REI, I'll be doing my Third Pre-Hike Hike with a Full Pack.

Sunday, is the day I'm going to put Permethrin on my clothes and shoes and Tyvek ground cloth.

Pack On Pre-Hike Hike Number One

Yesterday, I planned to hike with a full pack, but it took longer to get organized than I thought it would. But today, I loaded my pack and weighed it ... 20.6 pounds and then I added 2 pounds of water.

I bought a Granite Gear Air Swift "fanny pack" in Jasmine Green to wear in front. The color goes well with the REI Flash 45 which has lime green webbing.

I started my hike at 12:44 PM. The temperature was 48 degrees and the sky was cloudy but became overcast as I walked back to the house. It took me an hour and forty-five minutes to walk three and a half miles. I took a short break for water and another break to talk to a lady walking her dog.

I'm a little stiff, but the walk went well. My right foot started bothering me but I noticed that if I used my pole, the pain decreased.  I wore an old pair of shoes and I have a slight blister on the little toe of my left foot.

On Thursday, I'll take another pack-on hike with less food in the pack to simulate a hike after I've eaten a few meals and lightened my load.

Getting Ready for a Pre-Hike

Preparations to hike have included trips to Bluff Mountain Outfitters, REI and BassPro.

I bought Sea to Summit silnylon waterproof stuff sacks, a long sleeve shirt, a short sleeve shirt and a pair of 'toe socks' ... and tried on shoes. My wide feet and high arches make shoe buying difficult.

I'm afraid I'll end up going to my podiatrist to get fitted for the first pair of shoes that actually fit. Hopefully I can find the additional pairs I'm sure to need online.

I'll be doing some 'pre-hike' hikes this week with a full pack. Hope the weather holds out.

After the hike, I'll report on how everything went.