Good Friday Sleep Out

Back in the day, when the neighborhood kids and I were between adolescence and adulthood, there was this really warm Good Friday in Northbrook, Illinois.  It was so mild that we decided to sleep out in one of our backyards to celebrate the event.  We set up a huge canvas tent and laid out all our gear in the musty enclosure.  At dusk, we set out to wander the neighborhood in search of adventure.

At the time, lighting things on fire was big.  We were experimenting with cigarette lighter fluid and its affects while lit on the bottoms of our shoes.  We happened to be doing this on a neighbors patio and did not realize at the time our actions might be misunderstood.  They were.

With the warm spring breezes blowing and the spring peeper frogs singing, we continued to roam the nearby neighborhoods.  Our expedition was soon interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing.  The kid whose house we were sleeping out at recognized this sound immediately.  It was the bell that was rang to call him back home.  This was rather odd as this bell hadn't been sounded in years as we were evolving toward adulthood.

When we arrived back at the tent, we were informed by one of the kids mom's that the police had been there and that the tent had been searched.  They had uncovered flammable substances and taken them as evidence.  She had given the police all of our names and we were to go down to the station the following day to be interrogated.

What the heck?  Well, remember the neighbor's patio?  They thought some kids were trying to burn down their house, so they called the police.

Some of us did go to the police station the next day and had to explain what we were up to.  The police had tried to ignite the substances they found to no avail.  It was gun powder from rocket launching cartridges, but we did not bother to explain that to them.

One of the kids was unable to attend our little gathering at the police station and I thought I was doing them a favor by filling in his record.  I mentioned the kids middle name and they thanked me for my attention to detail.

The police gave us a warning and let us go.  We had avoided doing time that Easter weekend.  We were young and reckless and had no clue as to how other people perceived our actions.  This behavior eventually subsided and we all grew up, sort of.

By the way officer, his middle name is "Gilbert".

Norway's Finest

We met in 2001, my rookie year for the Poudre Wilderness Volunteers in Fort Collins, Colorado.  His name was Ras Erdal.  He was assigned to mentor me on one of my first hikes patrolling the trails of the Canyon Lakes Ranger District for the National Forest Service.

When I saw his name next to mine on the schedule, I figured I would be hiking with a fellow from India.  When I met him, I was surprised to see an energetic 69 year old Norwegian man.  We seemed to hit it off right away, due to his easy going manner and our mutual love for the outdoors.

We hiked a few times the following season together and then I decided to drop out of the organization after the 2002 season.  The years past and I decided to reapply to PWV in 2010.  I was told I missed the deadline.  Little did I know at the time that I did not need to reapply.

In the spring of 2011, I attended a meeting for PWV and recognized an old friend, Ras Erdal.  He looked at me kind of funny and then greeted me warmly, remembering our brief friendship a decade earlier.  It was at that moment I pinpointed what I liked about PWV, Ras Erdal.

I hiked exclusively with Ras in 2011 and looked forward to our time together on the trails.  In 2012, we attended PWV's Spring Training event and shared a tent for the weekend.  We had become great friends.

Ras has encouraged me to write and I have encouraged him to hike higher and farther that an 80 year old man is supposed to.  Ras isn't your typical 80 year old man though.  He skied Arapahoe Basin last season and he leads this 52 year old up the mountain.

So, at the end of this hiking season, I wanted to thank Mr. Erdal for being a little hard of hearing and putting up with me and my sometimes outspoken opinions.  I have enjoyed our adventures and look forward to many more in the years to come.

Keep hiking to the clouds Ras.

Inspiration

Sometimes in life we need to step back and reflect on an accomplishment to fully absorb the magnitude of it and what its significance means to us.  Last year, a friend of mine ran and completed a 100 mile trail race in the mountains of Colorado.  That is the equivalent to just under four consecutive marathons.  If the amount of miles doesn’t blow your mind, the fact that this guy was not a runner should.  He had not run more than a 10K event in his life before he decided to train for and attempt the Leadville 100 Trail Race.

My friend’s exposure to his brother’s attempt of this feat in 2010 prompted his own attempt at competing in the race.  His brother “inspired” him with his effort. 

The following excerpts and observations are from my friend’s blog before the race last year:

“He plopped down on the side of the trail and announced, through gasped breaths, that he was "done." He said he simply could not continue up the mountain. It was too much. He just couldn’t get his legs to work. Everything hurt intensely…

…he must have felt like he had reached the utter bottom of his well.

 …rather than quit there as he had planned, he continued on into the dark night.  And he kept going for about 24 more miles and nine more hours.

Unfortunately, he eventually missed the cutoff time and was dropped from the race. But to me, despite this disappointment, the real message was loud and clear:

 His well was A LOT deeper than he realized.

 In my head, all I could see was the image of him moaning on the side of the trail announcing that he was “done,” but somehow finding it within himself to continue on for almost an entire marathon’s worth of mountain running through the middle of the night.

 That level of mental toughness seemed inconceivable to me; an entirely new concept.

I saw many runners who had the same experience my brother had – the necessarily painful but rewarding experience of finding out that their respective wells were much deeper than they knew.

 At some point during that race, almost every runner doubted whether they could go on, whether they would finish. But they pressed on anyway.

The word I thought of that night, the word that still continues to resonate in my head today is “inspiring.”

 No, I’m not really a runner, but I am curious to find out how deep my own well is.

That night I was inspired to find out how far I can go after I think I can’t go any farther.”

– JP Martin, June 2011

JP Martin trained for an entire year, ran in, and completed his race in less than 28 hours in August of 2011.  His brother completed the race last year as well in less than the allotted time of 30 hours.  This is inspiring to me.

In a world of negativity and sometimes great despair, we all need to be inspired every once in awhile.  We need stories like Lance Armstrong beating cancer and winning seven consecutive Tour de France bike races.  We need stories like Brooke and Gavin walking from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail.  We need stories like JP Martin’s to inspire us to embark on our own epic journeys to see what is possible and maybe just how limitless those possibilities really are.

10 Weeks On the Trail

Brooke Osborne and Gavin Morris began their journey on the Pacific Crest Trail on April 27, 2012.  In 10 weeks on the trail, they have covered over 1,100 miles, averaging nearly 16 miles a day.  They are currently in Lake Tahoe, California.

Their media coverage is increasing with the help of Colorado State University, where Brooke recently received her MBA.  You can follow along and find out more about them on their website "Wild Ones".  Until next time, hike your own hike and enjoy the day.

The Wampus and Zen Show

I just got off the phone with Brooke Osborne, aka "Wampus Cat". She was calling from Mammoth Lakes, California where she and Gavin Morris, aka "Zen" have just completed their 900th mile on the Pacific Crest Trail. They are already 1/3 of the way to Canada.

Wampus was in good spirits as she enthusiastically described her and Zen's recent highlights on the trail. There was the Bishop Bear that staked out a campground and forced our intrepid adventures to cross a high mountain pass, in the dark, by headlamp, after a long day, with lots of food, in search of a bear box. It took them nearly 3 hours to go 4.3 miles and I'll bet that Bear's ears are still burning over the expletives that were probably evoked every step of the way.

There was also a recent stream crossing where some of their camera equipment went unexpectedly white water rafting and had to be quickly recovered. Luckily, no equipment or files were lost or damaged. It sounded to me like when Sacagawea saved some valuable specimens collected by the Lewis & Clark Expedition when they were swept overboard while riding out some rapids.

These experiences are Wampus Cat and Zen's. They have happened to them. As a writer of non-fiction, it has been hard for me to communicate what they were doing. I am not the one doing it, but I have figured out a way to better cover this epic journey.

Through a collaborative effort with Wampus and Zen, together we will be able to shed some light on their thru hiking experience. I had originally thought of comparing and contrasting their journey to my everyday life. This was like trying to play solitaire with a half a deck of cards. How did I know what they were experiencing and dealing with to be able to compare it to what I did know? I couldn't, but through a recent two day one night backpack trip of my own, enlightenment on the subject was achieved.

Their accomplishments are just that, their accomplishments. When I read about a guy like Andrew Skurka, it is incredible what that guy has done, but it may as well be a trip to the moon as far as me being able to relate to it, for it is his journey, not mine.

So, if I write a little and Wampus and Zen chime in as well, maybe the end result will be what I envisioned from the start, the recording of an historical journey that you do not see attempted everyday.

ebook

April 23, 2012

The AT

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Confucius

The Appalachian Trail is the Everest of hiking trails. It is a 2,181 mile journey and to hike the entire trail, one must take approximately 5,757,840 footsteps. To try and give a little perspective of this feat, I have done a little figuring using a local landmark, Horsetooth Mountain, as my control for this explanation.

Horsetooth Mountain in Fort Collins sits at 5,400 feet in elevation and rises up to 7,256 feet at its summit. The trail to the top is approximately 2.75 miles long and 5.5 miles roundtrip. When you hike it, you climb 1,856 feet up and descend 1,856 feet down giving you a plus minus of 3,712 feet in elevation. When you hike Horsetooth, you take approximately 14,520 footsteps.

To simulate hiking the Appalachian Trail, you would have to hike Horsetooth Mountain 396.5 times. If you hiked it twice a day, it would take you 198.25 days. That many days equals 28.3 weeks or 6.6 months.
Imagine starting on April 1st and hiking Horsetooth twice a day every day for the months of: April, May, June, July, August, September, and half of October.

Some qualifying differences to mention would include not carrying a backpack of say 30 lbs. You also would be hiking the exact same trail 396.5 times. I think the biggest difference would be the sheer magnitude of the task at hand in hiking the Appalachian Trail. Imagine starting
off hiking 181 miles in say 2.5 weeks and then facing the realization that you still have 2,000 more miles to go.

If that realization doesn’t discourage you, there are other factors that may. There is the weather on the east coast consisting of anything from heat and humidity, to rain and fog, to cold and snow in the higher elevations. There are bugs including mosquitoes, flies, and ticks.
There is Poison Ivy. There are snakes. There are mice and rats in the shelters and there are leeches in the streams.

You will sleep in a tent or in an open shelter every night. You go the bathroom in outhouses, if you are lucky. Your food and drink is what you want to carry, which I guess rules out that 6-pack of beer every night sitting around the campfire.

The scenery is trees and rocks and dirt and more trees and more rocks and more dirt. Since the forest cannot be seen through these trees, you are kind of hiking in a wooded tunnel. Did I mention that you will smell bad and constantly be dirty?

It is said to cost $1.50 - $2.50 a mile to thru hike the trail. Where do unemployed people get $3,271.50 - $5,452.50 for their trip? If they do
work, how do they get 5-6 months off and still have a job to come back to?

It is also said that life is different on the trail. Really? With an itinerary consisting of: wake up, cook breakfast, break camp, walk 15 miles, stop, make camp, eat dinner, sleep, repeat 150 times, this sounds pretty
routine to me.

I am told what makes this hike so special is the things you miss. Things like taking a shower, having ice cream on a hot day, eating a cheese burger and fries, eating pizza, not smelling bad, not being dirty, not being eaten alive by bugs, and missing all that news coverage of the daily lives of the Kardashians.

I do wish people well who both attempt and complete this journey. I am just not sold on the idea, yet.