Plan B - Optimized Failure

I should have been doing my final preps this week, packing, and stressing over the last details of a well planned thru hike.  I've diverged from the plan in the fact I am off the plan, and will not be back on it for I think many years to come.  Somehow I planned myself out of going.

So goes another failure to launch in a long string of failures.  I've spent a lot of money, educated and prepared myself as best able.  Yet when the critical moments of execution come I have discovered the inherent flaws of my ambitions, making it pointless to continue at this time.  I so wish I could be like some people who ignore things like that and just blindly push on...

Flip Flop and Try

I anticipated the universe would intrude upon my "ideal" thru hike in some manner, and as expected I am challenged with conforming my ideal with reality.  This is not a bad thing, as I will still traverse the same number of miles and see the same scenery and pass the same white blaze markers of the trail.  It just won't be in the order, direction, or time frame I had originally planned.  Unless I figure out how to bend space-time to my will, this involves

Thinking of Hanging Myself

While researching potential ways of making my carefully researched and chosen sleep system lighter, easier and more comfortable, I discovered a method of camping I had yet to investigate.  I am kinda beating myself up since I had already invested time and money in gear, but since it wasn't a huge investment and can be adapted to this "new" method, I am not overly annoyed.  I am, however, strongly considering hanging myself...

Appalachian Trials - A Review

(11/12/12) NOTE:  Please read the author comments and my response that follow this rant. 

Recently I finished reading a book written by a 2011 thru-hiker named Zach Davis, aka The Good Badger.  The full title of the book is Appalachian Trials: The Psychological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking The Appalachian Trail.  What follows is my personal opinion of said work.

Gear Report - Open Source Huarache

Edit 8/8/13 - I've noticed this page gets many views and may turn out to be something other than what you were seeking.  This is a pseudo-build your own sandals narrative but is rather light on the "how too" part.  If you want more info on that, please leave a comment or email me.  I'd be happy to help.  Now on to the post:

This is an obvious statement: hiking begins at the feet.  As such, I have been contemplating the current state of my own ten digit wonders of bio-mechanical evolutionary engineering.  In short, they hurt.  I imagine this won't improve when adding 30 pounds of pack to their already sizable burden.  The thought of it makes my toes curl in unpleasant anticipation.

I immediately go with the assumption I am doing something wrong considering this seems the case more often than not.  As with all things I find myself doing wrong, I attempt to find folks who are doing it more right than I under similar circumstances.  Thus far I have discovered or affirmed my suspicions regarding several things.

1. Contemporary soft cushioned sneakers with raised heels are evil.
2. Humans are generally built better for running than walking.
3. The heals of ones feet are intended mainly for balance while stationary.

The way I was raised to think about footwear, and walking in general like many other things in life, has proven to be based mainly on social inertia and general ignorance.  The result has been constant pain in my feet, back, neck, as well as wondering why all my little toes curl toward the big ones.  The later problem results from the continued refusal of my feet to conform anatomy to what the shoe industry has deemed average width for an American foot.  My pinky toes can be such rebels.

The rest I can place squarely on the shoulders of the culture and heritage in which I was raised.  I remember distinctly being ridiculed by my father, whom I do not blame for blindly perpetuating social indoctrination, for walking with an effeminate forefoot strike gate rather than the traditional masculine heel to toe strike.  I was doing, and have had to relearn to do, what feels natural.  I've had to do that with many behaviors, but that's for another blog.  This revitalized philosophy has finally reached the root of things, my feet.  I am learning that going barefoot is the ideal type of footwear, and the forefoot strike stride is better for ones posture, muscle usage, and general well being than walking heal to toe in overly cushioned sneakers.

Being the rational creature I am, many of the changes I initiate in life must be backed with reliable research.  I emphasize "initiate" since being a typical weak willed human I do not always follow through with all things I start.  Lately I have been getting better with the important change of following through on changing, so things are looking up.

But I digress...

Yes, I was speaking of research, facts, repeatable scientific experimentation, proof of concept either published in relevant periodicals or at least broad anecdotal evidence.  Granted that last method of research has lead to many people believing big eyed grey aliens are real (something that big needs more than hearsay for proof IMHO), but in general it can be a useful guidance for what works and what doesn't in everyday life.  In regard to this particular discourse, I have been leaning on those who have taken up the activity of ultra marathons and am attempted to extrapolate the information for use in thru-hiking.

My initial enlightenment on the subject was from an NPR report on a book by Christopher McDougall called Born to Run.  It is a factual account describing the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and their little hobby of running 50+ mile marathons in nothing more than a simple pair of sandals (aka Huarache's).  After seeing Mr. McDougall on Jon Stewart (one of my favorite and most credible news shows), I began to seriously formulate an idea regarding my choice of footwear for this hike.  "Hmmmm," I thought....

The next relevant person I came across, on Facebook of all places, goes by the appropriate moniker of Barefoot Ted.  He is not only an avid fan of this concept of shoe-less locomotion, but has literally become a worldwide spokesperson for it.  In addition he has started a business called Luna Sandals that sells a domestically designed and manufactured versions of the Huarache.  "Facinating," I mused...

By now the idea was coming to full maturity, and being the tinkering sort I started to plan my own version of this interesting footwear to prove it's viability for long distance hiking.  Borrowing from those aforementioned and others, I managed to assemble the parts needed to produce my own test pair of hiking sandals.  The finished product is ready to be broken in.

All the components are available online for a reasonable price.  My average final cost was around $40 for a very heavy duty pair of sandals.  They have an 1/8" leather footbed and an 8mm Vibram sole.  The lacing is run of the mill diamond braid soft poly rope that has the center fiber reinforcement removed.  I may upgrade to leather if I can find a reasonable source, or I may just order a set of laces from Luna Sandals for the rather inflated price of $12.  My attempts to find flat braided hemp came up empty, as it would have cost me as much for 10 ft. of lacing as it did for all my other raw materials combined.  It is a sad state when we must import at great expense such a versatile product like hemp that once grew native in our own back yards.

Yet again, I digress...

After a bit of gluing, cutting sanding and drilling, what you see is a very nice and extremely comfortable piece of footwear.  Can't wait to try them out on a long walk.  Feel free to contact me for a list of material sources, and you too can walk like your feet where meant.

For all you non-crafty folk, hop over to Luna Sandals and check out their selection.  As with everything though, don't take my word for it... research.

Sweating with the Oldies...

They say (whomever "they" are) that 50 is the new 40.  This is all well and good, but it still doesn't help the fact at 42 my knees make more noise than the brakes on my car, I haven't been able to visually locate certain parts of my anatomy in several years, my digestive system doesn't like being in the horizontal position, and the heaviest thing I lift on a typical day is a coffee cup.

How does one of such spectacularly deficient physic prepare for a hike that is roughly 10 times more strenuous than ones normal daily routine without blowing out a knee or having a coronary?

Logistics of a Long Walk

To quote Samuel L. Jackson's character Mitch in the movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, "Do not make an assumption, cause when you make an assumption, you make an ass outta you; and umption!"

Making inaccurate assumptions about walking 2100 miles can do one of two things, scare one off completely from the idea if it is unrealistically assumed the worst is bound to happen, or get one in a world of hurt if an overly optimistic, nothing can happen, rose colored glasses approach is taken.  One of the sageful things I have learned in life, which comes mainly from

The Road More Well Travelled.

When I was, oh, between 12 to 16, I had a subscription to National Geographic Magazine that my grandma was kind enough to give me as a birthday gift every year.  There are three things I distinctly remember that came from that subscription.  First and foremost, which will stay with me as I am sure it will so many others my age who saw it, is the famous photograph of a young Afghan girl on the front cover.  I only remember it and find it important to me because she is the same age as I am, and she has intense green eyes.  There but for the grace of God (and a Y chromosome) go I.

The second thing that interested me, as most won't admit to perusing but is a known fact males my age were compelled to review, was all the wonderfully exotic women, nude or otherwise, to fuel my teen fantasies.  I credit N.G. for my very eclectic taste in the ladies, and for starting me down the path of my dignified, refined