Hiking

Today's date: May 22th Entry time: 10:00 am  All hours: 110H 20M This week was a whirlwind of ups, downs, and everything in between. There was a lot to get done last week before the trip, but this week was the trip and there was no more to get done. In total, we spent five days in the woods hiking and camping along the Appalachian trail. Even though this was a day shorter than we had anticipated, the trip was still a success. We spent lots of time in the wilderness working on our personal growth and overall development.    Day 1 Today we spent the whole day packing our bags with all of our personal and group gear. The majority of my bag is taken up by all of the kitchen supplies and the tent. Even though I packed so much there still feels like more that I might need. Day 2 Due to us having to start later in the day, our first day was a very short hike; only three miles from the road to the shelter. It turned out that we had gotten dropped off at the site we should have hiked to the

Today's date: May 23rd Entry time: 10:00 am  Work hours: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Today’s hours: 3H  All hours: 116H 20M Since there was not much left to do, today was an easy one. I still had a few more pieces of gear that needed to be cleaned and put away so that is what I spent the majority of my time doing. The rest of the time was spent planning out a bit of the presentation we will peasant on our trip. I learned so many things from Romy and Libby while we were out, not only about hiking and camping but about life. Not everything is going to go as planned but that does not mean that you have failed, it just means you have the chance to try something new. This experience has taught me to appreciate the moments that you have and not to dwell too much in the past or the future. I hope that I can again have an experience such as this where I can learn to be the best version of me.

Today's date: May 22th Entry time: 10:00 pm  Work hours: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Today’s hours: 3H  All hours: 113H 20M Today we spent the whole day unpacking our bags and cleaning the gear that we carried throughout the trip. I started by pulling everything out of the bag that I used and wiped down the inside and outside of the bag. With the things that we had each pulled from our bags we made piles of all of the different kinds of gear we had. All of the leftover food we had ended up in a pile as well, so we went through and decided what to store, donate, and throughout. Then I deep cleaned the kitchen gear we brought and gave an extra scrub to anything that needed it. Once we had all of it organized and cleaned the group gear that then went back to its owner. Finally we put all of the clothes and washable gear into the wash to get off all the grime it collected from five days in the woods.

Today's date: May 19th Entry time: 10:00 am  Work hours: 12:00 am - 12:00 am Today’s hours: 24H  All hours: 110H 20M On our 10th day of senior project we packed up and left camp early, around 7:30 am, to get an early start to our longest day yet. We started off by completing the descent of Mt Jim that we started yesterday to get to the shelter we had stayed at. From the small amount we had done the day before, we knew it would be steep and snowy, but nothing could have persuaded us for the next two hours.  The entire descent we were slipping and sliding on ice and snow that stuck to the rocky riverbed path we chose. After arriving at the base safe and uninjured aside from a few bumps and bruises we crossed a highway and started the next leg of our journey, climbing Mt Wolf. Mt Wolf was the hardest part of our whole trip with no contest; it took us an extremely long time to conquer this portion and by the time all of us had lost all of our mural. We made it to our destination at the

Today's date: May 15th Entry time: 7:00 pm  Work hours: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm Today’s hours: 6H  All hours: 25H 50M Today was our final full day in civilization. We spent the whole day packing all of our personal and group gear into our packs. For group gear I ended up with almost all of the kitchen supplies and a few other assorted items. These items included the tent, bear spray, and the outdoor restroom necessities. I also carried the pot and pan, whisper light, and one of the three stuff sacks of food which was the entirety of our kitchen for the trip. After packing and repacking my bag about four times, I finally got it packed in the most efficient way possible. It may not have been an extremely eventful day, but after accomplishing this daunting task, I feel much more confident about leaving tomorrow.  

Today's date: May 18th Entry time: 10:00 am  Work hours: 12:00 am - 12:00 am Today’s hours: 24H All hours: 86H 20M   

Today's date: May 17th Entry time: 11:00 pm  Work hours: 12:00 am - 12:00 am Today’s hours: 24H  All hours: 62H 20M  

Today's date: May 16th Entry time: 10:00 am  Work hours: 11:30 am - 12:00 am Today’s hours: 12H 30M All hours: 38H 20M  

Today's date: May 14th Entry time: 8:00 pm  All hours: 19H 50M  As our first week of project period comes to a close Romy and I feel that we have accomplished a lot. For the first two days Libby was also assisting us in our preparation, then when she left town Romy and I finished checking things off our list. We bought and packed all of our food for the trip, built our own first aid kit, waterproofed our tent, and planned a whole new route. Each day we dedicated ourselves to a different task and somehow managed to pick up another piece of gear that we needed each day. It wasn't always a blast, but we tried to make each day as productive and entertaining as possible. Day 1 On our first day Romy and I packed all of our gear into my car and drove over to Libby's house. When there we combined all of our gear and took inventory of what we had and did not. I we also created a meal plan based off of the foods that we had that were light enough touring with us. Then we headed over

  Today's date: May 12th Today's date: May 12th Entry time: 8:00 pm  Work hours: 10:30 am - 11:00 am   12:00 pm - 3:20 pm Today’s hours: 3H 50M All hours: 19H 50M Today Romy and I woke up and headed straight to the health center to finish packing our first aid kit with Sue. We said goodbye to Sue and went to pick up moleskin from Kelly in the trainers. Sadly she wasn't there, but Chris saved the day and grabbed us what we needed. Once we had our first aid kit complete we headed back to home base to portion out and organize all of our food so we do not have to carry too much unnecessary weight.  Once we distributed food between the packs, we drove to New London to pick up even more gear. Our findings included a tarp to use over head while cooking, sunscreen, and a tick remover. We returned home after our exertion and with everything but full top bug net for when the bugs are really biting. Luckily, Josh says that he can lend us at least one of these shirts.

  Today's date: May 11th Entry time: 7:30 pm  Work hours: 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm Today’s hours: 4H  All hours: 16H  Day four of our project felt very productive. We kicked it off by meeting with Rosanna at the Outdoor Center to get the last of our supplies; p-cord for a bear hang, a hiking bag for each of us, and a dromedary. On our way back to home base, (my house)we made a quick stop at the health center to arrange a meeting for tomorrow with Sue to put together the rest of our first aid kit. Once Romy and I got back we sprayed the rain fly with waterproofing spray to see if we could stop the leaking. Lynne, our mentor, joined us part way through to see the progress we have made and help us pull a few things together. She had brought over a bunch of maps for us to use while finalizing our hiking route and we spent most of our time together creating a plan. By the time she left, we had an exact route picked out, mileage for each day decided, and campsites pinpointed. Lynne suggested t

  Today's date: May 10th Entry time: 3:00 pm  Work hours: 11:00 am - 2:30 pm Today’s hours: 3H 30M All hours: 12H  Our third day has been a short but packed day of little tasks. Today was Libby’s first of 6 days not here, so Romy and I decided to get a bunch done. To start we picked up Libby’s gear from her house and brought it back to mine. From there it was to the training room to talk to Kelly about a time that we could meet to go over how to properly wrap a sprained knee or ankle. She was willing to set up a meeting with us on Friday to go over it all. Talking to the health center was our next task. We met with them to discuss making a first aid kit out of the supply’s we already have and what they would need to give us. Once that was checked off the list, we spent some time sending emails to Rosanna, Kelly and Sue about what we had discussed with the others.   We ended our time by testing the jet boil, both whisper lights, and rain fly for the tent. 

  Today's date: May 9th Entry time: 7:00 pm  Work hours: 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm Today’s hours: 3H 30M All hours: 8H 30M For the second day of my senior project adventure we met Rosanna for lunch in the dinning hall to talk about options for hiking routes. Rosanna has a lot of experience hiking and camping in this area and has proven to be a helpful resource for us so far. The next task was to drive to Sierra trading post to grab some clothes and gear.  Here we were able to find gas for the whisper light stove, bug spray, and I got an inoculated container for personal food and drink. We then made our way to Trader Joe's where we found pea protein, so we didn't have to eat TVP, and some much needed seasoning for meals. Whole foods came after that so we could get some non-refrigerated tofu. Unfortunately, we could not find dehydrated vegetables in either of the grocery stores we went to today or the one we went to yesterday, but that is the only thing left that w

Today's date: May 8th Entry time: 9:00 pm  Work hours: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Today’s hours: 5  All hours: 5      For senior project Romy, Libby, and I are planning, preparing, and executing a multi day hiking trip. We will be choosing a trail to hike for 6 days, camping each night along the way. Today was our first day of the project and we decided to start off with using the day to take inventory of our supplies. We started off at my house locating items for the trip like our tent and camp stove that I already owned. After collecting everything we loaded into the car we went to Libby's house to get the necessary supplies that she had.      Combining all of the camping food we had, there was a decent amount to start a meal plan. Once we planned all of our meals out and created a grocery list, we went to the grocery store. We were able to get everything on our list and a bit more. Our last task of the day was to organize the food we got into meals and sort the snacks in personal pil