Travel
I've been reading some journals of backpackers who hiked long distance trails that I'm interested in, including the North Country Trail, 4600 miles from the NY/VT border to well into North Dakota. Some parts of it are well maintained and completed, whereas other sections are not.
Back in the mid 1990's I became interested in backpacking and started looking at gear and reading all the info I could find on the subject. AOL had a hiking/camping chat room at the time and I got a lot of different information and viewpoints and met some really great folks. I joined a hiking club in the Washington, D.C. area and spent just about every Saturday or Sunday hiking with them, sometimes in the Shenandoah, and often in places closer to D.C. I met a man on one of these walks and found out that he had completed several of the trails I was interested in, including the Appalachian Trail. We began hiking together, often on the C&O Canal towpath which was easy to access from D.C. and fairly level - I wanted to become comfortable walking long distances on a trail or pathway (unpaved), and I learned a lot from this guy about hiking, organizing a pack, etc.
I saw a reference to him a few days ago on a site related to the North Country Trail, and included was his email address, so I emailed him to say hi but thinking he wouldn't remember who I was. He wrote back right away and we have chatted on the phone a couple of times since. It's nice to reconnect with someone from years back. We lost contact when I started actually backpacking with other groups of people and we both went on to other endeavors. I sure wish I could even consider a long distance hike, but it's doubtful I could ever do it again.
Since today is Arianna's actual birthday Jeannie and her family spent the day together. It would normally have been a gym day for us so I decided I'd go on my own, knowing I will miss Friday as I'll be camping. I ended up going to the gym just a couple of blocks from my house and doing a short workout. I'm so used to the other location and don't care for the layout of the nearest one. It worked though and I didn't have to drive the extra distance.
Getting things out and ready for camping I came across my old Swiss Army knife, and sharpened up the main blade. The other blades and doo-dads are a pure waste as I can't seem to pull them out of the base so they are useless to me. If I ever decided to try backpacking again I will need to buy a decent pocket knife - a model with one blade only. I don't remember ever using it all that often and it probably isn't worth carrying the weight except when car camping.
You may remember that I bought 4 chocolate eclairs last week, which I ate in 4 days. That took some real will power to ration them. Yesterday I bought two more and finished off the second one today. I could get really hooked - I wonder if I could already be hooked!
- Still Working On The Puzzle
All I did today other than the puzzle was to get my hair cut. I looked like a sheep dog but it's a bit tidier now. I really dislike the way one strand of hair will curl but all the strands around it don't. The puzzle pieces...
- Hangin' In There
I walked again this afternoon, about twice as far as yesterday which still isn't very much, but it's a start. I can't say I feel all that great for doing it, but I know it's necessary while I'm getting enough strength back to...
- Cooking, Reading, And Dvd's
The meatloaf I made yesterday turned out very well. I had a large helping of it for dinner, and a huge meatloaf sandwich for lunch today. Next I'm going to try the Egg Muffins, but am too full from the sandwich to do it now. I went to...
- Some Thouhts On Yesterday's Post
In re-reading my post from yesterday I realize many of you have read a similar post from me for several years. Every now and then I get backpacking fever so badly I just can hardly bear it. And as every year goes by the likelihood that I could...
- Have Dinner In South Africa
Voulezvousdiner Have just launched a new special offer. ...
Travel
Reconnecting
I've been reading some journals of backpackers who hiked long distance trails that I'm interested in, including the North Country Trail, 4600 miles from the NY/VT border to well into North Dakota. Some parts of it are well maintained and completed, whereas other sections are not.
Back in the mid 1990's I became interested in backpacking and started looking at gear and reading all the info I could find on the subject. AOL had a hiking/camping chat room at the time and I got a lot of different information and viewpoints and met some really great folks. I joined a hiking club in the Washington, D.C. area and spent just about every Saturday or Sunday hiking with them, sometimes in the Shenandoah, and often in places closer to D.C. I met a man on one of these walks and found out that he had completed several of the trails I was interested in, including the Appalachian Trail. We began hiking together, often on the C&O Canal towpath which was easy to access from D.C. and fairly level - I wanted to become comfortable walking long distances on a trail or pathway (unpaved), and I learned a lot from this guy about hiking, organizing a pack, etc.
I saw a reference to him a few days ago on a site related to the North Country Trail, and included was his email address, so I emailed him to say hi but thinking he wouldn't remember who I was. He wrote back right away and we have chatted on the phone a couple of times since. It's nice to reconnect with someone from years back. We lost contact when I started actually backpacking with other groups of people and we both went on to other endeavors. I sure wish I could even consider a long distance hike, but it's doubtful I could ever do it again.
Since today is Arianna's actual birthday Jeannie and her family spent the day together. It would normally have been a gym day for us so I decided I'd go on my own, knowing I will miss Friday as I'll be camping. I ended up going to the gym just a couple of blocks from my house and doing a short workout. I'm so used to the other location and don't care for the layout of the nearest one. It worked though and I didn't have to drive the extra distance.
Getting things out and ready for camping I came across my old Swiss Army knife, and sharpened up the main blade. The other blades and doo-dads are a pure waste as I can't seem to pull them out of the base so they are useless to me. If I ever decided to try backpacking again I will need to buy a decent pocket knife - a model with one blade only. I don't remember ever using it all that often and it probably isn't worth carrying the weight except when car camping.
You may remember that I bought 4 chocolate eclairs last week, which I ate in 4 days. That took some real will power to ration them. Yesterday I bought two more and finished off the second one today. I could get really hooked - I wonder if I could already be hooked!
- Still Working On The Puzzle
All I did today other than the puzzle was to get my hair cut. I looked like a sheep dog but it's a bit tidier now. I really dislike the way one strand of hair will curl but all the strands around it don't. The puzzle pieces...
- Hangin' In There
I walked again this afternoon, about twice as far as yesterday which still isn't very much, but it's a start. I can't say I feel all that great for doing it, but I know it's necessary while I'm getting enough strength back to...
- Cooking, Reading, And Dvd's
The meatloaf I made yesterday turned out very well. I had a large helping of it for dinner, and a huge meatloaf sandwich for lunch today. Next I'm going to try the Egg Muffins, but am too full from the sandwich to do it now. I went to...
- Some Thouhts On Yesterday's Post
In re-reading my post from yesterday I realize many of you have read a similar post from me for several years. Every now and then I get backpacking fever so badly I just can hardly bear it. And as every year goes by the likelihood that I could...
- Have Dinner In South Africa
Voulezvousdiner Have just launched a new special offer. ...