Wow-it's been 5 weeks that we've been on the trail. We've gone 465 miles on the trail and 21 1/2 miles off the trail! Yes, our feet feel it! We're at a hostel just off the trail to shower, do laundry, and EAT!
(If you haven't already done so, you might want to read the Trail Lingo in the column at right.)
Okay a review of our 5 weeks!
I have lost 12 lbs! Last night after dinner I weighed myself and I had lost 9 lbs and the funny thing is that I weighed myself again this morning after breakfast and lost another 3 lbs! Interesting. Dan doesn't weigh himself and so doesn't know how much he weighed before we got on the trail. When people have asked him how he got ready for the hike he tells them that he ate and put on weight since he knew he'd lose it. My guess is that he's lost 25-30 lbs. He had a belly before we started (since he started eating lots since Christmas to get ready!) and now it's pretty much gone! Other hikers we've talked to have lost anywhere from 3 to 50 lbs!
Our pack weights: before food and water my pack weighs 23 lbs and Dan's, 34lbs. Add 10-13 lbs for food and water for each of us. My pack with the food and water is about 35 lbs and Dan's, 45-50 lbs. He tends to take the extra weight. He's been concerned about me losing weight that I really don't need to. There are ultra light hikers that carry just 20-25 lbs. They go into towns more often to resupply and so just carry enough food for 2-3 days. For us the drawback is the extra miles or hitching to get into town. We carry food for 6/7 days...more weight but less miles/hitching.
Shelter vs camping/tenting: Before our hiking I was thinking shelter! But now I prefer tenting. In the shelters there are mice and they run around and across hikers. They will chew through packs and clothes to find food. And there are snakes and other critters that make their way into the shelters, too. Tenting, we have some privacy and I feel a little better protected from all the critters. It's just no fun to pack up a wet tent when it's raining and it gets stinky because we're stinky! Other hikers said that they'll be tenting more when the mosquitos get worse.
Stink! Okay that's been one of the toughest things for me to get used to-and NO I haven't gotten used to it. I'ts been hard not showering every day and being stinky and Dan being stinky and dirty! A couple female hikers have told me that you just get used to it. One of them even said that she doesn't like the strong smell of the laundry detergent on her clothes after washing them. Hey-give me the smell of the clean laundry deterent over the strong stinky smell any day! It's been 5 weeks and I'm still not used to the stinky! Don't think I'll ever get used to it!
Privy vs digging a hole: Before hiking I was thinking-privy! Now it's digging the hole! An enclosed privy is stinky and there is evidence of little critters (droppings, nesting) and as it gets warmer, lots of flies and bugs. One privy had two resident mice in it and so off I go to dig my hole! Dan still prefers the privy to digging a hole. Okay, the other thing is that being exposed like that gives those mosquitos another target. Yes-that's the first bites that I got, but now I have them all over my arms! No fun! Dan likes having me around because the mosquitos like me better!
We had a trail angel with us for a day! Our friend Billy from Silver Springs, MD came out and hiked with us and he brought us footlongs subs and sodas from Subway! What a treat! I think some of the other hikers were a little jealous of our footlongs. We sure enjoyed Billy's company for the day! Thanks for making time for us Billy and for the good food.
Food-hikers burn 4000 - 6000 calories a day and so need to put that much back in. That's a lot of food. Food seems to always be on a hikers mind! Other hikers have talked about how much food they eat when they're in towns. The AYCE places are always the big talk. Thru-hikers talk about the number of platefuls that they eat and still lose weight! We haven't gotten there yet. We tend to be hungry every couple hours and eat through the day rather than gorge ourselves at one sitting so far! Maybe in another month we'll be at their pace? But I do seem to be hungry more often.
Good day-cool, misty, nice terrain
Challenging day-sun beating down on us with no relief, lots of rocks and obstacles on the trail, straight up or down climb with no switchbacks
This past week we did three 20 mile days and two 18 mile days in a row. Did it to catch up on some miles that we didn't do because of rain. We had a couple cold, rainy (& hail) days that we were soaked and got too cold that we needed to stop short of our miles to get warm and dry. And then that put us behind in getting to town to get our resupply box so had to put in the miles. Our feet really feel it especially towards the end of the day in the late afternoon. Today our feet hurt and haven't had the time to rest that we usually do. So we'll be back to our 12-15 mile days. We'll let those young guys (and actually some oler ones, too) do those 25-35 mile days and we'll do our 12-15 mile days!
Our next resupply stops:
estimated date: May 10
Dan and Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Duncannon, PA 17020
Please hold for AT thru-hiker
estimated date: May 25
Dan and Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Delaware Water Gap, PA 18327
Please hold for AT thru-hiker
Keep up the prayers for us and your comments! We appreciate everyone of them! Thanks! God Bless each of you! Again we'll have to update pictures later as this computer doesn't have the capacity to upload them.
Trillion Flowers
