Well, it is now officially one week until I leave for Damascus Va. As of now, I don't have a ride from the Roanoke Airport to Damascus next Saturday. Also, Graham, my hiking companion for all of May just hurt his knee playing ultimate frisbee last week. It's already shaping up to be an interesting trip!
I am still very excited about the trip though. I really cannot wait until I see my first white blaze again or wake up to the sunrise over the mountains. All of God's aesthetic beauty is waiting for me up in those mountains only a week away. It is already proving to be challenging and I'm only in the planning stages. I have faith that it will all come together for the better and look forward to every step of those 1718 miles I have yet to tread. -Hulk
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
I guess I should write a little more about this whole thing. First of all, its called the HULKhikesAT blog because my trail name is the Hulk. One of the neat things about the Appalachian Trail is that everybody on it has a trail name. You trade your name for a different moniker that other hikers usually choose for you. A guy named Hawkeye named me on my third day out at the Nanthahala Outdoor Center.
Now heres a little more about the trail. It's a 2178 mile trail through the mountains. It crosses 14 states including Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, New Hampsire, Vermont and Maine. There are shelters (huts) and camping areas every ten miles or so where hikers usually spend each night. Each year about 2000 hikers set out to finish, but only about 10% of them finish.Most of what is eaten is freeze-dried or doesnt need to be refrigerated. Granola bars, energy bars, beef jerky and dried fruit make up most of my breakfast and lunch and snacks while ramen noodles, instant mashed potatoes and instant pasta and rice are favorites for dinner. Then when we get into towns, hikers will pig out to regain lots of calories since typically about about 400 calories are burnt each mile.
I am leaving April 30th for Damascus and should finish around the 20th of August. I'll be going with my friend Graham Wigle until he has to leave for summer B at UF. I have almost all of my gear with the exception of a few items of clothing and some extra pairs of boots. And I would leave now if I could. Thats all for today
Now heres a little more about the trail. It's a 2178 mile trail through the mountains. It crosses 14 states including Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, New Hampsire, Vermont and Maine. There are shelters (huts) and camping areas every ten miles or so where hikers usually spend each night. Each year about 2000 hikers set out to finish, but only about 10% of them finish.Most of what is eaten is freeze-dried or doesnt need to be refrigerated. Granola bars, energy bars, beef jerky and dried fruit make up most of my breakfast and lunch and snacks while ramen noodles, instant mashed potatoes and instant pasta and rice are favorites for dinner. Then when we get into towns, hikers will pig out to regain lots of calories since typically about about 400 calories are burnt each mile.
I am leaving April 30th for Damascus and should finish around the 20th of August. I'll be going with my friend Graham Wigle until he has to leave for summer B at UF. I have almost all of my gear with the exception of a few items of clothing and some extra pairs of boots. And I would leave now if I could. Thats all for today
starting up
Well readers, I've now made a blog. I am 24 days away from leaving for the biggest adventure of my life! I've got most of my equipment and a flight and ride up to Damascus Virginia to begin my "as close to a thru-hike as I'm going to get" hike from Damascus Virginia to Mount Katadhin Maine on the Appalachian Trail. If you dont know about the hike, I'll be walking 1718 miles through 11 states, making my way north. It will take about 3 and 1/2 months and after I finish this hike, I will have hiked all 2,178 miles of the Appalachian Trail having hiked all of Georgia with a few friends in 2008, and all of North Carolina and Tennessee in the summer of 2007. This is going to be the trip of a lifetime though and hopefully one that will change my life forever. I'm going to learn a lot about myself and about God and his wonders and see my great country a different way than most people.
Ill try and keep this updated throughout my hike and make it as interesting as I can filling you all in on everything. -Rob Foss
Ill try and keep this updated throughout my hike and make it as interesting as I can filling you all in on everything. -Rob Foss
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