America’s Wild Spaces: Appalachian Trail

The new full length  (50 minutes) documentary entitled America’s Wild Spaces: Appalachian Trail , on  National Geographic network TV,  premiered last night at 8 PM.   I  had to invite myself over to my friend Mike’s house to be able to see it, as I don’t subscribe to the station on this newfangled TV setup.

I have enjoyed many of the AT documentaries and this one really had my hopes up.   I have viewed other videos, and have sometimes been moved to tears watching them.

At least National Geographic had most of the requisite number of facts straight ( ” The AT is less than a 1 day drive from one-half the population of the USA”.).    I’m grading it a “C” , which was a real disappointment considering the resources that this organization has to draw on. When I heard the pilgrimage talk, against a sunset shot, with the deep strings in the background , I thought , too bad, you don’t need to do this, let the hikers themselves talk and walk.

The first section profile is through the eyes of Chad, a section hiker who does a 28 mile piece from the start at Springer Mountain  to Blood Mountain.  It was humbling to be reminded of the challenges of the formidable Georgia mountains.  The fact that that 500 people a year thru hike  isn’t correct. The numbers have varied between 300 and 400 a year for the past decade.  In the 1970’s some years saw less than 10 people a year walking the whole AT.

The best part of this video is what is impossible to appreciate as a hiker, the documentary’s aerial shots, which were truly amazing.

There was a wavering focus to this story.  The acid rain segment  about the Smokies was informative, but there were  three other “environmental messages” that seemed forced in. Why did the video take up  several valuable minutes showing a remote camera being set up to verify that there are many different animals present out in the woods?  Yep, there are bears, deer, and racoons out there.  Could that time been used to interview the fabled Bob Peoples, whose Kincora hiker hostel and whose decades long devotion to trail building demands coverage ?

It was also strange that you were whooshed from Harper’s Ferry  four hundred miles up to Bear Mountain Bridge in New York.  There was no mention at all of those middle Atlantic states. I guess the message is those places don’t merit a word or a video footage?  At the Maine section  there was this bizarre rapid motion segment of being whooshed down some greenery amidst quiet reflections of fall.  It was jarring, and sure didn’t fit.

This film didn’t touch my heart.   I won’t be adding this one to my AT documentary collection. If you really want to get a taste of what  hiking the AT  is all about I’d suggest you check out Michal Daniel’s  ( AKA Lion King) Walking With Freedom : A Hike Along the Appalachian Trail instead. But, check this one out for yourself.  The next EST National Geographic Channel airing is scheduled for Nov. 17 at 4 PM.  I’d appreciate comments from other viewers.

For extensive commentary on this topic, get over to the Whiteblaze forum concerning this show.

Dark Days Ahead

Now that it is dark by 5 PM, I have to make a shift in my exercise approach.  All those daylight hours made riding and hiking  easier in late afternoon and evening.  I’m now getting up as I usually do at 5-5:30 AM ( no alarm required)  and for three mornings this week went outside and walked High St.,  starting in the pitch black and coming into the hacienda at daybreak an hour and 15 minutes later, with just about 5 miles walked before breakfast.  It makes for a good day.

Me and my favorite" road" bike

Riding my bikes is harder now than in the summer. I rode 20 miles Friday, back and forth to a meeting in Camden.   It was my maiden voyage on the new single speed road bike I won in a raffle.  Yes, no shifting, but we have all these hills here and I was able to grunt up all of them except for a 20 foot steep section of Moody Mountain Road where I was just not able to turn the pedals.  My heart was pounding so that I felt like my chest was going to explode.  I had to walk the bike!  So, I may trade out the rear gear for a slightly larger one just to be able to most all the hills around here.  I live at about 420 feet elevation, and Camden is at sea level. Heading north, I have to get up and over Moody Mountain at over 900 feet.  I think the single speeds are more for flat roads, the bike it might be good for training.   Maybe the bike is made for Florida and it made a mistake coming to Lincolnville, Maine ?

Maggie Nesciur: The Walker

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#maggie_nesciur

Ms. Nesciur, a waitress, walks up 20 miles a day within the heart of NY City. Beautiful brief video documentary in her own words. I would love to talk to her about why she called a cab after walking 5 miles outside of the city.

Pushing Past the Pain of Exertion

From yesterday’s New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/fashion/29FITNESS.html

Chrissie Wellington of Britain

I had my first visit with my new physician this past week.  It was a sign of the times.  I have been fortunate enough to have had just one doctor, Richard Kahn, M.D. since moving to Maine in 1973.  It has been 36 years of excellent care, from a man who was one of the first in our area to ride his own bicycle bike to work from his home in Union some fifteen miles out.  He sold his practice to Dr. Anderson, and she will be fine. She had been practicing way up in Aroostook County for the past two years.   She read my chart with me, to be sure she hadn’t missed anything.  I was thrilled when she started asking me about my 2007 Appalachian Trail through hike, when she disclosed that she and her husband were avid day hikers and also backpackers.  We learned that shared some trail experiences in Yellowstone as well.

She is an osteopathic physician, and after deciding that my blood work did not indicate any serious problems, encouraged me to schedule my next appointment sometime next Fall after I ( hopefully) return from my 5- 6 month, 2,700 mile Pacific Crest Trail  backpacking expedition, where we could recheck those numbers.

Then we talked pain, something I have been increasingly familiar with.  I consulted about putting together a backup medical kit that would prepare me for any emergencies.  I  did hear her when she made the observation that pain is often a signal to the body that something is wrong and that stopping may be the best solution, rather than to dose pain with analgesics or stronger ( opiates) and push through  to some preset goal.

Then this article came out and it assisted me in placing pain into  a better perspective.

Endurance athletics exposes one to eventual pain.  It is important to train for the ability to sustain exertional pain, while at the same time accepting that the acute pain of an injury, such as  shin splints, a broken metatarsal bone,  or a bad back is a message from the body to stop for a while and heal.

 

Fitness facts: What’s up with cooling down?

Personal Best

Is the Exercise Cool-Down Really Necessary?

By GINA KOLATA

Published: October 15, 2009

There is pretty much no science behind the cool-down advice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/health/nutrition/15best.html

Yellowstone: Walking !

Finally.

We decided to head on over to Yellowstone today in the hope that the snow would not be too deep for hiking.  Plan B was to drive east past Mammoth Hot Springs and cruise through the Lamar Valley hoping to see big animals, like buffalo, elk, and bears.  An inquiry with the ranger at the North entrance at Gardiner resulted in advice to head on over to the Lost Lake Loop.  We were looking for a 2 hour hike that was in an area that would be out of the wind, as much as possible.

Lost lake Loop–Roundtrip Distance: 4.0 miles (6.4 km)

Time: 2-3 hours

Level of Difficulty: Moderate

The trail starts behind Roosevelt Lodge and climbed through forested hillsides to a trail junction. Veering right (west), the trail reached Lost Lake in 0.2 miles (0.3) km.). From there we followed the trail around a hill to the Petrified Tree and Petrified Tree parking area. The trail left that parking lot at the northeast corner and continued through open sage hill tops and then descended to the Tower Ranger Station. Roosevelt Lodge was only  a 0.2 mile (0.3 km. walk from the Ranger Station.

The most treacherous portion of the hike was negotiating the ice between stepping out of the car and  our arrival at the top of the 360 foot elevation portion of the switchbacked trail.  There was plenty of ice in the streams that passed under the trail.  Once we hit the end of the firstclimb, things got much better:  the sun came out, the trail was more trodden, and it was actually  warm as we approached Lost Lake.

Lost Lake

Soon we skirted the Lake, and felt like we could do this.

Walking along Lost Lake

Eventually we left the Lake and entered a valley that swung us in a loop past high hills on either side.  Here the wind picked up again, the cold came on strong, and I put my new cowboy bandana across my face for protection.  We had to go up again for just a short bit, then entered a beautiful expanded area that eventually brought us back down to the car.

Uncle Tom at end of Lost Lake Loop

Checking our watches, we saw that we completed the 4 mile loop in just 1 hour.  We were able to slide and trot down the last mile long descent, which was the major factor in our scooting right along.

On the way back, we saw two bald eagles, one huge buffalo walking along the road, and numerous elk and bufalloes in the scrub brush and fields feeding on the dry frozen grasses.

The magic of the day did not end.  Our evening stop was at Chico Hot Springs, where we were able to soak in the heated pools for a hour and then we we were all salivating at the door for our 7 PM reservation, primed for prime. Actually , Lincoln was the only one who had the 12 oz. prime rib.  I had the 8 oz. tenderloin with gorgonzola, Marcia had a strip steak, and Stephanie the rack of lamb.  Three of us maintained our good standing in the clean plate club.   Chico and Yellowstone is a double punch duo that is easily accomplished from our base in Livingston.  Loved it today!

Montana: Strike Two!

Montana Road

Thawing out tonight.

Lincoln and I were thwarted in our quest to climb up Elephant Peak, MT this afternoon, due to 18 degrees, 12 MPH wind, and the snow on the gravel road too deep to reach that trail head. We did walk along the plains for an hour. I ending up freakin’ freezing.

I had on three layers on top: Ibex wool  t-shirt, Patagonia Wool II midweight zip crew, and North Face 7 Summit softshell.  My Ibex winter gloves were a joke, as my hands were painfully cold walking back to the truck, and in agony as they thawed out in the heated cab.  It’s full blown winter conditions here.

Paradise (Valley)? No backpacking this week!

Went for a 7 mile, two hour walk this afternoon along the Yellowstone River, here in Montana.

Yellowstone River

My hands froze inside my winter gloves and the footpath alternated between slippery clay , squishy ruts and solid ground that was actually frozen mud. Nevertheless, it was totally satisfying to walk in this huge landscape, with views off to the south of Livingston Peak. It is likely that the watercourse of River had not changed in any appreciable way since the Lewis and Clark expedition came ashore here below Sheep Mountain. Clark and his party stopped in present-day Livingston for a few hours rest on their way through here.
I had a list of outdoor things I wanted to do here that are not going to happen, due to the weather:
-mountain bike ride
-off road motorcycle ride
-overnight backpack trip in Yellowstone
-climb Bunsen Peak in Yellowstone

There is now  two and half feet of snow in the mountains that has accumulated since October 1. The weather here is comparable to what they experience here in January, with the temperature dropping to 3 degrees tonight.  Whaaa?

Montana is a trip .  The front page  of the newspaper has advertising about  game processing.

Front Page News

Instead of recycling, at the dump glass is stashed in a pile that is ground up and mix in with landfill.

Recycling? Naahhh!

I like the smaller footprint of the houses here, and what can be better than walking out the door in the morning,  head two blocks over to the local convenience store where I can get a hot cup of coffee and purchase daily newspapers.

Had enough? “The Paradox of Choice”- book review

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another book in the continuing saga of questioning abundance. Not exactly. In one part, it lays out the psychology behind why one often experiences a letdown after purchasing an item that one has craved. It also illuminates the exhausting situations we find ourselves in these days, as we consider what to eat, where to live, even what to do each day as we are bombarded by a ridiculous number of options at every turn. Sort of like why one looks at Goodreads. One way of coping with choice is to see what your friends choose. Time and time again, I found myself saying, ” Good point”, as I read through this book. And don’t we squander away time in the outdoors, or talking with friends, or children in dealing with all the choices we struggle with? This book was right up my alley. There is an amazing number of excellent ideas in it. I plan to re-read it. I am more convinced that ever that ” good enough” is going to be one of my daily mantras, that and it is a lonely walk if you pursue the idea of wanting to be sure that you are experiencing ” the best” choice in whatever category comes your way. I think this review is good enough for now. Later.

View all my reviews >>

Walking Map 6: Final Rant.

Is there anyone who might care about what is like to hike out the Appalachian Trail in Maine in the Fall season ?  Someone other than all the thru hikers who are still Northbound, starting Southbound, or flip flopping South from North?  In these last 50 miles, I’m the only one who isn’t some form of a 2009 AT thru hiker. If it wasn’t for all the hopefuls out here still working their long distance luck, all these hostels, hiker hotels, and shuttle drivers would be going broke.
Bottom line- it is drop dead gorgeous hiking our here on old Maine AT Map 6.  It’s the light in the early morning and late afternoon that’s the big deal,  a rarefied, golden light that is cool and so thick you’d think you could bottle it.  Maybe that’s what beer was originally all about, man’s subliminal attempt to encapsulate and then ingest that special light.  No matter. It was there this week, mostly twice a day, and plenty of it.
On my last day, I never saw anyone other than Bear Bait. It’s one of the the Top 5 weather weekends of the summer! You can walk up here easily from Route 27!   So, here’s more evidence for the couch potato appearing on the heavy play rotation front page Bangor Daily News story about the approaching majority citizen, the overweight and Type 2 Diabetes-in-training Mainer.
Hello!   Where is every body? Not out here, walking and sleeping in the forests like the medieval souls traveling via the most incredible, fuel efficient two-heeled drive means available.  I gotta tell ya, it’s the ultimate gift. Walking  does it for me.