On Aug 10 Pappy 12 and Best Wife celebrated 39 years of blissful marriage by hiking 16 miles on the AT. Weather was good and a great day for hiking. We slept in the tent pictured below in a beautiful stealth campsite.
Our normal routine each morning is to pick a tenting site for that night based on how many miles we think we will hike that day. Elevation gain, wet conditions, and dirt vs rocky treadway affect high (17) or low (12) miles for the day. Sometimes we make camp by 4:30, other times not until 7.
Once done hiking for the day, chores are: hurry and choose the most level and private tenting spot to pitch the tent. While Best Wife is putting sleeping pads and bags in place, I will fetch enough water for cooking supper, drinking during supper, cooking breakfast, drinking during breakfast, and enough drinking water for hiking the next morning to make it to the next water source. The nearest water source the next morning could be in 4 miles or 14 miles.
Every once in a while we have chosen to sleep in a shelter (pictured below) if it's vacant, clean, and late enough that other hikers probably will not show up (no guarantee there). The last couple times we stayed in a shelter rain was forecast for the night. I hate packing up a wet tent in the morning.
Also the last couple times we slept in a shelter instead of tenting we did not have mice or mosquito issues. We've been lucky lately in shelters.
Next chore is to get water boiling for supper (instant mashed taters with sausage crumbles and diced green peppers for me). After supper, find a suitable tree limb for a bear bag and get that dag gone rope over the limb while it's still light.
Next go brush teeth and be sure all the snacks and food wrappers are out of our pockets and backpacks and in the Bear bags. Put away the stove, fuel, lighter, and anything else laying around. Hoist the bear bags off the ground and go jump in the sack. It feels so so good to lay down.
Before I hit the sack I have to plan my 11pm and 3am pee spots. Decision making in the wee hours of the morning sometimes doesn't work out. Set the boots by my sleeping bag with my headlamp in one boot all ready for efficient night time peeing.
Then wake up and hit the new day hard.
The second picture was where we ate lunch on our anniversary. Spectacular views.
The sixth picture down is of plastic tubing running all through the woods to collect maple tree sap in the springtime to make maple syrup. We have seen half a dozen elaborate tubing systems that extend further than I can see.
Check out the size of the rocks on top of the stone wall in the eighth picture. I don't think even three strong men could hoist one of these 500 pounders. I'd like to see how stones were erected 100 years ago.
Sent from my iPhone
Our normal routine each morning is to pick a tenting site for that night based on how many miles we think we will hike that day. Elevation gain, wet conditions, and dirt vs rocky treadway affect high (17) or low (12) miles for the day. Sometimes we make camp by 4:30, other times not until 7.
Once done hiking for the day, chores are: hurry and choose the most level and private tenting spot to pitch the tent. While Best Wife is putting sleeping pads and bags in place, I will fetch enough water for cooking supper, drinking during supper, cooking breakfast, drinking during breakfast, and enough drinking water for hiking the next morning to make it to the next water source. The nearest water source the next morning could be in 4 miles or 14 miles.
Every once in a while we have chosen to sleep in a shelter (pictured below) if it's vacant, clean, and late enough that other hikers probably will not show up (no guarantee there). The last couple times we stayed in a shelter rain was forecast for the night. I hate packing up a wet tent in the morning.
Also the last couple times we slept in a shelter instead of tenting we did not have mice or mosquito issues. We've been lucky lately in shelters.
Next chore is to get water boiling for supper (instant mashed taters with sausage crumbles and diced green peppers for me). After supper, find a suitable tree limb for a bear bag and get that dag gone rope over the limb while it's still light.
Next go brush teeth and be sure all the snacks and food wrappers are out of our pockets and backpacks and in the Bear bags. Put away the stove, fuel, lighter, and anything else laying around. Hoist the bear bags off the ground and go jump in the sack. It feels so so good to lay down.
Before I hit the sack I have to plan my 11pm and 3am pee spots. Decision making in the wee hours of the morning sometimes doesn't work out. Set the boots by my sleeping bag with my headlamp in one boot all ready for efficient night time peeing.
Then wake up and hit the new day hard.
The second picture was where we ate lunch on our anniversary. Spectacular views.
The sixth picture down is of plastic tubing running all through the woods to collect maple tree sap in the springtime to make maple syrup. We have seen half a dozen elaborate tubing systems that extend further than I can see.
Check out the size of the rocks on top of the stone wall in the eighth picture. I don't think even three strong men could hoist one of these 500 pounders. I'd like to see how stones were erected 100 years ago.
Sent from my iPhone
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