[at-l] 100% on topic

[astrogirl at aol.com (Nicole Markee)]

On Mar 21, 2005, at 16:00, Frank Looper wrote:

> Doesn't anybody on this
> list go hiking?

I am fortunate enough to live between the Chester Gap and Manassas Gap 
road crossings of the AT, and I go out there 3 or 4 times a week.  I 
have a personal favorite hill -- I love the meadow up 700 ft south from 
VA55.  It even has a pretty little pond if you hike down off the AT a 
little.

Today I hiked south from VA638 past Jim and Molly Denton to Mosby Camp 
site.  I was going to stop at the shelter, but a yellow dog didn't want 
me to and no one stopped him.  I'm not afraid of dogs, but I didn't 
need a rest anyway and I hoped those people would be gone when I passed 
by again.  They weren't, and I just didn't feel like meeting people who 
would let their dog chase people off with no attention paid at all.  If 
I needed to stop there, I would have, but oh well.

Over the weekend, I hiked N from VA55 to Manassas Gap Shelter.  All 
these trails are in good shape, not even muddy right now and no 
blowdowns.  All the snow is gone too, finally.

Last week, I did some hiking on Massanutten.  I love the trail that 
used to be "Massanutten East", but now it's just Massanutten, I think.  
It goes past Buzzard Rock, which has a nice view.  There's a lookout 
down to the Fort Valley along a sheer cliff, and I really like that bit 
of trail.

I'm currently planning my spring AT hike wherein I will do Erwin to 
Damascus.  Last year, I finished Virginia and went over the 1000 miles 
hiked mark.

  I've switched this year to a G5 pack, and I'm kind of nervous about 
having so little sleeping pad, so I'll probably do a shake out 
overnight in SNP north from Loft Mountain.  Thank you to whomever gave 
me the tip of using a little bag full of rocks instead of a carabiner 
or my frustrating attempts to tie a cord around a rock.  That's 1.5 
ounces I don't have to carry.

I guess that's enough for the moment.  :)  Does anyone else use a 
Gossamer pack?

-Astrogirl


> _______________________________________________
> Yes, and pretty darned often. Last week it was the Foothills Trail.
> Starting Saturday it'll be the Appalachian Trail. In just a few minutes
> I'm gonna go lug a pack up Table Rock to keep my legs tight and get 
> them
> tighter. I hike a LOT. If I could live on the trail, I would. As a 
> matter
> of fact, starting Saturday, I will be for awhile.  :-)
>
> The limiting factor is going to be the headaches. Last week I had to 
> go to
> the ER at the end of my hike with a combo migraine/cluster/bad 
> nosebleed.
> My neuro says that the nose was heavy pollen/heavy exercise/migraine 
> blood
> pressure all at once. He blocked my occipital nerves, which will 
> prevent
> the clusters for clusters for two months. I have five doses of Zomig to
> take with me and a prescription for lots more, so the migraines should 
> be
> okay for awhile. I also take my daily maintenance meds and check my
> glucose levels like I should, which lets me know when to eat and helps
> keep my energy level up.
>
> All in all, if I make it to Damascus by Trail Days, that would be as 
> much
> as I could ever hope for. Even if I don't, if I do the best I can, 
> it'll
> be okay.
>
> Enough for now. Time to go hiking.
>
> :-)
> Frank/Nightwalker
>
> _______________________________________________
> at-l mailing list
> at-l@backcountry.net
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l