T Minus Three... Two... ONE!

May 09, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Appalachian Trail, Hiking

Starting tomorrow, I live outside.

I've spent the last week obsessively packing and repacking, weighing gear and clothing, studying maps, running from bears, planning meals, and trying to streamline my off-trail life to the point where it doesn't matter that I won't get my mail for six months. I've also somehow managed to fit in a few hikes just to keep my legs ready.

One thing that's absolutely blown me away during the past week is how well the kickstarter for the publishing project has gone. In one week, we reached 80% of our goal, which is amazing! A huge thank you to all my friends and family who helped to spread the word. Another big thank you goes out to the wonderful listeners at The Morning Stream - you guys are like a second family, too!

The biggest thanks of all however goes to my wife, Katie. She's been working every waking hour to help make this a reality, too. She's my "Trail Boss," and in addition to keeping me alive and sane while I live outside, she's also taken on a huge role in managing this website (she added the email subscription feature you see below...USE IT!)

Tomorrow morning (Saturday, May 10th, 2014) I'll get to Springer Mountain, GA somewhere around 10AM. (It's about 3 hours from my house, so this time may or may not hold true.) My good friend Mark will be joining me for the first two days, and after that I'll just walk north until I get there.

I don't really know what else to say right now, so I'll just answer some of the many questions that have been sent in, in no particular order: No, I won't carry a gun because I won't need one; If it rains I'll get wet; I'll see Godzilla in the first town I reach after May 16th that has a theater; the atomic mass of beryllium is 9.012182 u; I am bringing an old Kindle which is okay if it gets demolished; I don't have a dog; 25 pounds not counting food; blue.

See you on the trail.

T Minus Five, Four

May 06, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Appalachian Trail, Hiking

I made my final "shakedown hike" last night. That's where I go spend a night in the woods with the exact load I think I'll be taking on the AT just to see if I forgot anything. I hit the trail mid-afternoon and headed to a place nearby called Shining Rock Wilderness. The place is named for a mountain called Shining Rock, which is known for a giant pile of bright white quartz near the top, which can be seen for many miles.

On the way to Shining Rock, there is a saddle known as Flower Gap. It's a few hundred feet of grass and blueberry bushes on an open area between two small mountains. You can look west out into the Pisgah National Forest, or east into Asheville and the surrounding area. It's one of the prettiest areas on the hike and it's the spot where a bear stepped on Katie last summer.

We were planning a three day trip to Cold Mountain with a friend and the three of us camped at Flower Gap on the first night. The plan was to leave our tents there, hike to Cold Mountain on day two, return to our tents that night, and hike out on day three. On the morning of day two, Katie tapped on my tent and said, "I have bad news, and I have worse news." I knew immediately what both pieces of news were. "A bear got into our camp last night, and now we have no food."

"How do you know it was a bear?" I asked as I climbed out of my tent.

"Because it stepped on me in the middle of the night!"

We roused our friend and walked to the tree where we had hung our food the night before. The bags were shredded and all that remained of our food were tattered bits of foil, one Clif bar the bear had somehow missed, and a pack of sugar-free gum. This would not fuel three humans for two more days, so dejectedly we abandoned that trip early and walked back to the car.

Moments after taking this picture I was running from a bear.

I've been back to Shining Rock and Flower Gap numerous times since, but mostly in the winter. The memory of that event was not at the forefront of my mind as I ate my dinner last night. I was camped about a mile away, and had carried my food and some water to this spot to watch the sunset. It was lovely. The temperature was in the 50s and aside from a strong breeze it was perfect sittin' weather.

Once the sun vanished the temperature started to drop a bit and that breeze became a bit chilly. I had my pack stashed in an area out of the wind, and was standing by it putting my things away when I saw a large black shadow emerge from the darkness about forty feet in front of me. It had the bulk of a small cow and moved effortlessly, gliding through the dark making no sound. It took my brain a few seconds to register what I was seeing. Large dog? No. Small cow? Don't be ridiculous. Bear? Shit. Bear.

It definitely saw me, and I'm sure that the still open pouch of steaming beef stew residue was setting off every alarm in the thing's giant head. We both froze and stared at each other.

Now, I've been hiking for over twenty years, and both of my bear encounters are in this story. I know from reading and hearing it again and again that black bears are timid and will usually flee first. You're supposed to make a lot of noise so that's what I did. I raised my arms above my head and shouted, "YAH! YAAAAH! GO AWAY BEAR!"

This bear either did not speak English or had not read the same books I had read, because instead of fleeing, he cocked his head like a curious dog and did the opposite of fleeing, which was moving closer to me. I've seen this act before, he seemed to say. Your pitiful cries are no match for my powerful claws. You smell like food.

The bear closed the distance to about twenty feet and I yelled again. The sun was gone and only the moonlight remained. I continued yelling and flipped on my headlamp. This new light source confused the beast and he stopped his advance. One more yell and I backed away until I couldn't see him through the trees and then I began walking briskly along the trail for the next ten minutes, stopping often to listen for grunts and growls behind me.

I reached my camp after another ten minutes, passing two other campsites along the way. I warned my neighbors of the bear sighting, we all hung our food from the highest branches we could find and retired for the evening.

When I awoke this morning, despite having hung my bag, all of my food was gone, as were my neighbors' supplies. All that remained were cracked branches, coiled rope and a huge pile of empty wrappers and boxes, pockmarked by jagged teeth and covered with drool. One group said they came face to face with it while trying to hang their food. Their leader told me, "I shined my flashlight into the trees and saw two green eyes coming toward me so I threw my food bag at it and ran back to our tents!"

Thankfully no one was hurt, and the worst of it was that we all had to hike back out to our cars this morning on empty bellies. Bear: 12, Humans: 0.

Oh, and the good news is, other than that whole bear thing, the shakedown hike was a success, my gear feels great and I'm ready to go live outside for a while!

T Minus Eight, Seven, Six

May 04, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Appalachian Trail, Hiking

It's been a busy three days. This past Friday, I launched a kickstarter project to offset some of the costs associated with self publishing. Much to my amazement, we reached nearly 50% of our goal over just the weekend! I'm humbled and awed, and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my reasonably healthy heart. Thank you!

On Saturday, after a quick practice hike on a local trail, Katie and I made a trip to REI and I also bought a spare set of glasses. In addition to mottoes such as "Hike Your Own Hike" and "No Rain, No Maine" thru-hikers also frequently advise, "Every Item You Bring Will Be Destroyed." This includes your pack, your shoes, your knees, e-readers and in many cases your will to continue walking all day and sleeping in tents and shelters.

Once we returned home my best friend, Travis joined us for dinner and then an evening of one of my favorite activities, stargazing. For Christmas of 2000, Katie surprised me with a small telescope, because it was one of those things I'd always said I'd kinda like to have someday. The first time I put my eyeball on the eyepiece and saw amplified starlight, it was an instant and overwhelming obsession. For the past decade, one room in the house has been a constantly refreshing showroom of tents, sleeping bags, and telescopes of ever increasing size. My largest scope, a beast known as the Lightbridge, is so inconveniently massive that visitors have asked, "Why do you have a hot water heater in your living room?"

Travis and I both share this obsessive love of the night sky, and he's the only person besides occasionally my wife who is willing to stand out in the driveway with me until well past midnight pointing large hunks of glass at the sky and then cheering at planets and galaxies. This is precisely how we spent last night despite each of us having busy schedules this morning.

The moon was a thin crescent with Jupiter nearby. Mars rose in the east just past dark, and Saturn, the crowned jewel of our solar system was not far behind. We saw more galaxies and clusters than I could count, and spent just as much time simply looking up. The temperature was very agreeable and there wan't a drop of dew anywhere, which makes for excellent viewing conditions. Had I not been physically exhausted at 2:30, I would have gladly stayed up all night. It will be a while before I get to do this again.

T Minus Nine Days

May 01, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Hiking, Appalachian Trail

I've been waking at five each morning, which is unusual for me, at least so far this year. For the past week I've been "heads down" working out logistics, and things you don't normally associate with hiking like insurance and other grown up stuff. I've been getting up so early because as soon as my eyes open I immediately get excited about this thing that I'm planning. I leap out of bed and start looking at maps, reading forums, and weighing things.

I tore myself away from the computer this afternoon and put together a good estimate of what my trail load will be. With water and food for two days, the whole pack sits at just over 25 pounds. I carried it up Mount Pisgah, which I can see from my porch here in Hominy Valley. The round trip is only three miles with 750 feet of elevation change (each way, not total.) I've been hiking all winter with a much heavier load, so this felt very comfortable and stable.

I'm trying to wean myself from using a camelback, as many accounts I've read suggest that most thru hikers switch to a pair of Gatorade bottles early along the trail.

I'll probably do a few more shakedowns with increasing mileage between now and next Saturday. I still have much to do, such as preparing mail drops and gear swaps, so I'll still be busy for the next nine days, but nevertheless my mind will be racing!

Give me something to think about (and write about!) and let me know what questions and answers you would like to know about this hike. You can use the comments section below and you don't even have to register!

T Minus Ten Days

April 30, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Hiking, Appalachian Trail

I hit the trail in ten days. Most of my "real world" cleanup has been done, and now I'm shifting my focus to the gear closet.