Tag Archives: Blogging

Thinking About Thru Hiking? Here Is A Book You Must Read

5 Replies

app trail blog image_edited

“Obstacles are put in your way to see if what you want is really worth fighting for.”

-Anonymous

“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”

-Frank A. Clark

When people start thinking about thru hiking the Appalachian Trail, it is mostly a romantic notion. As you sit on your couch reading book after book and watching the vlogs of thru hikers on YouTube, it doesn’t look that bad. You’re on your own. No work and no job. It’s just you and the trail hiking every day. Right? Not so fast.

I just finished reading Appalachian Trials: The Psychological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking The Appalachian Trail by Zach Davis. A hiker and backpacker himself, the author thru hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2011, finishing in five months.

I learned very quickly in Marine Corps basic training that the physical part of the training was going to be the easy part. At 18 years old, I had thought that would be the case. It was the mental aspect of what I was doing that, at times, almost spelled doom for me. But I toughed it out.

Zach Davis pretty much makes the same claim. Getting your “trail legs” and being able to hike 15-20 miles becomes manageable as you make your way to Mt. Katahdin. Unfortunately, the stress of the trail, home, and life in general present obstacles that sometimes become too much for people and they get off of the trail.

Zach identfies these issues and addresses them head on. There is no mamby pampy nonsense here. He tells it like it is and by doing this he hopefully will prevent thru hikers from falling prey to quitting because they listen to much to the negative thoughts flowing through their mind.

I took the following from Amazon:

In Appalachian Trials readers will learn:
• Effective goal setting techniques that will assure you reach Mt. Katahdin
• The common early stage pitfalls and how to avoid them
• How to beat “the Virginia Blues”
• The importance of and meaning behind “hiking your own hike”
• 5 strategies for unwavering mental endurance
• The most common mistake made in the final stretch of the trail
• The top method for staving off stress 
• Tips for enjoying rather than enduring each of the five million steps along the journey

Anyone even remotely thinking about thru hiking the AT should read this book at least once. I know that if I find myself ever getting complacent in my thoughts about the AT, I will re-read this book to get myself grounded and back to reality.

Happy Hiking!!!

The Long Thin Line

Leave a reply

Two photos that are different yet similar.

WP_20180515_005_edited

The sidewalk leading to the parking lot.

WP_20180515_006_edited

Lights reflecting off of the floor.

Another Sunrise…

Leave a reply

“Every day is a new day. Don’t live in the past. Enjoy the now and make it count!”

-Unknown

“Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.”

-Unknown

I happened to look in the rear view mirror on my way to work this morning and I saw these clouds being bisected by the condensation trail of a jetliner. So of course I had to pull over and take a picture. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me and I had to use my inferior cell phone camera. With that said, the two together with the sun slowly rising made for a beautiful sunrise.

WP_20180424_004

Rodgers Book Barn in B & W

Leave a reply

“Old books exert a strange fascination for me — their smell, their feel, their history; wondering who might have owned them, how they lived, what they felt.” 

-Lauren Willig

At least a couple of times a year we head up to Hillsdale, NY to pay a visit to our favorite used bookstore, Rodgers Book Barn. Even though we have been heading north to look for books old and new for over two decades, searching for something to read in this unique little bookstore never gets old!

Over the years I have taken many picture of the Book Barn, but I can’t remember presenting them in B & W. Here are some of the Book Barn itself with a few of the surrounding property.

IMG_6274_edited

Rodgers Book Barn

IMG_6276_edited

The top half of Rodgers Book Barn.

IMG_6285_edited

 

 

The Cold After The Storm

Leave a reply

V__604D

That’s right folks…On Saturday 1/6/18 at just after 7 am, the temperature in Mahopac, NY was -12.  Not believing the car thermostat, I checked two different weather sites and it was confirmed. I don’t think that I need to dwell on just how cold it was with the wind chill! By the way, a week after the snow and cold, it is going to be 50 degrees and raining.

DSTSS

Leave a reply

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”

-Arnold Bennett

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” 

-Gail Sheehy

Well folks, another year has come and gone. A new year has just started and that means that it’s another year of trying to achieve balance in our lives. As we all know, things change on a daily basis, every minute of every day. Life literally forces change upon us. When we are confronted with change, at home or at work, a decision has to be made in regards to whether you will accept and embrace (to the best of your ability) what is happening or will you fight it?

I have spent most of my adult life hating change. I would do every thing that I could to fight it. No matter how big or small, if it went against what I was used to doing, I was against it. It didn’t matter whether I had any control over the situation, it just seemed like the thing to do.

As I look back on it now, I have truly wasted a great deal of mental energy immediately adopting a negative and non productive attitude towards events in my life. As a matter of fact, some of the fights I have put up thinking I was making a point or sending a message were just plain stupid. What did I accomplish by just throwing up roadblocks that not only got in my way, but others as well?

The past several years have taught me that fighting the inevitable is almost harmful to your health. It is useless to sweat the small stuff (or shit if you are so inclined) every day. In order to stay balanced, you need to give some thought as to how you are going to react when you are confronted with change that may make you feel uncomfortable. Do you really have any control over the situation? How will it affect you? Is it worth your valuable time and energy (physical and mental) to fight against it?

What is my point? It’s simple. Spend more time worrying about the things that you have some control over. Take a “big picture” look at the situation and then think about how you want to respond, if at all. I guarantee that you will be experience less stress in your life as you choose not to burden yourself with fighting everything that comes your way.

My motto is, and will continue to be, DSTSS!

 

Winter Is On Its Way

Leave a reply

“Nature is not mute. It is man who is deaf.”

-Terence McKenna

Even though I don’t know anyone who had pink eye, I managed to get a rather nasty case of it in both of my eyes. After waking up with both of my eyes crusted shut, I made my way into work and after about an hour was banished by the school nurse to seek medical treatment.  A trip to my local urgent care confirmed the obvious…that I had pink eye in both eyes. The remedy? Eye drops every six hours for five days.

Since I couldn’t return to school and didn’t want to sit at home, I decided to…you guessed it, go hiking! The day was clear and the temperature hovered around fifty degrees. Even though a steady breeze made the relatively warm day for November seem just a little cooler, it was still a perfect day to be out in the woods.

Heading out to Ward Pound Ridge, I figured it would be smart to carry a whole bunch of paper towels to wipe my eyes if I needed to. Besides the gritty feeling I had in my eyes every time I blinked, I felt pretty good and was ready to move! Crusty eyes be damned!

003

001

002

Overall it was a decent hike. I took it a lot slower than I normally would have, but that’s ok, just being able to clear my mind was good enough. As you can see by the pictures, the colors of fall are now gone and the long dark days of winter are almost here.

2017 Mileage:

11/21/17-5.2-319.12

 

 

Work->Green Trail->Home

Leave a reply

“Walking is my main method of relaxation. I don’t go over my lines or try to solve the world’s problems, I just enjoy the scenery and the wildlife.”
-Kevin Whately

WP_20171019_006

The changing leaves as seen through my crappy cell phone camera!

I have found no better way to end a day than to get out and hike. This time of year is especially nice with the cooler temperatures and leaves falling out of the trees to just wander around the woods and think about absolutely…nothing. All I need is that couple of hours of movement to get the brain straight.

After work today (Thursday 10/19), I made my way to Ward Pound Ridge to hike the Green Trail. Today’s hike was made that much better by the total absence of any people. The only company I had this afternoon was the breeze blowing through the trees and an ocassional squirrel making its way from tree to tree.

WP_20171019_004

The sun setting in the woods about half of the way through the hike.

Happy Hiking!!!

2017 Mileage:

10/19/17-3.5-291.62

 

Big Brother Has Landed

Leave a reply

Image result for 1984

94e7de2cf4e1d19270318e075c5a5a7c

“Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” 
― George Orwell

This week has been a strange one. Big brother has finally taken off his slippers and crawled into bed with us. It’s kind of like when you were single and went to bed in a drunken stupor only to find out that the person next to you was more frightening than the one the night before. That body next to you, no matter how charming you may think they are, is by no means your friend.

They may be warm and cuddly as they snuggle next to you, and they may tell you all of the things that they think you want to hear in an attempt to get you to not go. But in the end, it’s all a fallacy. Unfortunately, however,  it all becomes a reality when you begin to sober up and start to shake yourself out of your haze. You remember the night before when little sweet nothings were being whispered in your ear and you believed every word.

But as the fog lifts you realize you’ve been duped. Duped in a way that makes you feel, well, dirty and used. All of the promises have been replaced by the prying eyes and ears of Big Brother, who wants to see all and hear nothing…