We have maintained our training pretty well since
our last trip in March. We are walking
around the soccer field four laps with four ups and downs on the bleachers each
time, for a total of about six miles a day.
We have added two longer hikes up and down Pond Creek Hill for 8 and 9
miles.
We have changed from our Katadyn Water filter to the Sawyer
Squeeze water filter. It will be easier
to use when the water supply is low.
With the Katadyn there has to be enough water to submerge the bulb to
pump the water into your container. With
the Sawyer, you can collect the water into the water pouch, screw the filter onto
the pouch then squeeze the pouch to push water through the filter.
The largest change we are making for this hiking trip is the
switch from a tent to hammocks. After
much research on the different options, Wait-up chose the Hennessy Hammock
Expedition Asym. The hammock has a
comfortable, asymmetric shape and a large, protective rainfly. This version
features a side-entry, double-slider zipper. We have been trying it out at home, but have
not slept in it an entire night. After
much research about the use of hammocks, weather conditions, etc., we
discovered that we need something else for warmth besides our sleeping bags
(which I assumed would be enough). They
say if you don’t have something under the hammock it gets pretty cold with the
wind blowing under it. Anything that you
have in the hammock with you to sleep on will be compressed and not sufficient
to keep the cold out. So I have made a
couple of under-quilts using two old sleeping bags that we already owned. The only problem with them is that they weigh
more than we would like. Now we will be
carrying our lightweight sleeping bag plus these ¾ sleeping bags. The hammocks don’t weigh much though, so that off-sets some of
the weight.
We will not take our stove this time, we decided to eat only
cold food since we will not be out for more than two nights at a time. That will make us really appreciate a hot
meal when we get into town! Wait-up has ordered some new boots. Vasque Breeze again because we both like ours so much. His soles were coming loose.
Our packs weigh in at 35 pounds for Wait-up and 25 for me
(Catch-Up). That’s a lot, but not as
much as when we first started in Georgia (42
and 33) and about 5 pounds heavier than when we did our 225 mile trip.
We will drive to Knoxville to our children’s house for the
weekend, then drive to Atkins, Virginia on
Sunday afternoon and begin our hike on Monday morning. Start with Day One.
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