Cigars w/ Poe

a very long and flat journey through the mid-west is behind us... not an incredibly exciting drive by any means, but seeing the rolling hills of PA is a welcome sight. got to the Grasso residence introduced the dogs (lexi and skylar) and headed out for some drinks and burgers at the U of Delaware.

We went to a pub with a huge upstairs outside porch and smoked cigars while sipping a single malt. the pub was a hotel many years back where Edgar Allen Poe conceived and wrote his famous poem about the blackbird (Raven). college was out of sessions for Spring Break, no rowdiness, just philosophy, theology, and memories... good times with good friends, whom I hope to see again on the Water Gap!

although most road travel occurred at an average speed of 55 mph in a very loud and bumpy jeep, the time was easy and very thought provoking...

we drove the 15 through Vegas to the 70, into the snowy Rockies at an average speed of 3o mph while huge trucks would buzz by at 60. i was drooling from my face, the right eye would not stay open for more than 20 seconds at a time, which oddly kept me unusually alert and helped with the long drive into Boulder. from the bottom of the Rockies in CO after leaving Denver, the drive starts to get really monotonous. the road doesn't turn and nothing appears to change... it is recommended that Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon is played at a loud volume while driving through Kansas, this will surely amend any feelings of boredom... this drive can be done while preparing a four course meal on a propane stove in the passenger seat... it is really flat. Missouri is a woodier Kansas, Illinois and Indiana are pretty much billboards, that's all i saw for 8 hours... i don't even know what they were selling... business as usual for the trucking superhighway of the US...
then into PA, when the road starts to turn a little and go up and down a lot. took the NJ turnpike up to NYC, drove past the Newark airport when a plane was taking off, felt like the jeep was going really slow... across the GW up to the Merrit and into Meriden.
winter is almost over, and the people can't wait... just a few more weeks until the weather turns to Spring, best time of the year!

This marks my 5th cross country drive, I don't think i'll drive the 70 again, the 90 is my favorite and is prettier overall, longer, but prettier.

snow here in CT, a few days of rest until departure for GA.

G

Truck stop toilets

i am now writing from a Motel 6 in Indiana, i had to stop, the coffee was starting to turn me into a cracked out staring machine trying not to become hypnotized by the passing white lines.

it all started with a little soar throat and that turned into a full blown head cold. Now i am a firm believer that you are only as sick as you keep telling yourself you are. in other words, the trick to getting better is to talk about how good you feel and not how shitty the headache and runny nose really is... well that, and a whole lot of cayenne and garlic and the past two days has flown right by!

Thanks to Jilayne and Ira for hosting me in Boulder... good sleep, food, conversation, and excersise, the perfect solace to recharge for leg 2; which was really long and flat... i honestly counted over 100 miles without turning... but it's really wide, much better than Mexico, and the jeep only gets 180 miles to a tank so we have to stop alot.

well i'm really tired, and need to get up early to head for the Grasso residence in PA... get that wiskey ready!

the picture below is in Utah just before we crossed into CO... i wish i could say that was really how i felt on such a beautiful day... at least it was true for one of us!

On the Road

Jeep is packed, and we're off on the open road towards Colorado today, Monday.

Thank you to everyone for a great going away weekend! It really was a great way to start this journey.

Our cross country expedition via automobile is equivalent to the distance that we will be walking over the next 5 months (2300 miles ish). I hope we can be in CT by Friday morning, stopping in Boulder, CO and then again in St Louis, and then in PA, then finally in CT. We will catch some shut eye along the way when needed.

Once in CT we will spend time with the family and head off for Georgia sometime this weekend. Mon and Dad are going to drive us down to the trailhead in GA and walk the first few miles on the Approach Trail.

Anticipated start date on the trail is early March, hopefully by Wednesday the 4th.

will post again along the way...

G

Gear etc.

Foot is healed, good ol neosporin!

Pack, Tent, and sleeping bag arrived this weekend. Thank you Scott Mcquire (http://www.vfc.com/brands) for providing this gear...huge help!

So here is the list of gear that's coming with us or waiting with Family until needed:

• Pack: NF- Skareb 65, nice and comfy, great layout
  
• Tent: NF- IGT Spectrum 33 looks like this thing can withstand a hurricane, let's hope we don't have to test that.
  
• Spring bag: NF- re meow 20deg F, climashield fill, new to me
  
• Winter bag: Marmot Pinnacle 15deg F, 800 gd fill, been with me a while, but will be too warm up N in the spring.
  
• Thermarest for me and lex; some really light kind that looks like it'll last a few weeks.
  
• 3L cammelback with a bite nipple
• snow peak titanium stove doubles as a lighter, extreme back-up (casey and joel may recall that)
  
• snow peak titanium pot and pan; mostly for banging on when bears come to camp
  
• 2 msr fuel containers
  
• leathermen juice cs4 multi-tool, most bang for weight, scissors are key
  
• ipoop from sea to summit for poop holes
• 3 lengths of small diam climbing rope, to hang food in tree with
  
• pack cover
• 2 evac dry sacks, 1 for food, 1 for first aid and toiletries full of both
  
• dr bronner's soap...w/ rope ... gotta have
• trekking poles from leki, big test here, would prefer a stick but lost my Mt Washinton one
  
• merrel cameleon evo goretex xcr trekking shoes 3 pairs currently breaking in all 3
  
• superfeet insoles currently breaking in 1
  
• injinji socks these are the socks that look like gloves, i like so far
  
• icebreaker socks, merrino wool
  
• icebreaker assorted tops, bottoms, and skimpies... man this stuff is good
  
• 1 fleece hoodie... PSSB
  
• 1 Pro-tech goretex rain parka
• merrel precip pants
  
• Patriots football beanie
• rain hat
• pak towel from seatle sports
• maps and guide books (companion, data book, and all maps(will have sectioned and mailed))
• tekka head lamp
• red light for lex
• ruffwear palisades pack, collar, leash, bowls, water bladder
• powder, moleskin, and vaseline (i heard this is a must)
• sunglasses, watch, compass, matches, lighter.
• 1 spork
• maybe a 40 oz klean kanteen
• katadyn water filter, hiker-pro w/ an extra filter to be sent as back-up
• 1 book for reading
• journal and pencil
• 13 in. cast iron dutch oven

14 days until we leave CA, 6 work days left... Santa Cruz this weekend for Wilderness First Responder recert.

G

WTF

It has been a great week so far. Today rain fell on MRV (and not in!!) thus ending our long streak of warm sunny days. It is nice to see and feel rain again, and remember what it's like to be wet and more importantly how to stay dry.

In a community sweat lodge in the early days of this week I shrieked a loud cry in readiness for this adventure. Thank you Andrew for your thoughts and prayers and hospitality once again... and to the Hyatts for bring us all together for a great sweat! Sweat lodges are a spiritual community experience, much like church. Each sweat has been a unique experience for me. It is much easier in a lodge to feel the connection we all have with the world around us. We all prayed, each our own thoughts. I do not pray often, I do not like the word, but it is silly to avoid such an age old tradition of spirituality because of a pious indifference with vocabulary.

When I worked on the Delaware Water Gap (May ish on the trail) as a teenager, I felt a strong connection with the ancestors of the area and of the earth. Separating from that spirituality during my college years has been something I often regret. I hope that I can reconnect with my own spirituality again on the trail.

In the sweat this last week I had many thoughts about the trouble our country and our world are in. I could feel the anguish and pain that the economic collapse had placed on the people close to me in the lodge, and began to wonder why we put such a large and high priority on money in our lives????

Seriously. It affects me writing about this. I want to yell at the top of each mountain Lexi and reach and tell the people to forget their troubles with money. I read a sticker on the dash of a car that read "The meaning of life is to live it". Well people... get out there and stop worrying about your silly greenbacks and start living life again.

how inconsiderate of me to be so anti-sympathetic for the deep rooted troubles in this financial system. how can the people of this world just forget about house payments, food, credit cards, and retirement?? how can i presume to be invisible from the affects of this crisis and the enslavement of debt?

I will yell from the mountain tops (and Lexi will bark) "Wake the (expletive) up people! with your fancy tv's and expensive cars, obsessions with sports and hollywood... we have neglected everything our ancestors have taught us for our fantasies of success... and at the expense of our only home, mother earth. When the effects of our disregard are felt, money and wealth and big tvs will seem sooo silly... maybe then we'll reconsider what it means to be successful and hopefully it won't be too late"

I did not want to use this blog as a pulpit for world views... my view on the world that is. But I read a report that made me very upset. This report stated that a recent poll of Americans found that the enviornmental issues such as climate change have taken a distant back seat (having already been behind gay marriage and abortion(idiotical)) to the perils of our economic crisis.

So when the sharks are gone, the whales all murdered, the green open space covered by concrete, water polluted, skies smogged, and icebergs melted; we'll be thrilled to learn that the green piece of paper in our wallets doesn't mean shit if we're all dead.

In conclusion to this rant... consider this... If it were as simple as giving up TV... never watch it again... just to save the world from these perils... would you do it?

My friends Fraser and Kelly Kersey have started a blog for conversations like this to continue. I encourage anyone who has read this far to join this conversation!
http://twodirtyolives.blogspot.com

G

Rusty nail (explatives recanted)

In an unfortunate event taking place on Sunday afternoon, I stepped on a rusty nail that went almost entirely through my right foot. The rusty nail was in an area where I had avoided it for a very long time, somehow without noticing it, until Sunday. The nail punctured the outside flank of my foot, a fatty zone, and probably the best place for this to have occurred. It went straight through my sandals! Because it happened at the kayak shop where we have a very good selection of first-aid equipment, I was able to clean and dress the wound very quickly, which has reduced infection and swelling to almost nothing!!

A tough set-back for the first part of this month... I must stay off of my foot for a week and allow this wound to heal properly and without infection.

Now the good news... I have just received my booster for Tetanus (which now includes immunization for Whooping Cough, sweet digs!) and updated my first-aid kit. In viewing this incident in a positive light, I am taking this opportunity to prepare my gear and weigh certain decisions carefully.

Only 20 more days until Lexi and I leave CA and head East for the cold weather. This has been a bit of a concern of mine, since the weather in CA has been incredibly warm (70 plus for the past month). In preparation for this shriveling cold, I have been indulging in a "beer for warmth campaign". Since the beginning of January, copious consumption of dark beers has added a supple coat of insulation that will protect me from the initial exposure to temperatures below 50 degrees. Here's to that!

G