Gear and beer

Gear and Beer!
A smart hiker has multiple uses for the the gear that travels with them. Take my pack cover for instance:
1) protects my pack from rain or heavy brush that might damage it
2) a dry seat to eat when ground is wet
3) I can place dirty and wet clothes in it to keep cleaner dryer clothes separate
4) they come in bright orange to match the hunters attire during open season
5) placed around inflatable sleeping pad to help resist puncturing
6) the perfect impromptu beer cooler!
-HBB

Tenley Park

A life long philosophy instilled in me through my wonderful parents is : "Leave it better than you found it!"
We have been so blessed to enjoy Tenley Park the last two nights and have some special people check in on us like: Don, Officer Fletcher, Jack, Sue, Nevaeh, Deb and Jake!
I policed the shelter of all cigarette butts and still find it hard to believe people don't consider this trash? It's a small token of our appreciation but Helen Kellar said it best:
"I am only one but still I am one. I can't do everything but I can do something!" HBB

Wow.

I deeply wish I lived in Everett so I could hire this guy. -j

Upcoming presentations in Minnesota

 As usual, I am up to no good!  The following presentations are happening in Minnesota:

Thursday, March 13 at 6:30pm - Hiking the Great Eastern Trail at Moose Lake Elementary School

Thursday, April 10 at 7:00pm - Introduction to Backpacking at Moose Lake Elementary School 

Thursday April 17 (apparently I like Thursdays) at 7:00pm - Hiking the Great Eastern Trail at Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis. (Expedition Room)

Saturday, May 3, afternoon - Planning an Overnight on the Superior Hiking Trail &

Hiking the Great Eastern Trail at the Superior Hiking Trail Annual Meeting, Wolf Ridge ELC.

(THIS IS AN AWESOME EVENT.)

More news coming soon. . . including news about the next GET hiker heading to Flagg Mountain!

-Jo

Woohoo!

We have had a mind-blowing whirlwind tour the last few days... From Poe Valley to Woolrich & back again.
Thank you to everyone who came to our National Trails Day presentation, and huge thanks to Woolrich for providing the space, technology, and kind folks who helped get the technology working. Good work!
We loved a cushy night at the lodge and feel truly blessed to have had that experience. It could not have happened without our shuttlers Sonny Daze, Joe, and Lorraine - we so appreciate you three and all you've done for us and for trails.

We broke 1400 miles today... 2 weeks left or thereabouts. Camping near Sand Mtn firetower with our new friend Tony. We're thrilled to have company!

Wildlife in town

My days wildlife experience came when a robin went dumpster diving for maggots.

The GET's version of the Doyle

Our night out of the rain. Glad they have central heat this time of year.

Mmm

Breakfast of champions. It's my turn to post a geeky pic of Bart with beer. It's (kind of) nice to have reception. Note the air conditioner in the background.

C&O Bicycle

What a pleasant hiker town Hancock MD was. It was bustling with all kinds of outdoor activities from fishing boats , kayaks, bikers, hikers, joggers, walkers etc.....loved our stay at C&O Bicycle would stay again thanks Dennis!

Let them eat

Sourdough and Anne twisted our arms for a very memorable night in Chattanooga for pizza, beer and cake!

Arboretum

View from the Chattanooga Arboretum site of this years GET annual board meeting.

Cosmic Brownies

The official trail food...

Dessert!

No hiker caption needed!

Busy minds

GET Board members hard at work: Levonn, Lloyd, Tom, Jim and wife Pat, Marty, Pat, Shad and Pete. The view is distracting.

A visit from Camp McDowell

Kudos to Fiskars & Alandika for driving up to Chattanooga for a quick visit, a ridiculous resupply, & a long hike in the rain! Fiskars got to visit Spot... I got to visit Izzy. Thank you ladies! You were sunshine on a cloudy day!

Meeting

The Humphrey House at the arboretum was perfect for the GET board meeting. Chattanooga TN is friendly and beautiful. A perfect trail town.

A "rest"

OK I had to take a day off to -well- to do stuff. Not like I took a day off. Hard at it!

Calling it

One of the questions we get asked a lot is about what it's like to hike with just one other person.  Most of my long-distance hiking has taken place on the Appalachian Trail, where even as a southbounder, there we always other people around.  On the Great Eastern Trail, it's been the Bart-and-Jo show, 24/7.  Some of our friends have come to join us for a section and thankfully lots of time with Tim and Paul here in West Virginia!  It brightens our day to have company.  To folks who have hiked sections with us: for days and even weeks after you leave us, we'll still be thinking back to things you brought up. You give our brains new ideas to mull over.

So what is it like, hiking with just one other person?

In a way, it's easier: when you hike in large groups, the slowest in that group is the person who sets the pace. When one gets sick, the whole group stays behind.  I only have to worry about Bart (although that is arguably a full-time job).  I know him well enough to anticipate problems we will have (and vice-versa).  Also, by the end of this, I will have a best friend for life, because no one else will ever understand the hilarity and insanity of certain situations we've found ourselves in.  One word can set us off laughing, and wherever life leads us, we'll have to remain friends because you just had to be there.

But in a way, it's harder to hike with just one person: Especially in sections where we have to choose-our-own-adventure, this can be a pretty stressful trail.  We have only each other to discuss things with, and it can get heated.  Bart and I have very different philosophies on some aspects of hiking, and trying to make it mesh can be really challenging, and even more so because we often don't have a third party to complain to/counsel us/be a tiebreaker. 

I'm really happy with how we've been able to spend 3 months together and not kill each other.  This bodes well for the upcoming 2 months.  We've got some ground rules and we're both really good at sticking to them.  Basically, they are:

• We connect everything by foot, even if we don't want to.
• Either of us can "call it" - end the hiking day at any time, at any place, for any reason.

Very few times has either of us had to call it.  I called it in Georgia when our friend Ramar offered up his yard to camp in when my ankle hurt so bad.  I called it last week when my foot gave out on me after only 5 miles.  I called it a couple of times in Chattanooga when I was super sick.  And today, Bart called it.  We took yesterday off to deal with some loose ends here in Mullens, and it was a super-productive day, but some loose ends remained.  It is a beautiful day and I want to hike so badly, but I am happy that it's my turn to gracefully accept that he called it.

I won't hike today, but I will watch Sula drinking water from Bart's Camelback bitevalve:

Adventures of the last week

We were really happy to hit the Wyoming County Line a couple of days ago, but I wanted to post this picture of Bart in Mingo County.  When we get the trail through Mingo, it will be spectacular.  For now, it is all roadwalk, but a big part of that roadwalk is simply beside a road and not on it.  Expansive views of Kentucky and West Virginia mountains filled the soul, and the occasional car driving past us 20 feet to our left did little to take away from the experience.  Wilderness trail it is not (for now), but it was nevertheless a beautiful experience.  Thanks, King Coal Highway!

Also, to everyone in Mingo County: Thanks for not running us over.  We appreciate it.  We realize that 52 is not made for pedestrians.  Trust us, we tried to find another way.  So, thanks for your help. 

Yesterday we were set to tackle a large portion of trail between R.D. Bailey WMA and Horse Creek Lake.  Bart's mom made us biscuits & gravy to power us over the mountains, his dad drove us to the county line, and we were off!  Thanks, you two, for all you've been doing for us!

It was the nicest day (weather-wise) we've had since . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Tennessee somewhere, I'd say.  I was so excited to revisit some of the trail I'd GPSed last year when I was a VISTA for this project.  I'd only ever hiked this section in the rain, and I wanted to see it in sunshine.  Tim was coming with us to help us not get lost and to tell us stories.  In short, everything was perfect.

Until my foot quit working.

Suddenly, our 13-mile day over unmaintained trail became a complete impossibility for me, and we had just our daypacks, so we couldn't camp out.  Bart's Jeep was 8 miles away at Horse Creek.  When we got to Big Branch (AKA "Burning Car Gap") Tim suggested we try to hitchhike to Horse Creek.  Hitching with 3 can be very difficult, and I was not surprised when no cars were pulling over for us.  (Tim also tried to thumb from an ATVer, who just grinned at us.  Yeah, right!)

All of a sudden, from the other direction, Paul and Ruby, our TuGuNu VP and Treasurer, pulled over!  They just decided to come see if we were out and about, and their timing couldn't have been more perfect.  What are the chances?!  They gave us a lift back to the Jeep.  Can't wait for them to join us on a deathmarch hike soon!   

We took today off to ice my foot.  I went from hobbling to walking normally in just 24 hours.  I think it's my boots doing it to me, and so I will wear my sandals for the next few days.  Sandals in this section is not recommended, but I've done it before, so . . . onward.

Sunrise

It's 9:21 am est and there is where my sun rises from my back porch in Mullens WV over Reinhart Mountain. Yep it takes a while to show up but these hollows are deep and rich as the people it eventually shines on.
HillBillyBart