Sunday, January 31, 2010

Your Body: The Main Tool

As stated in my last blog, there are many essential supplies to consider when wanting to tackle a feat such as the Appalachian Trail. Though one element that most do not consider until it may be too late may be more obvious than it is given credit for: your body.
You may have the best hiking shoes, best tent, best pack and best walking stick, but if your body cannot handle the rigourous highs and lows of the trail...the rest is rendered useless.
I heard a story once of a man who spent nearly two grand on supplies, planned on hiking the entire length of the trail, and only made it twenty miles before hitchhiking to the nearest motel and crying to his wife to come get him.
Bill Bryson, author of the novel "A Walk in the Woods," tells of his Appalachian adventure, and how he ran into a traveler who didn't make it ten miles because she had not broken in her hiking shoes before setting out on the trail.
Mistakes such as these can ruin a hiker's time in less than a day, sometimes within the hour. The point of the trail is to enjoy nature at its bare state, not worry about having to constantly re-bandage your feet because the blisters are unbearable to walk on.
The blisters dilemma is simple, just wear your shoes around. I've been wearing my Columbia shoes around campus to classes and the store. I even went for a jog with them on for around half an hour.
Also, back pains are a constant trouble for most amateur backpackers. Ping Center is a great place to get your body in fighting shape, or in this case, hiking shape.
Your pack will weigh you down anywhere from fifty to even seventy five pounds, depending on how smart you pack (we'll get to that on another date) so having a firm back is essential.
Doing crunches on a simple yoga mat, or the stationary machines at our recreation center here on campus will greatly help your lower back's endurance.
While upper body exercies may not be necessary, shoulder presses will help you to not get sore shoulders carrying the pack as well.
What is necessary is lower body exercises. Strengthening your quads, calves and thighs (all of which have a special machine at Ping Center that targets that area of the body) is vital.
You will hate yourself within one day if you don't prepare yourself. It would be a shame for you to be cursing at your bloody feet or sore knees instead of gazing off of a cliffside onto a gorgeous untouched backdrop of wilderness. That is, in the end, what will make it worth it.

Best Travels,
Matthew

Friday, January 29, 2010

Being Prepared: The Essentials

I received a High Sierra Standard backpacking backpack and a Dick's Sporting Goods store brand sleeping bag that is 40 degrees farenheit resistant for Christmas this year, along Columbia brand hiking shoes to use on my adventure.
As I laid out my three gifts, and while i'm very grateful for what I received, I stared hesitantly at the long list I had come up with for my trip that still needed checked off.
Hiking socks, tent, water purifier, backpack bladder, firestarters, compass, stove, food to make on the stove...the list is seemingly endless, and as I perused online stores, I quicky realized that the fifty dollar gift card to REI that my girlfriend's mom gave me for Christmas wouldn't put a dent into what I needed.
From this I offer a piece of advice. Borrow. Borrow anything you can. For me, this hiking trip isn't going to be something that I plan on doing every weekend, so I took it upon myself to ask around for supplies. I received a tent and water purifier from my friend back in Pennsylvania, dishes, a sleeping pad, bladder and compass from my girlfriend's brother, and poncho, along with other water protection gear from an interested professor.
That knocked literally four hundred dollars worth of supplies off of my list in just a couple of hours of phone calls.
I will still need a lot more thank I have attained, but the monetary value of what i've saved is very worth the effort.
In Athens I have visited Rocky Mountain Boots Outlet, which yielded no purchases. Unless you are looking for hunting, or shoeware, the backpacker will not be happy with the selection in Nelsonville.
On the other hand, The Pedaler and the Packer, on Richland Avenue is a great store to shop at for the backpacker's needs. Be warned, shoppers need to know their stuff before entering! The amateur shopper such as myself won't necessarily get the best treatment.
All in all, if you are in Athens, the most recommended stores (from my point of view), would either be Dunham's Sports on East State, or The Pedaler and the Packer on Richland Avenue. Good luck with your prepping folks!

Best Travels,
Matthew

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Decision: Venturing into the Appalachian Wilderness

My idea to hike the Appalachian Trail sparked from a conversation with my grandmother, who often takes it upon herself to educate me on my native american heritage. We argued for a while about the value of the youth today and how work ethic, manners and the idea of 'pride for one's own self' was passed on from tribe generation to tribe generation
Vision Quests are a Native American 'rite of passage' tradition similar to that of the Spartans. It goes like this. You send the child into the wilderness with nothing but their own instincts and talents with them to survive. The hope is that by fending for themselves, the child will be able to push his own maturity over the line of adolesence and into adulthood.
Not unlike these scenarios, and one emulated in the novel and film 'Into the Wild', I wish to be stripped of my essentials that are handed to me day to day by society and roam the wild by myself. I'm going to take on a portion of the Appalachian Trial, starting at the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and spend a week discovering who I am without everything and everyone from my normal everyday life around.
Spring break is the deadline for the start of my quest, and so I will take it upon myself to train in Athens, Ohio for my adventure. The goal in mind is sixty miles of the trail (a mere fraction of the more than two thousand mile length), but with the time I have to work with, it will be an adventure.
Athens is a great area to develop wilderness survival skills, and with nearby facilities, shops and of course the internet, I will hopefully be well prepared for my voyage.

For information concerning vision quests, the movie Into the Wild or Shenandoah National Park visit the linked websites!

Vision Quests- http://www.themystica.org/mystica/articles/v/vision_quests.html
Into the Wild- http://www.intothewild.com/
Shenandoah National Park- http://www.nps.gov/SHEN/index.htm