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Hiking Plans for 2020

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    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Due to the pandemic, the nice people at Joe Dodge Lodge have extended my credit from 2019 to 2021! So I'm going to hopefully work things out to where I get up to Pinkham Notch before mid July next year and knock out some more trail. I'm leaning towards the Grand Canyon for October if this virus calms down. In the meantime I gotta have my gallbladder removed- bilinary dysknesnia yep it's not spelled right- but the old gallbladder is dysfunctional and causing me random pain and I'm told this is the only solution and I won't miss it. Going to be operated on by a robot in a week or two, y'all keep your fingers crossed and keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
      I will be praying for you, but I also recommend you let them use anesthesia this time. :)
      Hahahaha oh yeah I'm going under for this one. I think he goes thru the bellybutton and leaves no scar, that's what his video shows when a local TV channel interviewed him. He's been doing this for 17 years so I have confidence in him.
      Keep us updated...
      Lost in the right direction.

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Due to the pandemic, the nice people at Joe Dodge Lodge have extended my credit from 2019 to 2021! So I'm going to hopefully work things out to where I get up to Pinkham Notch before mid July next year and knock out some more trail. I'm leaning towards the Grand Canyon for October if this virus calms down. In the meantime I gotta have my gallbladder removed- bilinary dysknesnia yep it's not spelled right- but the old gallbladder is dysfunctional and causing me random pain and I'm told this is the only solution and I won't miss it. Going to be operated on by a robot in a week or two, y'all keep your fingers crossed and keep me in your thoughts athend prayers.
      I will be praying for you, but I also recommend you let them use anesthesia this time. :)
      Hahahaha oh yeah I'm going under for this one. I think he goes thru the bellybutton and leaves no scar, that's what his video shows when a local TV channel interviewed him. He's been doing this for 17 years so I have confidence in him.
      Rest assured that the folks who design and manufacture the cool medical devices that get inserted through your bellybutton have your good health in mind. It's what we do!
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      I wonder how many people can say they've had a robot in their body thru their bellybutton? On the plus side, no new scar!
      Just wait. The future of robotic surgery is going to change rapidly in the next couple of years. Every orifice will be an option for incision-free surgery.

      Best of luck with a successful outcome!
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • My next hike is going to be Standing Indian loop and it’s coming up very soon. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time!

      But I googled driving distance today and it’s the same driving time as going to Table Rock on the Foothills Trail.

      So then I start thinking that maybe I should go back to the FHT and finish the last 12 miles. It would be very satisfying to finish but I don’t know, it would be more fun with cooler temps...

      Tough decisions! :)
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      My next hike is going to be Standing Indian loop and it’s coming up very soon. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time!

      But I googled driving distance today and it’s the same driving time as going to Table Rock on the Foothills Trail.

      So then I start thinking that maybe I should go back to the FHT and finish the last 12 miles. It would be very satisfying to finish but I don’t know, it would be more fun with cooler temps...

      Tough decisions! :)
      I drove by a sign for Standing Indian today. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Y’all probably don’t remember, but my first solo overnight attempt was on the FHT and it was a disaster.

      I was so afraid to camp by myself that I did something very risky...I hitchhiked and accepted a ride with 2 very sketchy men. I was so freaked out about camping alone that I lost all sense of judgment! I remember the feeling like it was yesterday of staring at that campsite and trying to make myself set up my tent...i just couldn’t do it so I walked out to the road and caught a ride back to my car.

      At the time, I couldn’t imagine ever hiking the entire FHT, yet here I am. The majority of the credit goes to you guys and the support, advice, and encouragement y’all have given me through the years. Thank you!
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      My next hike is going to be Standing Indian loop and it’s coming up very soon. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time!

      But I googled driving distance today and it’s the same driving time as going to Table Rock on the Foothills Trail.

      So then I start thinking that maybe I should go back to the FHT and finish the last 12 miles. It would be very satisfying to finish but I don’t know, it would be more fun with cooler temps...

      Tough decisions! :)
      If it's really hot when you go, maybe do the shortest one to minimize the pain? The Standing Indian loop is close to twice as long as what you have left to do on the FHT.
      2,000 miler

    • My daughter sent me this picture in a text last evening.

      Looks like she was able to do a weekend trip to Roan Mountain. :thumbup:
      Images

      • imagejpeg_0(4).jpg

        74.7 kB, 800×450, viewed 373 times
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • max.patch wrote:

      StalkingTortoise wrote:

      My daughter sent me this picture in a text last evening.

      Looks like she was able to do a weekend trip to Roan Mountain. :thumbup:
      She (probably) hit peak weekend for the rhododendruns.
      The annual festival (the 3rd weekend in June) was cancelled this year becasue of you know why.
      I'm patiently waiting for pictures. She parked at Mt. Harbour and got shuttled to Hughes Gap. Hiked up & over Roan and camped on Grassy Ridge on Day 1. Crossed the Humps and camped at Doll Flats on Day 2. Quick hike down to Mt. Harbour on Day 3 then 4 hours back to Raleigh.

      This trip was really a Father's Day gift to me. I instilled a love of hiking and camping my daughter, showed her a beautiful section of the AT, and get to live vicariously through her trips.

      Her pose at McAfee Knob:
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      I wonder how many people can say they've had a robot in their body thru their bellybutton? On the plus side, no new scar!
      Well I misunderstood. In thru bellybutton plus 3 other small cuts. Davinici robot. I'm home now, sore and in pain and flying around the living room at 40,000 feet. Everything went well.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I wonder how many people can say they've had a robot in their body thru their bellybutton? On the plus side, no new scar!
      Well I misunderstood. In thru bellybutton plus 3 other small cuts. Davinici robot. I'm home now, sore and in pain and flying around the living room at 40,000 feet. Everything went well.
      Glad everything went well, and here is to quick recovery, :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I wonder how many people can say they've had a robot in their body thru their bellybutton? On the plus side, no new scar!
      Well I misunderstood. In thru bellybutton plus 3 other small cuts. Davinici robot. I'm home now, sore and in pain and flying around the living room at 40,000 feet. Everything went well.
      LOL pain pills taken with bourbon will do that to ya. Glad it went well.
      2,000 miler

    • I'm feeling much much better. I get to try bike riding in 10 days. Thinking about doing a 70 mile section in VA with my hiking buddy Slingshot in October. If I keep hiking with him, I'll hike just about half of the trail twice before I finish lol.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • It looks like Kathy and I will be able to go to Maine this year after all. Maine allows New Yorkers in without a quarantine or covid test.
      Things are slow at work because a shipping company lost about a quarter million dollars worth of parts for a big job we have to do to repair one of the company's aircraft. That made it possible for me to have 3 weeks off.
      We'll drive north from New York to Maine on August 1st. On the second we'll start hiking south starting from Baxter State Park, in Maine. Once we hit the town of Monson we'll get a shuttle to Millinocket . The earliest we were able to get a camping reservation in Baxter was August 19 so I expect we'll hike up Katahdin on the 20th. I need to be back to work on the 24th so we'll have some time to kill.
      So far we have a reservation at the AT Lodge in Millinocket for the night of the 1st and shuttle on the morning of the 2nd to Baxter. Kathy's started food shopping and we'll spend this weekend putting our things together.

      I have my fingers, and toes, crossed that I don't develop the same foot problem as last year that ended our hike prematurely.

    • we spent this past weekend getting things ready for our up.coming section hike in Maine. All I have left to do is pack my sleeping bag Froday night. The plan is to get going about midnight Saturday morning and spend all day driving to the AT Lodge in Millinocket. If we finish Maine we'll have spent 19 years section hiking just the northern half of the AT.We'll do the southern half as one journey....I hope.

    • Kathy and I are on our way to Maine as I write this, a little north of Bostom on route 95. 6:30 tomorrow morning we'll get a shuttle to Baxter State Park and start hiking south to the town of Monson. We're figuring 12 or 13 days to cover the 120 miles. Then on the 19th we have a reservation to camp in Baxter park so we can hike Katadyn on the 20th. After that we'll go to NH because I still have to get Wildcat D mountain. It was too steep to go down with our dog. Kathy got it a year or two ago and this year will be my turn. Those are our plans but we'll have to wait and see what actually happens.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      Kathy and I are on our way to Maine as I write this, a little north of Bostom on route 95. 6:30 tomorrow morning we'll get a shuttle to Baxter State Park and start hiking south to the town of Monson. We're figuring 12 or 13 days to cover the 120 miles. Then on the 19th we have a reservation to camp in Baxter park so we can hike Katadyn on the 20th. After that we'll go to NH because I still have to get Wildcat D mountain. It was too steep to go down with our dog. Kathy got it a year or two ago and this awaits me mext year will be my turn. Those are our plans but we'll have to wait and see what actually happens.
      Have a great time! :thumbup:
      I look forward to hearing more about what I will be doing bext summer.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Greetings from Greenville, Maine. Last week we finished our hike from Baxter park to Shaws hostel in the town of Monson, 115 miles. We're headed back north later today to camp in Baxter on the 19th and do Katahdin on the 20th. Then it'll be a trip to NH where I have to do a few miles of Wildcat D mountain. A better report when we get home and life is back to it's normal routine.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      Greetings from Greenville, Maine. Last week we finished our hike from Baxter park to Shaws hostel in the town of Monson, 115 miles. We're headed back north later today to camp in Baxter on the 19th and do Katahdin on the 20th. Then it'll be a trip to NH where I have to do a few miles of Wildcat D mountain. A better report when we get home and life is back to it's normal routine.
      Wow, that’s awesome!
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Astro wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      IMScotty, when are you heading to the Long Trail?
      Looking forward to your awesome pictures. :)
      I'm not sure I can yet.
      Here is to hoping it works out so that you can. :) Always great to know one of us is out there actually hiking.
      Well, I finally did get a short hike in. About 28 miles on the north end of the LT over 4 days. Only 7 miles per day! That is a reflection of my poor condition and the difficulty of the trail. I did not have time to make it to the border, so I have another 23 miles to go. Just to be clear, this is not an end-to-end hike. My goal is to complete from the Maine Junction north.

      The rains came at the end of my hike, I got soaked trying to get a ride out of a lonely dirt road crossing (Hazen's Notch). The trail is tough, I felt beat, but the forests were pretty. Saw several NOBOs and SOBOs on my way, only a few day hikers up here.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”

      John Greenleaf Whittier

    • I’m planning to finish the Foothills Trail this month and still want to hike Standing Indian loop since last time was a disaster. I’d also like to add some more AT miles in SW Va. The Pinhoti Trail is also on my radar but it’s low on the list.

      Also, there’s a few more trails in Frozen Head SP to hike (trying to hike all of them before 2021).
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I'm heading out next week with my hiking buddy Slingshot. Doing a 77 mile AT section near Roanoke. I hope my knees hold up. I've been carefully training them.
      sounds fun! Are you including Dragons Tooth?
      He will probably be able to get the VA triple crown (McAfee Knob, Tinkers Cliff, and Dragons Tooth).
      And if he wants and they are open hit the Homeplace also. :)
      And in Daleville, I don't believe 3 Pigs BBQ is very far off the trail. :thumbup:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • LIhikers wrote:

      When Kathy and I do the southern half of the trail you folks will have to make us a list of places to eat :D
      Will do when the time comes, I believe you will happy with the amount (and prices) of hostels and places to eat near the trail. Just hope COVID-19 doesn't run a lot of the hostels out of business.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General