Tag Archives: Appalachian Trail

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Planning out Loud…Five months to go!

Officially planning for a backpack in May!  As I sort through my books…and I got a new one (insert happy squeaky voice)…I am sort of talking through the backpack.  The dogs are giving me the “oh god, again?” look and the cats are quite distracted as they have found the corner of my books are quite fun to rip apart.  Oh well, shoo cats, I have work to do. 🙂

So I think I will try to do 70 miles in 6 days…hahahahahaaaa….chortle, guffaw and all that nonsense. What am I thinking?  I prefer 8 mile days…But I am sticking to this plan for the moment.  I mean I have 5 whole months to prepare…

The elevation profiles are from my new book (yes, squeaky happy voice again 🙂  )  The ALDHA AT Thru-Hiker’s Companion.  Still love AWOL’s book, but the elevation profiles are a bit more detailed in the ALDHA book. Either book is a super resource to have when planning.   I take the official AT maps on the backpack.

Anyway, here’s the plan:

During the Trail Dame Camp Out: Section between PA94 Mt. Holly Springs and Pine Grove Furnace SP ~10.5 miles

Section A

The following week I will return to the area to backpack ~70 mile section.

Day 1: PA94 Mt Holly Springs, PA (1104.3) to Backpackers campsite (1112.5) 8.2 miles

Section 1

Day 2: Backpackers campsite to Darlington Shelter (1127.2)  14.7 miles No camping allowed in between!!

Section 2

Day 3: Darlington Shelter to Duncannon, PA.  (1138.5)  11.3 miles Stay in hotel.   Resupply as needed.

Section 3

Day 4: Duncannon, PA to Peters Mountain Shelter (1149.8) 11.3 miles

Section 4

Day 5: Peters Mountain Shelter to Yellow Springs Trail (Clearing with trail register, camping) (1163.3) 13.5 miles

Section 5

Day 6: Yellow Springs campsite to Swatara Gap, PA 72 Lickdale, PA (1174)  10.7 miles

Section 6So here’s to planning on a frigid winter day! Now I am going to sit back, have another cup of Peppermint tea and figure out how I am going to day hike all of Shenandoah National Park during 2014! Hike on! 😀

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The Cure for Winter Doldrums

Cold is everywhere.  It was 1 degree Fahrenheit in Dallas, Texas today!  Overnight and into tomorrow, here on the eastern seaboard, we are under a wind chill warning…negative 15 degrees…ugh.  This is the time of year when it is easy for me to become a total slug.  I fall into the lull of winter.  I don’t want to work; I don’t want to hike.  Heck, I am in some kind of winter funk!

So today I made a conscious decision to do something that would energize me.  Little Caesar and I looked at our schedule a few days ago and decided that between the spring and summer semesters there were a few days in which I could go backpacking!!!  This is an unexpected and absolutely phenomenal turn of events!  I was pretty sure with everything we have going on right now that leaving Little Caesar with the dogs and cats in order to escape to the woods for a couple of days was out of the question.  Well, okay now, … I immediately pulled out my AT maps and books.  Where to hike? Where to hike…hmmm?  Pennsylvania! Yes, that would be good…close to home and yet I can get new AT miles.  🙂 🙂

Trail Planning!

Trail Planning!

In May I am spending a weekend with Trail Dames of Maryland.  We rented a PATC cabin in Pennsylvania and plan to stay two nights and hike our butts off! I will get a few new AT miles in just by being there.  But the following week, I plan on backpacking a little further north to Swatara Gap.  I contacted Google, the woman I hiked with in Georgia and Maryland, and she is game! Yes!

My winter doldrums are being held at bay for a while!  Planning for a spring backpack gives me a goal to work towards. It gives me a reason to get out and walk in town or on a trail regardless of the weather!  Although tomorrow when the wind chill is NEGATIVE 15 I will be inside planning! 😉

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AT – VA Blackburn AT Center to Snickers Gap

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What a delightful day with the Maryland Trail Dames!  This day was December 21, the winter solstice, and it was WARM!  Yes, a balmy 65 degrees! We met at the lot on Rt. 7 in Snickers Gap, then Dirigo shuttled us back to the Blackburn AT Center to begin our hike.  The first uphill from […]

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AT-WVA Blackburn AT Center to Keys Gap 11/23/13

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Out with the Trail Dames today!  I thought I was going to have to cancel this hike because my ankle has been causing me a little trouble, but the podiatrist gave the okay…sweet.  She taped up my ankle and sent me on my way!  My ankles just don’t work right is all…big time pronation.  Anyway, […]

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AT – VA A Great View on North Marshall Mountain in SNP

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Early last Thursday morning, someone hit my car and luckily left a note.  What started as an “oh crap” day quickly turned into a “oh yes, I get a nice rental car, and I don’t have to pay for it” day!  Right then and there, I decided that it was high time for a road […]

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AT – MD Day 4 Weverton Cliffs and a Hobble into Harper’s Ferry

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10/20/13 Crampton Gap (Gathland State Park) to the ATC in Harper’s Ferry The last section of our backpack started with the “bed & breakfast” treatment at Dirigo and Python’s house in WVA!  Coffee of our choice and a leisurely wake up time! Soon we were on our way back to Crampton Gap.  The mosh pit […]

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AT – MD Day 3 The Washington Monument, A Long Climb and a MoshPit of Campers

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October 19, 2013 Pine Knob Shelter to Crampton Gap Shelter…then to Dirigo & Python’s basement in WVA…but I am getting ahead of myself… From my sleeping bag it seemed like dawn was going to happen at any moment.  The forest was actually light enough to see through the trees.  V. had just returned to the […]

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AT – MD Day 2 Over the Rocks, Up to the Cliffs and Down to the Shelter We Go!

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10/18/2013  Ensign Cowall Shelter to Pine Knob Shelter It rained off and on all night!  So happy I was in the shelter as I kept hearing acorns and small limbs hit the roof of the shelter.  The front that had moved in left us with a chilly, damp morning.  This was the kind of morning […]

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AT – MD Day 1 Climbing the Rock Pile & Getting Caught in the Rain

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10/17/2013  PenMar to Ensign Cowall Shelter (10 miles) This was a tough 10 miles!  No surprises there…lots of rocks and then there was the climb up Quirauk Mountain to High Rock.  Boomerang, Google, V. and myself started off from PenMar at about 10:15.  We trekked north about a quarter of a mile to the Mason-Dixon […]

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AT – MD Pre-Backpack Notes

Tomorrow is a training hike.  Not even remotely prepared for this!  I have been taking care of a litter of feral kittens…from bottle feeding to socializing.  As I write I hear the patter of little kitten feet in the room above me.  They are about seven weeks old now and will be ready for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Frederick in a few weeks…but I digress. 🙂

Back to the training hike.  I ran around tonight just gathering my back packing gear.  Where did I put the pack again?  Oh Little Caesar moved it into the storage room.  I have all my gear stored in the pack for easy access.  Carried it downstairs to organize.  Sleeping pad…check, tent…check, first aid kit…check, new pillow (in my best happy squeeky voice 😀 )…check, sleeping bag…uh…sleeping bag…WHERE IS MY SLEEPING BAG???  My stuff sack is here, but where is the bag?  Crap!  Okay…calm…maintain…Little Caesar in her gestapo cleaning mode probably put it up in the storage room…  Went back to the storage room.  God, it’s hot in here tonight…oh there it is…whew! relief…exhale!

Okay so in the pack so far is:

Sleeping Bag

Sleeping pad/pillow

tent, first aid, hygeine, compass, pocket knife, bandana (1), fuel, water filter, stove, cookware/bowl, headlamp, pack cover, rain poncho, and bear vault w/o food

Tomorrow I will add water and some clothes for weight.

Doing a 5.5 mile loop up and down a mountain.  Should be humbling! 🙂 🙂 🙂