Weekend Update...YAY MST!
MY VERY FIRST solo backpacking excursion.
WAY. COOL.
things that are cool:
you are with no one. no one to rely on. no one to rely on you.
you make your schedule.
you are responsible.
you can do yoga in the morning.
you can fall asleep after breakfast, for a 30 minute nap and no one cares.
you can fart while you hike (if you are alone, in the woods, and you fart...does it make a noise? YES).
you can reflect.
you can sing out loud and not annoy your hiking partner.
things that arent so cool:
if you get hurt, who will help?
sometimes its lonely when you get to camp.
possibly psychos.
losing the trail. (only did that ONCE!)
having your map fall out of your pocket. (man! i like my map set! im gonna have to replace that for 2 bucks. grrr!)
Tom Thwaites, the legend!
yup yup...tom thwaites...author of many a hiking PA book, shuttled my butt friday morning :) W00T!
so...yah, i drove to RB winter state park thursday night...got in around midnight30...
decided i was too tired to care about a tent, so i curled up in my backseat and slept the night away....(i stated at the state park camp ground that night)
friday morning i woke nice and early, to leisurly have breakfast and stuff my pack. off to the "kayak sitters" to drop the boat off (thank you canoe susquehanna!) and then headed to the state park office to meet up with tom...
OMG...he is so cute! and so cool! did you know he was a physics prof? he was VERY informative as we drove, and took the time to show me one of the coolest views on the way...he also hiked in a little with me, with his trail clippers :)
after his third open heart surgery, he is still on the move!
amazing man! and what AN HONOR to have him give me a ride!
so, he drove me to my starting point, 30 trail miles south of RB winter...
and off i (and trail monkey) went! tom walked to the trail head with me...and then we went our separate ways...
it was me. in the woods. the sounds! the scenery! the smell of fresh forest!
off for 3 days of happy wandering!
and.
rock climbing.
that wasnt even CLOSE to some of the shit i had to scramble over!
yah, all of the memories came flooding back. mid state. rocks. trail. rocks. mountains. rocks. hills. rocks. snakes. rocks. me. rocks.
rocks. rocks. AND MORE ROCKS.
if i never see another rock in my life....i would live.
well, ok. no, thats not true. i do like rocks.
just um.
anyhow.
WTF?
so when they blazed this trail, i really believe that they looked for the ROCKIEST way from point A to B, and slapped an orange paint splotch on it.
whatever happened to dirt? pine needles? GRAVEL even? lol
OMG.
anyhow.
day one.
lots of rocks.
only lost the trail once tho. on the bitch...i mean SWITCH backs heading down to poe paddy park.
the good thing? i knew i had to go DOWN the mountain.
the bad thing? i had to go DOWN the mountain.
and it was steep.
and rockie.
and steep.
and blazeless (for me at least).
so, as i cursed life, rocks, mountains, MST and ma' nature...i slowly made my way down the side of the mountain.
YAY POE PADDY!
the rest of the climbs, seemed like a cake walk. (yah, right!)
i took a nice potty break at poe paddy, and watered up (NICE!) and headed on my merry way...
back into the woods, on my way to my 12 mile pit stop, night one camp!
i purchsed the trail guide, because i like maps. and i like reading about the trail. so i knew there was a well used camp area 12 miles in. to help leave LESS of a trace, i decided to reuse camp sites :)
and that, i did.
camping night one was WONDERFUL! i was really too exhausted to get too far into the book i had brought...(man, where did my hiking legs go????) but my meal was good, tho i was sort of on a slope in my tent, sleeping was FAB.
i slept for a good 10+ hours :)
NICE.
check back with my blog for more...days 2 and 3 to follow!
http://litolpea.livejournal.com
and if you wanna see all of the pics from the trip click here to head to the flickr set!
ttfn!
WAY. COOL.
things that are cool:
you are with no one. no one to rely on. no one to rely on you.
you make your schedule.
you are responsible.
you can do yoga in the morning.
you can fall asleep after breakfast, for a 30 minute nap and no one cares.
you can fart while you hike (if you are alone, in the woods, and you fart...does it make a noise? YES).
you can reflect.
you can sing out loud and not annoy your hiking partner.
things that arent so cool:
if you get hurt, who will help?
sometimes its lonely when you get to camp.
possibly psychos.
losing the trail. (only did that ONCE!)
having your map fall out of your pocket. (man! i like my map set! im gonna have to replace that for 2 bucks. grrr!)
Tom Thwaites, the legend!
yup yup...tom thwaites...author of many a hiking PA book, shuttled my butt friday morning :) W00T!
so...yah, i drove to RB winter state park thursday night...got in around midnight30...
decided i was too tired to care about a tent, so i curled up in my backseat and slept the night away....(i stated at the state park camp ground that night)
friday morning i woke nice and early, to leisurly have breakfast and stuff my pack. off to the "kayak sitters" to drop the boat off (thank you canoe susquehanna!) and then headed to the state park office to meet up with tom...
OMG...he is so cute! and so cool! did you know he was a physics prof? he was VERY informative as we drove, and took the time to show me one of the coolest views on the way...he also hiked in a little with me, with his trail clippers :)
after his third open heart surgery, he is still on the move!
amazing man! and what AN HONOR to have him give me a ride!
so, he drove me to my starting point, 30 trail miles south of RB winter...
and off i (and trail monkey) went! tom walked to the trail head with me...and then we went our separate ways...
it was me. in the woods. the sounds! the scenery! the smell of fresh forest!
off for 3 days of happy wandering!
and.
rock climbing.
that wasnt even CLOSE to some of the shit i had to scramble over!
yah, all of the memories came flooding back. mid state. rocks. trail. rocks. mountains. rocks. hills. rocks. snakes. rocks. me. rocks.
rocks. rocks. AND MORE ROCKS.
if i never see another rock in my life....i would live.
well, ok. no, thats not true. i do like rocks.
just um.
anyhow.
WTF?
so when they blazed this trail, i really believe that they looked for the ROCKIEST way from point A to B, and slapped an orange paint splotch on it.
whatever happened to dirt? pine needles? GRAVEL even? lol
OMG.
anyhow.
day one.
lots of rocks.
only lost the trail once tho. on the bitch...i mean SWITCH backs heading down to poe paddy park.
the good thing? i knew i had to go DOWN the mountain.
the bad thing? i had to go DOWN the mountain.
and it was steep.
and rockie.
and steep.
and blazeless (for me at least).
so, as i cursed life, rocks, mountains, MST and ma' nature...i slowly made my way down the side of the mountain.
YAY POE PADDY!
the rest of the climbs, seemed like a cake walk. (yah, right!)
i took a nice potty break at poe paddy, and watered up (NICE!) and headed on my merry way...
back into the woods, on my way to my 12 mile pit stop, night one camp!
i purchsed the trail guide, because i like maps. and i like reading about the trail. so i knew there was a well used camp area 12 miles in. to help leave LESS of a trace, i decided to reuse camp sites :)
and that, i did.
camping night one was WONDERFUL! i was really too exhausted to get too far into the book i had brought...(man, where did my hiking legs go????) but my meal was good, tho i was sort of on a slope in my tent, sleeping was FAB.
i slept for a good 10+ hours :)
NICE.
check back with my blog for more...days 2 and 3 to follow!
http://litolpea.livejournal.com
and if you wanna see all of the pics from the trip click here to head to the flickr set!
ttfn!