The Laughing Dog

Companion on the Droid

2012-02-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

I renewed my membership with Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association, which among other things, gets me a copy of the Thru-Hiker's Companion in Adobe pdf format. I have an unbound version of AWOL's AT Guide that, with it's clever integration of the trail's profile with milestones, will be my primary navigation tool. But the Companion has amplifying info that fills in where the AT Guide leaves off - History of the trail, and of the areas it passes through, park regulations, where to find AYCE buffets in town ...
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Let Them Eat Cake!

2012-02-14T23:39:00.001-05:00

I read something about baking in a pot over a stove, and went looking for something on the intertubes. I found several videos, including an excellent one produced by Mike Clelland for NOLS on a process called "Steam Baking." (See Below)

The approach is to put a couple of stones in the bottom of a pot to hold a silicone muffin cup off the bottom, add water to the pot, put the batter in the cup, place the cup on the stones, put the top on, put the pot on a stove. When the water boils, the cup is enveloped in steam. Eventually, the batter rises, and when the cake passes the toothpick test, it's done. Turn it out and enjoy.

I had to give this a try. I picked up a pouch of Martha White Blueberry Muffin mix at our local grocery, and assembled all the required stuff in the kitchen.

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My New GG LT4S Trekking Poles

2012-02-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

I had been looking to replace my good old, stable, 18oz/pr Black Diamond Trekking poles with something lighter. Whatever I chose would have to be adjustable from about 115cm where I like to cruise, to at least 130 cm to work with my LightHeart Gear Solo tent.

BD came out with a new line called Distance Trekking Poles that fold up like avalanche poles. They come in both fixed lengths, and in an adjustable version using a flick-lock. The adjustables weighed from 15.2 to 16oz a pair, depending on length, and list at $119.95. Which seemed like a lot to pay to save 2 ozs ... But more importantly, the one length they had that extended far enough to support my tent (120-140cm), did not collapse enough to support me in the manner to which I have become accustomed.
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Zach Wrote a Book!

2012-02-07T01:05:00.000-05:00

Appalachian Trials: A Psychological and Emotional Guide To Thru-Hike the Appalachian Trail (Volume 1)

Zach Davis' long awaited (and much hyped) book has finally been released in both softcover and ebook format. While thru hiking long trails like the Appalachian Trail is seen by many as a tough physical and logistical feat, experienced thru-hikers know that it is much more of a mental one - Dealing with the psychological effects of getting up day after day, eating your oatmeal, packing your stuff and putting one foot in front of the other five million times, with little discernible progress, towards an all-too-distant goal ...

(Why am I doing this again?)
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Camp Shoes

2012-02-04T07:39:00.000-05:00

Seems for a long time Crocs dangled off the back of a lot of hiker's packs. Primarily so that they could take their boots off, slip into something more comfortable, and allow their boots to dry out. Wearing them for stream crossings also helped to keep boots dry, and most want something to wear in communal/campground showers. Over the last several years, lots of hikers have given up boots for trail runners. They're lighter on the feet, more comfortable in camp, and they dry quickly. Some have decided that they don't need to carry the extra weight of camp shoes any more.

I pondered this. A cheap pair of flip flops satisfy the communal shower issue. I do like the idea of trying to keep my shoes dry, and something to wear for stream crossings seems like a good idea. I decided to look around for something light, something that would stay on my feet, and protect them when crossing a swift stream.
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Getting Pictures from the Camera to the Droid

2012-02-03T09:21:00.001-05:00

I started investigating how I was going to upload imagery from my new camera to illustrate this blog, and to post to social media sites while hiking the Appalachian Trail. The weight of a laptop makes packing one out of the question. So I figured I'd just plug a an SD card reader into my Droid's USB port, transfer the files, tweak them with the Photoshop app, and then upload photos when I had a signal

I figured wrong.

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Nom, Nom, Nom ...

2012-01-13T15:28:00.001-05:00

The door bell rang, and there was a big ol' box on the stoop - With Clif Bar logos all over it!

Woo-hoo!

Inside were several boxes of Cliff Bar goodness. My winnings from their 12 Days of #Clifmas contest on Twitter. All different types and flavors, chosen for their fat content!

Just in time too, as I'm getting antsy to put drop boxes together, and these will feature prominently in them.

Best AT Hiking Resource Ever

2012-01-12T10:57:00.001-05:00

Mountain Squid, a moderator on WhiteBlaze, wrote a humorous piece that links to definitive forum posts on probably every question hikers contemplating hiking the AT might be asking themselves.

If you have any interest in hiking any of the long trails, whether it would be thru, or section hiking, you owe it to yourself to join Whiteblaze, and to participate regularly in the forums.

Direct link to the article: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?73587-how-to-hike

Going Solo

2012-01-09T13:53:00.002-05:00

For a variety of reasons, some of health, some of family, Mary has elected to stay home... So, I'm hiking solo. Which is ... ok. I get to hike when I want to hike, take a break when I wanna break, camp where I wanna camp. If I want to go off trail to bag a peak, I won't have to negotiate with anyone but myself.

I'm going to miss hiking with her.

It certainly simplifies logistics. We don't have to close the house, find someone to take care of the cats, someone to mail the drop boxes, forward the mail, pay the bills, mow the lawn ... Mary will be my support crew.

Why does writing that make me think I'm gonna owe her big?

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MYOG - A Cozy for my Kettle

2012-01-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

I like the concept of freezer bag cooking, but multiplying two baggies per day, by 170+ days equals a whole lot of plastic in landfill. I'll still use the basic concept, but I'll do it in my MSR Kettle. That means bringing food to a boil, taking it off the heat, and putting it in a cozy. I needed a cozy.

I envisioned a simple, insulated pouch, with a drawstring top, that would serve as both a cozy, and as a bag to carry the pot in.

I went to my local fabric store where I found some light rip-stop cotton duck which won't melt when I drop a hot pot in it. To keep the heat in, I found some Insul-Bright which is hollow polyester fiber with a metallized film backing. The backing resists radiant heat loss, the fiber resists conduction.

Now all I had to do was put it together ...

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Mail Drops

2012-01-05T17:16:00.000-05:00

Different Strokes - There are many options for resupplying along the Appalachian Trail. Towns are generally spaced such that hikers can hit them every 3-5 days, and many rely solely upon buying from grocery stores, convenience marts and gas stations along the way. Some use a box they bounce up the trail, from post office to post office, with items they use frequently such as medications, maps, spare batteries, and extra food. Others employ drop boxes mailed to them along the way by a trusted soul back home. Still others employ one or more of these options in a hybrid approach.

I'm gonna do the latter.
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Manna from Heaven!

2012-01-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

I'm on the Twitter. You can follow me @LaughingDawg. I follow Clif Bars, and they held a holiday contest/clever marketing event called the Twelve Days of #Clifmas. They posted a different task every day, and contestants tweeted their best efforts with the hashtag #Clifmas. And all those posts went out to all their followers... Brilliant.

One contestant was selected every day to win a box of their various products. And, everyone who posted was automatically entered to win the grand prize - a one year supply of Clif Bars!

I was motivated. I managed to write such instant classics as:

"I'm dreaming of a White Macadamia Nut #Clifmas, just like the ones I used to know ..."

and,
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Peakbaggin' The AT

2011-12-27T13:54:00.001-05:00

With a thru-hike along the backbone of the Appalachian Mountain range, and crossing 14 states, I thought one would certainly be able to bag several of the 50 States high points. I consulted Peakbagger.com, mapped the provided coordinates, and consulted the ATC's Thru Hiker's Companion. This is what I found.
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Fire Starters

2011-12-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

It's one of those Ten Essentials things. The ability to start a fire. A life saving skill in the cold, and one that can be difficult in the worst of conditions - when everything's wet. So when I ran across Jermm's blog post "DIY Fire Starter Wafers," I had to give it a try.

Folks have been using wax-impregnated stuff as emergency firestarters for years. Lately a few vaseline-soaked cotton balls stored in a pill bottle is a common solution (tho it sounds like a potential mess). Alcohol-based hand sanitizers such as Purell can be brought to task, and there are all kinds of commercial firestarters available. What Jermm did was to saturate those flat, cotton cosmetic pads with molten candle wax. When dried, they harden into very packable flat discs.
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Food Pt 1 - Eating Like Hobitts

2011-12-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

"And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them)."

While this might sound like a description of thru-hikers, it was Tolkein describing Hobbits in The Fellowship of the Ring.

But long-distance hikers eat whenever they can and as much as they can. Hiking in the mountains with a 30 lb pack burns more calories than one can generally consume or even carry comfortably. Common estimates of caloric requirements in this environment are from 4500-6500 calories per day. Add cold temperatures and these requirements go up.
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Keeping Juice to the Camera

2011-12-13T01:13:00.003-05:00

In a previous post, I outlined just why I wanted a camera that sucks down battery power like a thru-hiker does milkshakes. Ok, that isn't a feature so much as an issue. I did get a spare battery, and that might just be sufficient, but if I'm inspired to shoot, I can go thru a battery in a day or so ... Two batteries might just not get me thru five days between town visits, adding more batteries is adding more weight, and I might have another option.

I have that New Trent ACD66 I got to keep my Droid powered up between town visits. It's a 7000mAh battery pack, with USB outputs that should store more than I need for the Droid. I started looking for a way to recharge the X100's batteries with the ACD66. A search of chargers for the X100's battery uncovered the PowerGen Rapid Smart Charger. It sports a USB port, which can either be an output to charge a device, or an input to power the charger from a USB source. It comes with a cigarette lighter/USB adapter.

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Now 2184.2 Miles

2011-12-09T20:50:00.001-05:00

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has announced that the A.T. has grown by 3 miles! The official Appalachian Trail mileage for 2012 is 2184.2.

That works out to about one more hour on the trail.

No details were given, but is generally understood that these annual fluctuations are the result of trail relocations, new land acquisitions that allow the trail to be moved off of roadways, and new switchbacks made on formerly straight trails by the many volunteers associated with the 31 trail maintaining clubs.

The theory that it is caused by global warming causing the earth to expand is hotly contested...

"A journey of 2184.2 miles begins with a single step"

Tangerine Fizzy

2011-12-01T22:06:00.001-05:00

When I saw the little packets of Emergen-C Joint Health vitamin drink, which provides a mix of antioxidents, B vitamins, electrolytes and other nutrients, along with glucosamine and chondroitin, I thought this sounded like a great supplement to take on a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. I ordered a box of thirty through Amazon.com, and found them to be tasty and convenient. Dump the packets into a water bottle, shake and drink. Easier than taking a bunch of pills. The tangerine flavor is pretty good, and the fizziness is a treat.

I went to their site looking for case lots, and saw their "Sponsorship" link. I applied, thinking that this is perhaps a bit of an unusual "event" for them. But I made my best pitch as to how this product seems perfect for those hiking up and down mountains for 8-10 hours a day, over several months, while eating a sometimes less than optimal diet. They offered to sponsor my hike with enough Emergen-C to provide for most of our needs, with plenty of samples to give out along the way!

Heh ... We're sponsored!

Cutting the Toothbrush Handles

2011-11-12T13:09:00.001-05:00

It's become a cliche' of the ultralight crowd. Folks who look at every item in their pack with a jaundiced eye. "Do I need that?" "Can I improvise the function with something else?" "Can I make it lighter?" After getting rid of nice to have and redundant things, and making sure that one's big four items are as light as practicable, many embark on a process exploring items made with lighter materials, trimming excess straps, and unused features off of packs, trimming the edges of their maps, and yes, cutting their toothbrush handles in half. Whereas each thing taken out of context seems silly, combined it's not unusual to trim a pound of excess off one's back.

Trail Food - Bill's Suet

2011-11-01T22:06:00.003-04:00

I've been playing with recipes for fruit nut bars for awhile now, and have more or less settled on a concept I like. I say concept 'cause, with a larder full of dried fruits, nuts and seeds, one can have an almost infinite number of recipes based on the same basic no-cook concept ...

Outfitting for the AT - What I'll Wear

2011-10-25T18:03:00.001-04:00

An Appalachian Trail thru-hike spans all the seasons. From winter in the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina, pleasant spring weather in Virginia, brutally hot and humid in the mid-Atlantic and southern New England sections, and fall thru New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Snow, mud, bugs and lots of rain.
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A Backpacker's First Aid Kit

2011-10-17T02:03:00.000-04:00

Anyone venturing into the woods should carry a basic first aid kit. But what should be in it? Should I buy a pre-packaged one? Or build my own?

Getting to Springer Mountain

2011-09-30T15:59:00.000-04:00

Mary and I plan to start hiking the Appalachian Trail in March. But, how do we get to the southern terminus? With hundreds of souls doing this every spring, the way is pretty well marked. The Thru-Hiker's Companion offers lots of guidance. Here's what we've found so far:

There are several options and decisions to consider.Will a friend or family member get us there? Or will we fly into Atlanta? Take a bus, or train? When will we get to the area, and where will we spend the first night? Will we hike the approach trail from Amicalola State Park, or get someone to get us up the forest roads to a spot close to the top of Springer Mountain?

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A Backpacking Camera

2011-09-11T20:54:00.000-04:00

No, this ain't it ...

You see, I've been a photographer most of my life. I had a Brownie Hawkeye in grade school. In high school, I was the yearbook/ school newspaper geek, and spent all my spare time in the darkroom. I was an Art/Photo/Film major in college where I developed a street photographer's style and ethic. I dropped out to join the Navy and went to the Navy School of Photography. I served as a combat cameraman, and 23 years later retired from the Navy as a Photo Officer. So you might understand why I ain't inclined to hike the trail with just the camera in my Droid.

Now, to be fair, that's not a bad camera, I use it a lot, and it would be a rational choice not to add the weight of another camera on a long hike. But, to try and capture the essence of the trail and the people hiking it, I want a camera that allows more creative control, and that is capable of producing high quality imagery. Heck, I may try and get a coffee table book outta it ...
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When to Start an AT Thru Hike

2011-09-09T23:32:00.000-04:00

Having decided to tackle the Appalachian Trail, we needed to decide when we wanted to start. We found that decision was affected by the time of year and seasons we wanted to hike, and our tolerance for cold, crowds, and black flies.

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