The Story of the Thru Hiker named Son-Dance

Once upon a time...
No, wait, this is a true story. It's about the thru hiker that we met while we were on our trek last week. (And knowing me, it'll be a long story.)

Actually, we met a few thru hikers. We met Rockamamie, a lady about my age who is doing the last bit of a thru hike, all by herself. We met a few other ladies hiking with only their dogs for company -- well behaved pets with their own backpacks. We saw a few 20 year olds, but they didn't really stop to chat; these guys are walking fast! We met a Sobo -- which is the word for a Southbound hiker, but I forget his name; And we met Rugged Shark and Son-Dance, who are Nobos -- Northbound hikers.

 

There is a whole culture surrounding hiking the Appalachian Trail. There are a LOT of people walking around out there. Not a lot can make the whole hike, from Georgia to Maine -- 2,178 miles... I sure couldn't. There are parts that are way more difficult than the part that I did, and you're carrying everything you need with you. It's a really huge deal.

Hikers get "trail names." Mine, our crew decided, was "Glad Tortoise" -- because I'm really slow, and because I carry a LOT of big black plastic trash bags. (Glad bags. I'd rather be the Glad tortoise than the Hefty tortoise!)

So... this is a story about Son-Dance.


I think the kids were very impressed. They were tired from canoeing, and hadn't started hiking yet. We were sitting in the little kitchen in the cabin we were starting from, and this guy walks in. When asked, he told us his trail name was "Son-Dance", and he'd started hiking in GEORGIA, and had walked ALL THE WAY TO NJ. So far. And he's headed to Maine.


Son-Dance is really named Paul Travers. He's a Nobo -- a northbound thru hiker. He started hiking the AT in April, and here it is in July. He's doing it to honor his Dad, Herm, who was a WWII vet (Pearl Harbor to Peleliu). His dad brought him hiking when he was young, and they talked about hiking the places Herm had seen as a soldier in Hawaii. They also talked about hiking the AT.

Paul's dad developed Alzheimer's, a terrible disease. To honor him, Paul has dedicated his Hike to Herm and is trying to raise $10,000 for the Alzheimer's Association. That is a serious walkathon!!!

Paul has a very nice web site, with a link for donations, if you want to check it out. The web site also has info on the books that he's written, and a link to his trail journal -- which is his blog about the AT -- and our crew is mentioned on it. Click here to read it!

I promised Son-Dance that I would try to help him publicize his hike, so please check out the web site - and if you are inclined to make donations to charity, consider supporting this. And you can pass along information about his web site, too, to get the word out. He's located at www.paultravers.com ... Thanks!

Our Appalachian Trail Adventure as the Venture Crew

Our Venturing Crew had decided to do Kodiak training - which is a leadership training program - on a trek.

We took canoes out on Monday morning, from Dingman's Ferry in Pennsylvania. We slept overnight along the river, and finished our canoe trip on Tuesday.

Frankie picked us up at that point and drove us to the Mohican Outdoor Center, where we met several thru-hikers -- people who are hiking the Appalachian Trail all the way from one end to another. I have a really good story about a thru-hiker, a guy called Sondance, that I'll write tomorrow.

Early(ish) on Wednesday, we started our hike. It wasn't long before my heart was pounding in my chest and my blood was pounding in my ears and I really thought I wasn't going to make it. In fact, I called Frankie and told him to be ready to pick me up at the next road! But everyone pushed me to keep going, and I did.

There were some great views along the way, and some phenomenal experiences. We all had a great time.

The hike ended on Friday... but the boys all hope to be thru-hikers themselves some day!

So many photos, I had to put them on a slide show!
Here is what the trip looked like, if you are interested. I have so much more to write, but tomorrow is another day!

Today is another busy day!

I'm off to take Nick to camp today. I have a really good story about the trail to tell you, though, so please check back again tomorrow!

 

I'm Back from my Epic Adventure!

 

I can't really do a post yet. I've got a lot of photo playing to do first. But I'm back from a place beyond anything! It was a great trip, I'll try to post first thing tomorrow -- which probably means like noon -- :D

Preparing for an Epic Adventure

It's epic for me, at least.

I'm getting ready for another backpacking trip. Actually, it's a combination of Canoeing and Backpacking. The Venturing Crew is going -- which, on this trip, means my son Nick, my nephew, my son's best friend, the other leader and his daughter. Small group, but that's fine with me.

We're looking at doing about 24 miles down the river in a canoe, and 24 miles hiking back up along the Appalachian Trail.

Am I ready? I don't know. The whole time I was hiking the last time, I kept thinking to myself, "there is NO WAY I can do this." And that one was only 3.5 miles, for two days in a row. This one is 8 miles, for three days in a row. I am bringing Motrin.

I have no problems walking 8 miles. The problem is walking with 35 lbs of gear on my back. Up hill.

There is a lot of elevation gain in the beginning, but then it evens off and you walk along the ridge trail.

I have a back-up plan. I have Frankie on retainer. If I physically can not do it, I will call him up and make him come get me.

But like I realized last time, the big issue with hiking is a lot to do with determination. And I am determined to do this. At least this once; I may or may not ever do it again.

So say a prayer for me -- for the future me and the past me -- and for our whole group, that everything goes smoothly and that we get this accomplished!!!!

Where, exactly?

This is the map of the AT in New Jersey.

If you see on the edge of the green, there is a river, and that's the Delaware. We're canoeing down the river until we get to the bottom, at Worthington State Forest.

Then, with the hiking, we're starting at the bottom and working our way up. The bottom is on the Delaware River. We'll be going as far as Culvers Lake. At least, I believe that is the plan. The plan is to do three days of hiking, 8 miles each day.

 

Interactive Map - Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Interactive Map
Appalachian Trail Conservancy


Posted using

This is a link to a trail map and information. If you click on the words, you can look at the whole map of the whole trail. Assuming the link worked. :D

I survived!

 

Surprisingly!

The backpacking trip was... unique. I am proud to have survived, considering how out of shape I am. It was very challenging, and very much a learning experience.

I learned that I'm getting old, and I learned that my son Nick has become a man. I'm calling him Mr. Muscles, because he could run up the hills with all of the gear, smiling, and I walked at a turtle's pace, red in the face and with my heart pounding.

I learned that the part of backpacking that I like is a very small part of what backpacking is actually about.
I like the part about packing the gear, figuring out what I need to survive, figuring out how to be comfortable with what I can bring, and how to bring practically nothing and still live well.
I also like the part about seeing so much nature -- beautiful scenery, beautiful flowers, plants, trees, turtles, stuff like that.
And I like the time to be alone with my thoughts, in the peace.

I learned that the part of backpacking I don't really like, but which may be the most character building, seems now to be the real nature of backpacking, which seems to me now to be all about endurance and determination. And I'm not overly determined. It seems like it's mainly about being determined to make it up that next mountain, and dragging my sorry butt up that trail in spite of the fact that I'm really tired and can't go any further. Now I think it's more about making the trip, one step at a time. In spite of the fact that the turtles really could have passed me if they were headed in the same direction.

I learned that when I make decisions, I almost always err on the side of being way too cautious. But I really don't think that I can help that, and I'm not sure how to tell if it's a bad thing.

I already knew that I'm a control freak... I learned that if I let someone else be in control, and they do something differently than the way I want to, it isn't the end of the world. I can get over it, and a lot of times it really doesn't make the slightest difference anyway. It might even be way better than my ideas. Or maybe not, but it doesn't matter either way. (I learned this lesson in politics a long time ago, you'd think I would have been able to apply it to life.)

I posted a few more pictures, but it's REALLY late now. So I might write more about the trip tomorrow. Like about the pouring rain, and the mud, and the middle of the night one mile evacuation hike away from the storm that never happened.

Or I might not; it really depends.