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[at-l] December 19 - 29 Hike part I



Hi Gang,
	I finally got a trip report together. I am tired of looking at it and 
correcting my many mistakes. I mean spelling mistakes not grammer. She 
couldnt spell either. My goal was to hike the 180 miles of AT in 
Virginia that lies west of Highway 81.

	December 19th, 2004	Rose drove me to the Greyhound bus station in 
Roanoke. Woodelf and Rose would move my care to Daleville later in the 
week. The 11:00 bus to Marion left about 45 minuets late.  My ticket 
cost $34. Most of the bus riders were Mexican?s and they spoke little 
English. We made several stops at tiny little bus depots adjacent to 
highway 81 and typically with a Fast Food joint next door. I had hoped 
they would drop me at Groseclose (Atkins) where the trail crosses 81 
near the Village Inn. Instead I had to take a cab ten miles back from 
the Marion bus depot. $34. to ride 100 miles on the bus and $15 to 
ride back ten miles haha. Anyway the shuttle part is done. It is about 
180 miles back to my car by trail.
	My pack was heavier than anything I have carried in many years. It 
topped out at 40 pounds with six days food and lots of insulation. The 
voices inside had told me to go even more prepared than usual for a 
solo winter trip. I have learned to take notice of those voices and so 
when my Golite Race pack reached 34#, I of coursed switched to my old 
comfortable workhorse, Kelty Tioga pack.
	There was a blanket of 1 to 2 inches of snow on the ground and a good 
strong breeze. Temperatures hit the single digits last night and it 
was still pretty cold out. I started hiking at 14:00 and went about 
six miles to Crawfish Valley where the AT and creek intersect.
I sat up the Nomad and threw a pot of water on the Esbit. A ?Cup of 
Soup? was the ticket. Later nested warmly in my sleeping bag inside 
the Nomad it was time to consider dinner. The Sun was going fast 
behind Big Walker Mountain. One thing I do enjoy about winter camping 
is the long rest period of darkness. I also enjoy those 14 hours of 
daylight in the summer and the mega mile days. I really had no 
appetite at all. Eating greasy fast food for breakfast and lunch had 
my stomach kind of queasy. I forced down some food anyway. I knew I 
would need fuel for energy for tomorrow and for heat tonight.
I brought a small variety of foods for this trip. Dried Pinto?s made 
up several meals and were one of my favorite foods on this trip. I 
used my 2-oz collapsible pot cozy to great advantage. I will have to 
give Chainsaw credit for enlightening me to Pot Cozy?s. and their 
great fuel savings and ease of cooking better foods that normally 
require longer simmer times. I also carried mixed dried vegetables. To 
the veggies and beans I added one or more of the following, dried 
items, tomatoes, mushrooms, beef, ham, chicken, onions, stove top 
stuffing, corn noodles, spaghetti sauce, cheese powders. I also 
brought Idahoan, Three Cheese potatoes, and Loaded Potatoes, beef 
jerky, dried apricots, mixed nuts, candy bars, cheese sticks, Nabs, 
two Freeze Dried Meals and a couple of packs of Ramin noodles, grits, 
coffee, hot chocolate, cup of soup envelops. I chose to use Esbit for 
fuel and brought over a pound of it. I can switch to alcohol if the 
Esbit runs out. A gasoline stove would have been a very wise choice 
and the extra weight is offset by practically unlimited burn time. I 
thought a lot about my old Zip Stove especially after I ended up 
cooking on campfires later in the week. The Zip served me well for 
many years and it cost only $15.95 back then.
Usually for winter sleeping, I carry a Z-rest inside my Golite pack 
and also carry a Ridge rest on the outside. This trip I used the 
Deluxe Ridgerest and ?Super Blue Kazoo? Sleeping bag. My FF 
Hummingbird sleeping bag is more than a pound lighter but it needs 
cleaning to restore loft. Since I have procrastinated in getting this 
done I carried the 3# 7 oz Super Kazoo 10* bag. I used the Original 
Nomad 1.5# tent but only slept in it the first night. If the weather 
had stayed in the single digits I expect I would have slept in the 
tent instead of Shelters. A tent has two big cold weather advantages 
over a shelter. The big thing is that you can control the ventilation. 
If you get a 5-mile per hour wind blowing through a shelter then your 
body heat can be blown right out of your sleeping bag (without a wind 
resistant shell). The other thing to consider is that the cold air 
blows under the shelter floor. If your pad is thick enough the cold 
want come through. Anyway laying in 32* snow is a lot warmer than 0* 
air under a shelter floor.
For clothing my most important layer would be my power stretch fleece. 
I have an EMS top and  North Face tights. I only wore the bottoms at 
night on this trip. I wore my REI Elements cloth Rain pants this whole 
trip. Most days I wore Patagonia Silk Weight bottoms under the rain 
pants. When I expected temperatures above 30 I simply wore Patagonia 
briefs under the rain pants. For my bottom half I also brought a pair 
of hiking shorts that I never wore and a pair of Blue John?s 
chlorofiber long john bottoms for a backup layer in case the others 
were wet. Also accidentally I brought a pair of Golite rain pants. 
Most every day I wore the Powerstretch Fleece top alone for a top 
covering while hiking. One especially windy day I wore a thinner 
polypropylene top under my Dragon Fly 3-oz wind pull over. Another day 
in the teens but not windy I wore the poly pro top under the stretch 
fleece top. I also brought a Patagonia silk weight top.
	Most of the time I wore my fingerless wool gloves. If it was windy I 
put on a pair of Gortex mittens. I never wore the thick poly pro 
gloves that I brought. I wore an orange stocking cap most all of the 
time. I also have an orange safety vest on the back of my pack and a 
large orange bandanna on my shoulder strap. This is prime Bear hunting 
season. I wore a thin balaclava (t-shirt weight) much of the time. 
When I stopped I would put on a thick stocking hat and move the Orange 
cap to the outside and visible. In addition I never wore the thick 
windstop fleece balaclava that I brought. That thing is great in a 
driving ice storm. I only wore my rain hat and coated poncho briefly 
one day when it rained. My 15-oz FF down jacket topped off my 
insulation. I almost forgot I brought two extra pair of smart wool 
socks, and liner socks plus a pair of sealskin socks. I wore North 
Face running shoes and knee high gaiters.

chase