Beginning Training

In the next few weeks I will be starting to train, not just for the AT ( if it takes me 4 years there is a problem), but for next year Maroon Bells 4 Day Loop hike.

A few friends and myself have come up with a weight loss plan that actually will work. It is all based on money. We have started a central account for a Vegas trip next year. We pay ourselves to lose weight, if we only lose gain a pound in a week we pay ourselves double, if we gain more than one pound in a week we have to pay a $15.00 penalty to go into the other players account.
( I do NOT want to pay for other peoples trip to Vegas so I will certainly try my best to not do that.

Anyway, next week I will be climbing the Manitou Springs incline. The goal is to start doing that twice a week through the fall. It really ought to burn quite a bit of calories as well as get my legs in shape for ski and snowshoe season this year. Below is the link....not an easy feat..

http://www.hikingintherockies.com/hiking/hike%20reports/manitouincline/manitouincline.htm

The Maroon Bells loop is something I have wanted to do since I first moved to Colorado..it is tough 3-4 day backpacking trip. Besides my gear I will be loaded down with a camera. So it is worthy of really training for. Next summer besides Maroon Bells I want to hike at least 2 of the Fourteeners. That is my goal. Below is the Maroon Bells Loop....

http://www.swarpa.net/~danforth/wj/4pass.html

SO here we go...I can't wait. At the moment Jeff and I are doing Maroon Bells, we may pick up another person or two. We will be picky about who goes though. They have to have equipment, and they must be able to handle it. I will not deal with a bunch of whining in close quarters like that. But our friend Lisa has expressed interest in going, and I am sure Clinton and Pam would go as well. We will see. I am perfectly fine if it ends up with just us two.

I have made my "want list"...I have decided to go with a backpacking hammock for this hike as well as the AT. As long as we always come down from above treeline, I should have no problem. But most people don't stay above treeline anyway for too long. I am also buying an Excalibur dehydrator....so I can start playing with menus and such. I have an old dehydrator that my mom got me years ago, but really need a new one.

Cam here I go - the beginning has begun! Can't wait.

Another Keeper

Great site with lots of stories, blogging, photos, food and gear tips...this dude is really a blogger...

http://sectionhiker.com/category/backpacking-food/

Awesome Blog

Of course it is all in Georgia ...but still very informative after the first few posts...

http://atstagehiker.wordpress.com/

" I have wanted to experience the Appalachian Trail since I was a very young man. Inwardly, I wish I could hike the entire trail in one trip. I’d set speed records and make over 20 miles each day. Yeh, yeh, sure, doesn’t everyone dream these foolish dreams? In my mind I bring up memories of stories about excited warriors going off to war. “We’ll all be home by Christmas, after we whip the…” Except no one is ever home from the war by Christmas. Seemingly simple conquests have a way of growing large. And I smile to myself as I think I may have underestimated the trail in the same manner as the aforementioned optimistic warriors."

Hate to wait but don't have many other options.

Crazy to think this is all going to come together because of a random Facebook post. I've had a secret urge to get back on the AT since I was 19. While on vacation in New Hampshire where my dad lives and, coincidingly, where we will be spending some of the hardest days of our trip, we did four days with our life on our back and every night under the stars. It was Heaven on Earth for me, despite the blisters and scratches here and there. Needless to say when I saw Tiffany's post it sparked the fire inside me that has been smoldering for 7 years. "Unfortunately" (haha) I'm stationed out here in Hawaii until Fall 2013 and by then I'm sure we will have made a plan, changed it, re-planned, and changed that one about ten times too. But that's ok, we'll just think we're 110% ready for something that you can never truly be ready for. Until then it will be extended day hikes for me out here in paradise with some camp/hikes mixed in when I can get them. Aloha!!

Cameron

Well, it is a start anyway.

May 2010 and Cameron and I have decided that we are really going to do it...we are going to Section Hike the Appalachian Trail.

The plan: To plan and get ready for the next 3 years. Now we really do not want to wait this long, but life deems it so. So here we are.

I live in Colorado and Cameron lives in Hawaii. When the US Navy sends him back to the states we will start on our journey.

So far we have decided to start backwards, which is really the way both of our personalities are anyway. We are going to start in Maine, and go as far as we can, hopefully making it to mid Vermont or a little further. Then a year or so later, we will pick up in Vermont where we left off and do another section. That is what we have decided as of now.

Basically this is a place of record for us. A place where we can plan together and let each other know what we are doing and thinking. I am sure there will be many hikes posted on here in the next 3 years as we prepare. I am an avid hiker in Colorado so preparing will not be a hard thing to do.

So here we go!

T