What is the equivalent of climbing Everest 16 times?

According to my 2008 Thruhikers Handbook page 45 . . .

"On a hike from Georgia to Maine (or vice versa), a thru-hiker will climb and descend a total of ninety-one miles, the equivalent of going from sea level to the summit of Everest and back more than sixteen times!"

So, what you might be asking yourself . . . "What does this have to do with VFTT Trips & Events?"

Well, myself and my better half are on just such an adventure . . . NO, we are NOT climbing Everest 16 times . . . we are not that crazy . . . but we are attempting to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail from GA to ME. We started our amazing journey on Springer Mountain on February 29th . . . Leap Day, the perfect day to leap into this journey.

We are currently back at home after attending my cousin's wedding in Austria and are headed back to the trail where we left it off 2 weeks ago . . . Wind Gap, PA. In just another 15 miles we will be entering NJ and headed ever closer to New England. We wanted to invite any of our VFTT hiking family who are interested in joining us for a day or an evening or weekend to do so . . . we don't have a schedule that we are sticking to very closely as we discovered a long time ago that we don't stick to a pre-determined schedule BUT we do hike about 13-17 miles a day for an average of 15 miles a day.

I will try and update our location frequently on this thread so anyone who wants to play the game of finding us on the trail can do so. I really miss my dear hiking friends and would love to see some of you out on the trail. I am still a pretty slow hiker, about 1.5 miles an hour, so keep that in mind.

We have completed 1266 miles and have about 910 miles to go . . . barring any injuries or major unexpected disaster, we hope to finish our journey on Katahdin sometime the 3rd week in September. I have set up a trailjournals blog but it is only updated with miles and locations and the actual written journal is only caught up till mid March . . . pathetic, I know but I will type it up when I get home in September or after our wedding in October, until then I will update through a mass email and posts on this thread. The link to the TJ is www.trailjournals.com/hotcheese
If you ask for us on the trail, you have to ask for Hot Cheese (me) and Birdbath (Brian) as those are the trailnames that other hikers will know us by.

Also, the email account I check while on the trail is a new one that doesn't get spam so if you wish to email me to ask about where we are before you head out to find us, do so through VFTT and not through my sli74 hotmail account as I don't frequently check that one.

Hope to see you out there . . .

sli74

P.S. BIG HOORAY to Frodo and his group of merry men and woman for the tremendous effort on Denali and for returning to us safe and sound. Big Hugs to you all.

Great to hear that you're both strong and healthy with more than half the AT under your feet. I have a pretty hectic schedule this summer between work and fun stuff, but maybe I can sneak in a dayhike when you're in my neck of the woods. I'm an hour and change from north Jersey, the Hudson Highlands and western CT.

Hey here's a weird question-is Birdbath Brian's original AT name, or do you get a new time each time out on the AT? What's the rule on that?

Matt

I'll PM you my contact info in case you need anything in CT; ride, laundry, ice cream, whatever...Sorry, I refuse to provide hot cheese.

MattC said:

Great to hear that you're both strong and healthy with more than half the AT under your feet. I have a pretty hectic schedule this summer between work and fun stuff, but maybe I can sneak in a dayhike when you're in my neck of the woods. I'm an hour and change from north Jersey, the Hudson Highlands and western CT.

Hey here's a weird question-is Birdbath Brian's original AT name, or do you get a new time each time out on the AT? What's the rule on that?

Matt

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Brian's original trailname from 2004 was Regular Brian. He didn't keep that name since he aquired it because of meeting Flying Brian Robinson. The name would not have been related to this year's hike so he chose to get a new name, however, some people on the trail use their existing trailnames. It just depends on the situation, I guess.

Hope we'll get to see you on the trail.

sli74

Chip said:

I'll PM you my contact info in case you need anything in CT; ride, laundry, ice cream, whatever...Sorry, I refuse to provide hot cheese.

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Awww . . . come on . . . hot melty cheese is the best

sli74

Cool

What is your best and worst experience on the AT so far?

Hi Seema:

I've been reading your journal or lack of entres there of. When you get to NH you know you are welcome for a sleep over/laundry/shuttle service. As a vet of NH hiking you know to hike to Liberty Springs trailhead before heading into North Woodstock and not heading down Lonesome Lake Trail and then hitching a ride. A number of thru-hikers do this and then have to rehike the 2 mile Cascade Brook Trail. I hope to see you two soon.

Hug,

Madriver

Awesome seema and brian - you will hopefully see me somwhere in ma-nh

I will coordinate with usual suspects and get some trail majick going!

Or should I say hot cheese?

Seema and Brian!!!!

So GREAT to "see you" here!

Glad its going well, can't wait to hear all about it!

Any ideas when you think you'll finish?? MJ and I will be up in Baxter in early October.

Keep on truckin' and happy trails!!!

Sabrina

Hey Seema, hmmm, don't think I will be able to join you in your trek across NW NJ, I'm kind of busy at work and will be in NH next weekend but hope you enjoy the little part of NJ that you go through... watch for bears!

Jay

Gris said:

What is your best and worst experience on the AT so far?

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Well, the best experience is a hard one to pick because it has all been so much fun but I will say hiking the many "balds" of NC and TN and being able to spend so much time with Brian.

The worst experience is my foot pain. I have had terrible foot pain since leaving Springer. The pain has been caused by multiple issues and even though I have been identifying and solving some of the problems and pain, I am still suffering daily, so if there was one thing I would change about our hike, it would be my foot pain.

sli74

Go Hot Cheese and Bird Bath!

Perhaps will see you somewhere in the Whites in August; will buy you Pemi Pale Ales at Woodstock Station!

MadRiver said:

Hi Seema:

I've been reading your journal or lack of entres there of. When you get to NH you know you are welcome for a sleep over/laundry/shuttle service. As a vet of NH hiking you know to hike to Liberty Springs trailhead before heading into North Woodstock and not heading down Lonesome Lake Trail and then hitching a ride. A number of thru-hikers do this and then have to rehike the 2 mile Cascade Brook Trail. I hope to see you two soon.

Hug,

Madriver

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Hey there,

Yeah, that section can be a little confusing for hikers who haven't been in that area. I will post as we get closer cause we never turn down a hot shower and laundry.

hugs back,

sli74

giggy said:

Awesome seema and brian - you will hopefully see me somwhere in ma-nh

I will coordinate with usual suspects and get some trail majick going!

Or should I say hot cheese?

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sounds good. you can still call me Seema
missing the usual suspects so it will be great to see you all.

sli74

una_dogger said:

Seema and Brian!!!!

So GREAT to "see you" here!

Glad its going well, can't wait to hear all about it!

Any ideas when you think you'll finish?? MJ and I will be up in Baxter in early October.

Keep on truckin' and happy trails!!!

Sabrina

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I am expecting to finish around September 15-22 . . . so I can finish all the last minute wedding planning.

sli74

Jay H said:

Hey Seema, hmmm, don't think I will be able to join you in your trek across NW NJ, I'm kind of busy at work and will be in NH next weekend but hope you enjoy the little part of NJ that you go through... watch for bears!

Jay

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Aww . . . bummer Jay . . . maybe we'll catch up at the Fall Gathering if we are done by then.

sli74

Dr. Dasypodidae said:

Go Hot Cheese and Bird Bath!

Perhaps will see you somewhere in the Whites in August; will buy you Pemi Pale Ales at Woodstock Station!

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Looking forward to it Dr. D

Foot pain is a bummer...

sli74 said:

The worst experience is my foot pain. I have had terrible foot pain since leaving Springer.

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One of the most common causes of foot painis a stress fracture, much more common than you might think. Won't show up on an x-ray, has to be an MRI or even a bone scan to be seen. And, the only cure is rest. Where is the pain located and what is the character/nature of the pain? Stress fractures are common in the navicular as well as second and third metatarsals.

Gris said:

One of the most common causes of foot painis a stress fracture, much more common than you might think. Won't show up on an x-ray, has to be an MRI or even a bone scan to be seen. And, the only cure is rest. Where is the pain located and what is the character/nature of the pain? Stress fractures are common in the navicular as well as second and third metatarsals.

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The very initial pain was in the arch and I solved that mostly after experimenting with about 7 different insoles. Then there was excruciating pain in my toes, and that was also cured after I realized my feet had grown in size, actually a whole size and a half, the third foot pain was also terrible pain between 2 of my toes and also under the front pads of my feet. About 50% of that pain was taken care of once I identified the pain as corns and dissolved the corns.

The final and lasting pain is 2 types of pain . . . one is in my toes and the other is in the pads of my feet. It hurts all the time and sometimes the pain can't even be helped with pain killers. I am testing new boots and insoles when we go back to the trail tomorrow. I don't currently have regular health insurance just emergency insurance, so I will have to wait till after the trail to go to the doctor. The 2 weeks off the trail has helped my feet heal a little and I am hoping the pain will be gone or lessened when we get back on.

I also suspect it might be a stress fracture but since getting off the trail is the only cure and that is not an option, I will just have to grin and bear it and hold onto all the other great things about this trip and not focus on the pain . . .

sli74

Nice to hear you and Brian are doing well. Good luck on the rest of the trip. We'll be watching for your arrival in NH, maybe our trails will cross.