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Last spring, I hiked from Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam to link up my sections south of the Smokies and the southern half of the Smokies. Since my hiking partner Smoking Sox was laid up with his knee injury, I was ahead of him (from a mileage standpoint) for the first time in 20 years. 16.1 miles. I called Sox the other day with some bad news. Although the AT got one mile shorter, the trail between the Fontana Marina and the Dam actually got 0.1 miles longer. So now Sox is 16.2 miles behind me.

I use the MF scale to rank climbs and descents. Simply count the number of times I yell "Mutha........." during the effort. Works for me.

Quote from LIhikers: “Here's wishing everyone at the Cafe a great holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you have miles of smiles in 2024. ” Amen! Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2024!

I was driving through that nor'easter last Sunday as I left Charlotte. It stayed with us until Charleston WV. I've tried to explain to my Midwestern co-workers how much rain / snow can be dumped onto the eastern seaboard from a nor'easter. 36" snowfalls in 1993 and 1996 when I was in Central PA.

My 2024 Hiking Plan depends on how well Sox's ACL repair is progressing. At the least, we are planning on knocking off Clingmans Dome to Newfound Gap as a day hike, then Davenport Gap to Max Patch as a second day hike. If his ACL is ready to go, we'll switch gears and just hike our remaining 54.5 miles in / around the GSMNP in ~5 days. I will be hiking sections 4 and 5 of the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) in July. Kind of an amazing set of circumstances. My wife and I will be visiting my sister in Si…

No new videos last week. How am I going to fill my time this week when most of my co-workers are on vacation? I was telling my daughter about Matt_C this past weekend, in particular his inability to figure out how to use the plastic guy line tension adjusters. She thought I was kidding. I'd pay to see his first experience with bear cables. And the subsequent berating of a ranger because there were no posted instructions. Looks like he paid us a return visit on 12/7 but didn't jump back into any …

Quote from max.patch: “Is it cheating if you do the trail in a golf cart? ” No - as long as you get out occasionally and take pictures. That's how I climbed Mt. Washington.

appalachiantrailcafe.net/index…0711e52ab9bca50954cba79eb

Quote from LIhikers: “Quote from odd man out: “Tonight we had a once in a lifetime celestial event when Betelgeuse was occluded by a passing asteroid. Unfortunately, in Michigan it was occluded by clouds. ” what's a Betelgeuse ? ” Say it two more times and it will show up. appalachiantrailcafe.net/index…0711e52ab9bca50954cba79eb

I'm stewing a bit on the "My new health insurance policy doesn't start for another four days" comment in the video. Just went through that with my son. He quit his job before his wedding, and started a new job after his honeymoon. I stressed the importance of obtaining COBRA coverage when he left his old job and he assured me that he did. A month ago, he admitted that he gambled and went without insurance for ~two months. "What's the worst thing that can happen?"

The AT guides for each state list the landmark mileage in both S->N and N->S directions. For 20 years now, I have summarized the guidebook data in spreadsheets for each section so I'm only carrying one or two sheets per hike. That would be a bit cumbersome for a 1000-mile section. But I like having the guidebooks and the maps. I also do a lot of research on each section (trail journals, hiking forums, Google Maps, etc.) and add notes in my spreadsheet for services at road crossings, epic camping…

Quote from rhjanes: “I'm a bit lost. Well, I didn't know Garmin offered SAR insurance. I just got on the Garmin site but they only show two plans. SAR100 covers up to $100,000. Their other plan is "high risk" and covers "other high risk activities", which I've not researched includes WHAT (Sky diving?, hurt at 28,500 feet on Everest?). So was her $50,000 plan an older plan grandfathered in and no longer offered? ” Timely, as I just received an invoice for the next year of SAR 50 coverage through…

I had time to kill over lunch yesterday and watched a few more 360 Investigations videos. Apparently, ultralight has no relationship with the mass of an item. It's all about volume. And 90% of the people out there who don't understand this have no right to be hiking or camping. Oh, the expected interactions with other hikers on the trail. I'm hoping they get posted on trailjournals.com or on TOS. "I ran into this hiker named Matt_C and got an earful about how all of my gear choices were wrong."

Loved the Assateague pony performing a crotch kick on Mr. Speedo. Ouch!

Quote from LIhikers: “ah, yes, the post hike meal always tastes so good. ” Agreed. I think I can recall where I had the post-hike meal after each of my 37 section hikes. Thanks for posting all of the pictures!

2025 can't come soon enough. Looking forward to in-depth videos where Matt_C is surrounded by AT cheaters using inferior equipment. Imagine living next door to this lunatic and listening to him film a 15-minute tent rant. Now imagine if he posted a question here on how to utilize the tie-down tensioners on his new tent. The latter certainly seems to be a better use of 15 minutes.

Quote from max.patch: “I'd hate to be the CSR that takes his call. ” Could be fun. "Sir, I need you to carefully pack up the tent and everything that came with it. Then send it back to us at our expense." "Aha! So you're admitting that there's something wrong with it!" "No sir. You're just too stupid and we don't our products being associated with you."

I keep trying to move on, but then Matt_C draws me back in. An in depth review copper spur problems And Ultralight has nothing to do with weight. Episode 1 Survival correction The ultralite lie

My son used to come into the bathroom while my face was covered in shaving cream and say "Ho ho ho!" Now my wife looks at my white beard and calls me Santa. He had a broad face and a little round belly, from too many trips to the bar and the deli.

Quote from rhjanes: “Quote from max.patch: “Quote from odd man out: “On TOS he asked if anyone has a Kackwa55 pack because he'd had some questions. I decided to reply that I did. No follow up as of yet. ” He might be on a brief vacation compliments of the Admin. ” On TOS, he joined 11/18 and was last online 11/21. A week ago. Admin/Mod closed a thread after posting that Matt-C needed to carefully read the Terms of Use/Service. I'm not sure how to check if he's been banned or what. I think I miss…