Backpacking

[LJay]

Any other trails you can use to get started, [MENTION=23180]axle2152[/MENTION]? There must be something where you can hike around a lake or maybe walk in a mile or so and set up cam overnight. Maybe a range has some suggestions about a place along one of those service roads.

The problem you had with getting a fire started is why I started carrying a stove--that and conservation issues.

In a pinch, you might look at the Coleman backpacking stoves, though they have a lot of problems dealing with wind and balance. I have one, but never used it much because ist was so heavy and needed a serious windscreen setup.

[Camfer]

Glad you're back safely and learned quite a bit!

[InbetweenDreams]

Oh I had a stove and worked fine for the most part. Just wanted a campfire...good way to spend time and is a good reason to have one unless you get really skilled at starting a fire under bad conditions but more than likely doing the rim trail is likely not something I would actually want to do. Kind of like how every guy wants an exotic sports car...then they realize what a pain in the ass it is to maintain...like regular service on a Lamborghini is around $2,000... I think like you suggest probably best to maybe hike a mile or so and set up camp rather than see how far out into the wilderness I can get... I will tell you my goal was to get to Chestnut Stomp Bald which was another 3-4 miles from where I turned around, that might have ended up badly for having the possibility of running out of water or getting hurt. My legs and shoulders were very sore this morning, if I had tried going further I may had ended up with an injury. It's one thing to limp back for a mile...but 9-10 over tough terrain very bad. There were many places, one part in particular where I could have easily slipped and fell down 30-40 feet, right up alone the edge covered with wet leaves. What can I say...here lately I've been getting in over my head on many things. I have too many "dreams" and when I assume that I can make it a reality I go for it, which I suppose is a good thing, better than wasting away sitting on my ass stuffing my face with snacky cakes but I think it also can end in disappointment or in this case I could have really got into a bad situation. I'm too damn stubborn for my own good sometimes.

[LJay]

[MENTION=23180]axle2152[/MENTION], Camfer is right. You got there and back and learned a lot. You made a smart decision to abbreviate the hike and you avoided injury because of good thinking. Keep up the quest. You are just beginning. Don't know how far you are from good spots, but I do know that end of the country tends to be a walker's challenge. Still, look up Rufus Morgan and revel in his hikes up Wayah Bald in his 70[s and 80's while blind. Morgan is a saint now passed, but a legend indeed. Then there is Grandma Gateway, but that is another story.

I really thin you are doing well and should keep on dreaming.

I like campfires, too, by the way. Do you know about pitch pine?

[InbetweenDreams]

[MENTION=20933]LJay[/MENTION] II have been up to Wayah Bald, it's pretty. Wasn't much of a hike because the parking is probably 300 yards to the top... Wesser Bald, that was a pretty good, and my first solo hike...about a mile straight up. I think there might be a camp site up on Chestnut Stomp Bald but I don't know for sure, but it would be a huge bummer if not and definitely too far to just turn around and go back home at that point. I'd say what I done was quite a bit even for an experienced hiker and really this weather just sucks ass for this sort of stuff unless you just enjoy stewing in your own sweat... I don't mind sweating but there definitely are some limits and after being soaked from constantly sweating and being extremely hot, exhausted and such you do begin to question your sanity.

[Camfer]

Fall camping is really really nice!

(choosing to take up backpacking in the southeast in July is kinda brutal)

[InbetweenDreams]

Yeah and it seems like every time I try to go do it either it rains, has rained or humid enough it might as well rain lol

Slipping going down hill over wet leaves suck! Last thing you want is to fall down and slide down the side of the mountain.

But yes it is very hard, very easy to get dehydrated or worse. You also have to wear pants unless you like poison ivy and getting shredded by briers. I mean the rim trail has oodles of overgrowth...

I do think and would suggest that someone either be very skilled or have someone come with you... Especially when you're going hours up some trail or perhaps gone for several days. One thing I definitely notice about me is that I have the tendency to try to do too much at once and that can end up being a bad thing when you're out somewhere alone. I mean it's one thing to limp back when you've got a mile but when you're 8-9 miles or maybe a day getting back that can end up costing you your life. Sometimes it pays to be less stubborn.

[Camfer]

Very true. Thing is, when your life depends on it, it's pretty amazing how far you can get to save your own life.

My roomie crawled on his hands and knees overnight for miles over a period 16 hours, wearing nothing more than running shorts and a t-shirt, through snow and ice with a broken ankle after a accidental tumble down an incredibly steep slope and miraculously hitting a rock just big enough to stop his slide. By the time he got back to civilization he had 3/4" thick ice pucks *inside* his knees.

After months in and out of the hospital, multiple surgeries, skin grafts, staph infections, etc., he continues to trail run to this day. In fact, today he ran oh, about 10 miles with 3,000 feet vertical, getting above 12,000 feet. A normal weekly thing for him. At age 50.

Had said roomie been with someone, a friend could have gone for help and saved him from the crawl and the busted knees on top of the busted ankle.

Backpacking is more fun and safer when you are not solo. Being solo shouldn't stop you, though.

[LJay]

Boy, oh boy, do I ever agree with you about sweating through the mountains in Virginia and the Carolinas. Still, you have to know what is there in all the seasons before you can really sort it out. They all have their perils, problems and beauties.

Looking around for a companion is hard work, too, as styles need to match and you may have to get along with sharing a tent with the sweaty creature. I am sure that there is a reason why a lot of people stay in motels and eat in restaurants, but I do think they miss a lot.

[InbetweenDreams]

Well I will say that at 3800 feet it was much cooler....just no water. Otherwise I probably would have dried off and been fine otherwise.

One of my friends went with me the other day but I don't think he would want to do anything overnight, which is fine. There is a hiking club in the area I might look into but my experiences with the biking group, well most of the time things are fine just there's usually a couple crybabies. Especially when you read about them wanting you to have odor free insect repellent.. Not sure bout you but I don't know of anything that doesn't have deet in it and deet stinks lol.

Speaking of deet. I got this small bottle of insect repellent and just thought it was small for travel and so on. Well I gave some to my friend and he said, "What is in this stuff? My neck is going numb." I said it was just deet. I put some on my arms and my arms started burning. I later discovered the stuff was 98% deet. Needless to say we didn't have too much trouble with the bugs after that.

On sweating, heaving done a lot of running and so on, there is definitely a point where you have to take in some salts. Like deciding to go for a hike in July going for a run in June is about as bad. I went on a 7 mile run mid-afternoon and had my camelbak on me, well I drank all the water and the run was going fine but the only problem was at the end my legs wanted to cramp. I had sweated enough to loose enough salt, electrolytes and such that I was cramping. I do think there are just limits, now one might be able to acclimate to doing that sort of thing but me who sits in the air conditioning most of the time probably can't and shouldn't just jump into the woods in the middle of July and expect to hike 9-10 miles up mountains and gaining 2,000 feet.

Anyway, I think I ought to wait for fall and maybe make another attempt to make it to Chestnut Stomp, I know from reading about others who have done the rim trail that there is an open area on Tusquitee Bald where people normally camp. I think I might want to do a couple day hikes as well, see how much water gets used when it is 75 degrees and a bit less humid.