Shuttled back in from Ingles hours ago. I was kind of down on myself for heading to a hostel so early in my trip. That changed after a quesadilla and three tall glasses of sweet tea. I walked around town shoulders back, confident and happier than I can remember being in over a year.

“Hey! Dirty Girl!” Flo-Mo called from a nearby restaurant. Apparently that has been my trail name for days now, unknown to me, and confirmed by three others. I wear Dirty Girl Gaitors to keep the sand and rocks out of my boots. Honestly, it so contrasts my bearded face that I cannot help but adore my new name. Besides, who doesn’t like a dirty girl?

SirPacksALot, the owner of Top  of Georgia Hostel, gave us a mini lecture that was easily worth the overnight rate on it’s own. I won’t go into specifics but the advice will pop up in future posts, I’m sure.

I found out that roughly 22% of the 5,500 thru-hikers this year have already quit before the point I made it to this afternoon.

Flo and I have the next week or so roughly planned out. Hopefully we’ll pass the hundred mile mark together. I’m so happy to have someone to hike with.

The biggest thing I’ve learned about myself in the last 9 months is that I am not the Lone Ranger badass I’ve always thought myself to be. I need people.

That’s it for now. I need to be up in seven hours to print my Smokies permit.

Cheers

 

 

Hey guys,

 

Sorry for the delay, I am currently at Unicoi, heading out towards Tray Mountain.  I stayed the night at Top of Georgia, as five days without a shower was getting old!  I’m sorry for the lack of posts, I am getting the logistics of doing that with VERY limited internet/ 3G figured out.

Thank you for your patience.  Yesterday I learned 22% of the 5500 thru-hikers this year have already bailed by Unicoi!

I have a hiking buddy named Flo-Mo, and we have the next 50 miles planned.  My trail name is Dirty Girl.  More on that later…

I can see my breath with every labored step. I hear the gravel crunch underneath my feet. My eyes move upward, trying to see the destination hidden somewhere in the gray overcast above.

“Hi there.” I say to the wind. My best friend and foe. Really, it would be better if it just made up its mind! A friend on scorching days, but this morning it rips through my clothing, stealing warmth from every hole it can find.

A silhouette appears from the mist. What looks like two pallets nailed together in an upside down “V.” The famous sign I’ve walked so long to see. Katahdin.

Lynx Vilden talks about achieving through visualization. I hope to have her as a teacher someday (I’ve spent time visualizing that too). Basically, imagine the image of success in your mind, whatever the task may be. See it, see yourself in it. Feel it, hear it, taste it. I’ve seen myself next to that sign many, many times in the past few months.

Katahdin is impossibly far away right now, but it’s closer than it was three weeks ago. It’s closer than it was three months ago.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Lao Tzu’s, often hackneyed phrase, is quite apropos at this particular life juncture. That “single step” is taken far before the trail. Sometimes it’s a half-step or an infinitesimally-small step. As long as it’s in the right direction, it counts.

Tonight I find myself enjoying my usual vices. I don’t do “idle” very well. I should have started days ago, but I had a few set backs. I’ll never look at “stuff” the same way again. Probably 95% of my stress in the past few months has had to do with finding a place for my “stuff” or the process of getting rid of it.

“The things you own, end up owning you.” -Chuck Palahniuk (Tyler Durden)

It’s so true. Don’t even get me started on cars.

I get a million questions about my hike, but oddly enough, no one ever asks why I’m doing it. To be honest, a large part of me is walking the trail with the aim to become some kind of Stoic badass. I want to distill my life needs to their essence, and live in that essence for a time.

As Thoreau put it:

“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”

That is the only wealth I desire. Capability.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Hopefully the next post will actually come from the trail.

Take Care,

–Ryan

 

 

Out of the box, the Tarpent ProTrail seems like a great tent.  Admittedly, I’ve only had one real outing in it, and one backyard overnight.  I’m not a fan of “unboxing” or “first impressions” reviews of anything (they’re usually a waste of time) but, I did want to mention a couple of changes I made.

All tents/tarps with sewn seams should be seam-sealed prior to use.  This involves spreading a thick layer of silicone over any stitches or potential gaps where two pieces of fabric have been joined.

I’ve gotten away with not doing on this on a couple tarps in the past, but in a real downpour you will get water inside.  Typically, if your pitch is taught and vertical enough, the water just rolls down the inside of the tarp and drips off the ends.  No big deal.

No big deal, because I only use tarps on overnight or otherwise short trips.  The reality that this tent is essentially my home for the next five or six months, has fueled a desire to make it as bomb-proof as I can.

Tarptent will seal your tent for you for a small fee.  I opted to do it myself, as a tube of Sil Net is about a third of the cost.

In addition to sealing the usual areas, Tarptent recommends running a few beads of silicone along the floor to create a non-slip surface.  Great advice, as my first night in the tent I slid all over the place.  After putting a few Sil Net “X’s” on the floor however, I stayed put.  This a great tip for any tent.

While this is a well-designed tent, I hate the stakes.  The rear form of the tent depends completely on distributed tension along a line that runs the whole back of the tent.  It is anchored at two points.  Unfortunately the included stakes did not hold the ground well, and the line can easily slip off the top of them as pictured below.

I opted instead for full-sized MSR Groundhogs with a small stainless carabiner.

This setup offers much better purchase and a more reliable pitch.

“There are two colors in the woods, orange and lost.”  I’m not sure who said this, but it’s so true.  Hence this giant length of orange reflective cord on my stake bag.  This is cut down from an old tarp guyline.

In addition to visibility, I wanted a couple extra feet of line to aid in pitching the tent in high winds, and this way I always have that line available.  I am using four full-sized Groundhogs for the main setup of the tent, with four more mini-Groundhogs for backup during storms.

So far I really like this tent.  It pitches fast, feels stable, and has plenty of ventilation.  Hopefully we’ll have a nice strong storm before I set out, so I can give it a thorough storm-test.  Prior testing is worth the peace of mind, even if your family or friends think you’re nuts.

I used to sleep on my apartment balcony in single digit weather to test my sleeping bag’s capabilities.  I did the same in rain storms to see how it would fare a little wet.  When staying out and listening to the rainfall is more attractive than the warm, dry room a few feet away; you’ve found your setup.