Who Wears Short Shorts?

Or in this case, short hair? In the near future it's gonna be this kid!

In my memory, my hair has never been shorted than my chin. I realize that, as an adorable red headed infant, it was pretty short. But ever since I can remember, I've had a long head of hair. It's currently down to my butt. Loooonngg. I go to sleep and have to throw my hair over my pillow so it doesn't choke me in the middle of the night. I love it. It's so long, I don't even DO anything with it and it's weight just let's it hang nicely, even of I go to bed with wet hair or throw it in a bun all day.

I started growing it out when I was living in Ithaca, NY, and a friend told me she sold her hair. Planning to leave for a second round of grad school, I thought it would be a great way to make a little spending money. I've donated my hair a few times before to Locks for Love, so while it's definitely selfish, I feel entitled to make bank on it, just once.

Anyway, my hair is not as long as I wanted it to be before I sold it, but with the AT coming up, I know I can't maintain my hair. With the potential snarls, I might even lose length on the trail. 

But the big news is that I just scheduled my hair cut! I called up Salon Nuveau in Bay City, where my cousin works on the weekends, and talked to someone named Lori. She apparently worked with my mom when I was a baby and knew who I was. (there's just something about a small town, I tell ya)

Anyway, we've got a 2 hour appt on Friday, Feb 7! Ahhh! I'm gonna get my first pixie cut! Here are a few pics of what I'm thinking. I'd like my hair to be a styled as a longer pixie so it grows out more quickly.

If you're in the area and want to meet me and have a drink, I'll be looking for liquid courage while rocking my new look downtown around lunchtime. 

Mail drops

Jesse and I dont plan on using mail drops too frequently, since we don't want to stick to a schedule. We don't want too push too far or stop short to make it to a post office in a specific town on a specific day all the time. However, we know we'll need gear mailed to us a few different times as it warms and as we hit cool mountainous air to the north. So we thought we'd combine gear drops with mail drops and save a bit of cash by buying some food in bulk for the endeavor. We purchased and packed up  5 mail drops, plus some food to get us started.  For breakfasts we have instant oatmeal or poptarts when we don't feel like cooking. We know we'll find this on the trail, but we wanted to save some cash here. We've included dried fruit to supplement our oatmeal, and also included some chia seeds mixed with dehydrated milk, sugar, and a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg for instant chia pudding. This can be mixed with a packet of oatmeal or eaten as a breakfast or snack on its own. 

Lunches in the mail drops are going to be snack bars, trail mix with greek yogurt balls and pistachios, dried Michigan cherries, and other tasty surprises. It was really important to us to send things that are less common in small grocery stores (like chia seeds, Greek yogurt balls, dried blueberries) that will keep us from getting too bored with food and provide some real nutrients. 

Dinners are going to be a mix of gross, dehydrated mashed potatoes (thankfully mixed with dehydrated veggies from home) and stuffing. These are, again, more of a cost-saving move. The tasty dinners will be quinoa with chicken bullion cubes and dried veggies, or mixed with almonds and dried fruit.

I've also insisted on packing instant coffee and extra bullion cubes for warm drinks when it's cold. I usually keep the heat at my house around 60, even when it's below zero. Sipping on chicken broth or coffee helps me stay warm, or at least give some illusion to that end.

Here is a picture of our food collection sitting in jesse's basement. A big shout out to his parents, Tom and Brenda, for being our mail droppers. 

We're still contemplating the location of the drops, and there are some knowledgeable past thru hikers out there whose advice we're taking in. And if anyone at home wants to send us something, you're more than welcome (and we'd love to get a care package!!!). We'll share information about how to do that later. For now, more dehydrating!

The Adirondacks in August

Before I move on to longer trails and newer adventures, I wanted to chronicle our trip to the Adirondacks back in August.

Its been a dream of mine to be an Adirondack 46er. I haven't made a ton of progress, since I was more interested in hiking local trails when I was in New York than I was making epic trips into the 'dacks. Definitely my regret now that I have to drive a couple hours for decent topography, let alone Adirondack vistas.

But while I was conducting fieldwork in August, Jesse and I had the opportunity to take a couple days and enjoy a whirlwind hiking trip in the Adirondacks. As we had a couple stops for fossil collection in the morning, we didn't get into the Adirondack region until around 2. And to top it off, I had brilliantly packed my central Adirondacks NatGeo map and not my high peaks map.

This could have been a disaster, since we hadn't chosen which peaks we'd hike since we weren't even sure we'd make it up to the 'dacks. Luckily, we had a New York State gazetteer in the car with us that we used to map out localities. We turned it to the high peaks pages and BOOM, trailheads and trails denoted.

We hiked Ampersand Mountain as we drove into the Adirondack region. The weather was looking increasingly ominous and we only had that day and the following day to hike before we had to drive back to Michigan. Its not a high peak like we wanted, but there was no way we were going to be able to make it into the high peaks region AND hike that day. Better to hike a 3500' mountain than no mountain at all, right?

Here's the trail up Ampersand. This was Jesse's first time with East Coast trails....he was surprised at the lack of switchbacks!

Here I am at the top of Ampersand. It was very windy and about to open up and downpour on us! We took a quick couple celebratory pics and got the hell off that mountain.

The next day we tackled Cascade and Porter Mtns, 2 of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks. They share an approach trail, so it was an easy way to cross two peaks off the list. We met a trio of ladies on Porter, two of which were hiking their very first mountain. We chatted, took each others' pictures, and bid them adieu. Here's the pic they took for us, you can see Cascade in the background.

The weather didn't really improve much for us, but it was a great couple days of hiking. I have on my bucket list to become an ADK46er, since I spent so much time in New York. I did a lot of hiking out there, but without that goal in mind, so now I'm working on it from afar. I made Jesse kiss me on top of each mountain, and we've got that photographed, too, but I thought I'd save you all those images!

While our big goal right now is the Appalachian Trail, I don't want to forget the other journeys we've tackled in preparation, nor the great hiking locales we've hit so we can remember to go back.

It's getting real, folks!

 

There it is! I'm flying into Atlanta, GA on February 18th! I'll be coming from a week of sun and sand with family and good family friends. Probably not the absolute best frame of mind in which to start a 2185 mile trek, leaving luxury, family, beer, and mixed drinks behind, but I'm stoked nonetheless. 

I'll meet Jesse at the airport and we'll use one of the popular methods to get to a hiker hostel and the trail the next day, Wednesday, February 19th. Right now, we're planning to hike the approach trail, it really sounds like a lovely hike. Yet you can drive to within a mile of Springer Mtn. and start counting your miles right off the bat. It's weird, and I don't get it, but the 8 miles leading to the top of Springer Mtn don't actually count as part of the Appalachian Trail. With us leaving so early in the season, it might make a big difference in our comfort should a storm come along.

Just for the record, this is 34 days away. EEEP! And since I'll be in Florida whooping it up before I take off, I've got to be trail ready by February 11th. That is 26 days from now. Wow.

Better get my dissertation in order. And my trail legs!

Why hike the Appalachian Trail?

In the past few months, I've told a lot of people about our impending journey. Some people know all about the Appalachian Trail and respond with smiles and pats on the back. Others have no clue what I'm talking about. This post is for people who fall into the latter category.

What's the Appalachian Trail? And why do you need to take a semester off of your PhD to go hiking?

The Appalachian Trail is an approximately 2,200 mile trail (2,185.3 in 2014 according to the 2014 Data Book, a yearly issued trail guide that is a bible of sorts for thru hikers* and section hikers* (*=definitions below).  It starts at the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia and travels through 14 states up to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. It was dreamed up back in the 1920s. Completing this distance in 4 months requires hikers to travel 18 miles each day, taking no zeros* and providing the weather doesn't force you off the trail. Since my longest mileage in a single day is about 14 miles, and since I seem to have misplaced my magical ability to control the weather, its gonna take us longer than 4 months. Which is why I needed to take this spring semester off this year.

Thru Hiker - someone who hikes the entire distance of the Appalachian Trail in a single season. 

Section Hiker - someone who hikes long portions of the Appalachian Trail.

Zeros - A zero day is a day when no hiking mileage is accomplished. A day off, a side trip, what have you. "Neros" is also a term used on the trail. Its a day with very low mileage.

Here's a taste of the Appalachian Trail by a past thru hiker. Its a great video, and will give you a sense of what it is to be a thru hiker.





How do you get food?

While the Appalachian Trail is extensive, it travels through a lot of towns. Most thru hikers stop in towns and replenish their supplies or collect boxes from the post office or a hostel or other hiker-friendly locale to fill their packs again. 

 Where do you sleep?

In a shelter you carry in your backpack or in a lean-to on the trail. Lean-tos are typically three-sided wooden shelters that hikers use to stay off the ground and out of the elements. 

Do lots of people do this?

Yes! At least, a lot of people start out. The internet is a sketchy place, so a 30 second query yielded a wide variety of numbers of people that attempt and successfully complete a thru hike each year. That number, poorly averaged, is around 2000 people. Most people start in the south and follow the spring northward (Northbounders, or NOBOs), but some start late and travel south (Southbounders, or SOBOs). Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/10 of people who start actually complete a thru hike. 

So, while it is a trail full of natural beauty, its not one of solitude. So I hear, its quite social, many people making friends for life in those woods.

The million dollar question....Why?

Everyone has their own reasons for hiking the Appalachian Trail. Anyone who knows me knows I'm partial to older people. So, while I'll share my own reasons for hiking the trail in a later post, I'd like to share the story that I found most inspirational. That of the legendary 'Grandma Gatewood.' She hiked the entirety of the Appalachian Trail THREE SEPARATE TIMES. The first time she hiked it was in 1955 and she was 67. Think about the societal implications of a woman hiking across the continent solo at that time. What a bad ass! And she did it with a home-made backpack and Keds tennis shoes. I wish I had the chance to meet this woman before she passed. Can you imagine the kind of spitfire she must have been?

I have my own reasons for wanting to hike the Appalachian Trail, and no doubt Jesse has his. We actually haven't shared our reasons with each other. One night we were reminiscing our trip to Isle Royale in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, another night we watched a documentary on the Appalachian Trail, and a week or two later he said "I want to hike the Appalachian Trail." My dream has always been a trail. An outdoor adventure, or more appropriately, a series of them, leading into perpetuity. Shortly after I heard about the North Country Trail's Michigan leg, I told my mom I'd do something like that someday. I was 10 or 12. Of course I'd naturally gravitate to a trail on the east coast. I love the Northeast fiercely. And so many people I hold dear live there. But like so many things in this relationship, when he said "I want to hike the trail," I said "so do I," and it just came to be. 

 


  

Ringing in the New Year

Its been a while since we've posted, but with moving, the holidays, and Jesse's defense, its been busy. This is an exciting post for me because when I publish this one, I'll be officially sharing the blog with my family and friends via all those snazzy social media outlets. I actually had written a blog post between Christmas and New Years on my magic phone, but numerous attempts to share it yielded an angry "couldn't publish post" message.

Jesse and I have moved out of Lansing in preparation for our big hike. We're staying with family tying up loose ends and prepping for the big adventure. I've moved my fossils into my parents' family room and am working furiously to meet deadlines I've set for myself before we depart. The kitties are currently residing in my parents' unrented apartment so as to not upset the balance with their kitties here (yep, crazy cat people!). Jazzie will be staying with Jesse's sister and brother-in-law (thanks, guys!), and while I've got a few options for Darwin, he's not officially homed yet. So, if you've ever thought being a temporary cat owner was for you, friends, now's the perfect time to try it out. Darwin is THE BEST living cat on the planet - our old family cat was probably a little better - and very low maintenance. He doesn't cuddle, but will follow you around and guard you while you sleep like a champ. Free litter and food, you just bring the lovin'.

Look at that face!!

...anyway. 

I have to share a bit about my favorite Christmas presents this year. The blog post that will live forever in the ether of my cell phone was all about what Jesse got me. A Nikon Coolpix S9500. It's got GPS and WIFI. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't even know cameras could have GPS. How. Freaking. Brilliant. As a geologist, this will come in handy forever, so I'm stoked. That's right, geo-types, you'll be able to shamelessly steal any good pics I snag on the trail AND be able to know exactly where they came from!

There are all sorts of tools I'm trying to get familiar with, but the best part is that this camera has a dedicated video button. So if something amazing is happening, I don't have to switch settings or anything. Just push a button and BAM, video. And it wirelessly communicates with my phone, so I can easily post images and video on this blog while we're hiking the trail.

Here's the very first pic we took with it while hiking in the snow in northern Michigan.

Since this is the first blog post I'm sharing on facebook, etc., I promise to follow up with some information on what the Appalachian Trail is, what our travel plans are, and other sundries. Until now, this blog has been a record for me, for the local hikes we've done and want to share with other Michigan hikers, for the other people potentially hiking the Appalachian Trail, and those who randomly stumble upon it. We've both spent tons of time following (read: stalking) bloggers planning their 2012 and 2013 thru hikes (if you care about this sort of think, Jordana's My Meandering Trail 2013 thru hike blog was my FAVORITE) and are SOO excited to share our story on the trail with anyone who might want to follow along vicarously.

More soon!