I take off for Georgia tomorrow and the start of my 2 week summer AT hike! Backpack is packed, re-supply box sent, all that is left is to drive 12.5 hours to Amicalola Falls S.P. on Saturday and meet Hacksaw on Sunday to take me to Wesser N.C. where I'll start walking south.

For those that read Backpacker Magazine, there is a great article about going light, and there is also the announcement of a light alcohol stove contest. I think I'll make them a Cat Stove and send it in after I get back from the AT.

Anyway, if ya'll e-mail me in the next couple of weeks, I promise I'll respond after I get back. I'll also try and keep the camera working long enough to get some pictures and post them in a trail journal.

SGT Rock!

Started verifying all my weights with this new scale and boy is it good. Very accurate, gets the same weight every time, and has neat features like tear, hold, multiple weight selections, etc. Check out all the equipment pages and stuff later for verified accurate weights - if your interested. I think I may add an equipment review for my new scale.

There is so much to do on this site to get it where I want, but doesn't seem to be the time to do it in. Maybe next fall!?!?!? Egads! But I'm still having fun with it. What amazes me is the hit average of about 80 hits a day is keeping up even while I'm not getting to do the updates I want. Thanks for coming back all the time, I swear I want to finish some more stove tests, finish the compass pages, equipment reviews, book reviews, etc.

SGT Rock!

Just got back in this week from field training and gunnery. In case you didn't hear, Louisiana and Texas got smashed by a hurricane, this also got us while I was out there. Fortunately I was using my Hennessy Hammock and stayed dry for the 5 days straight of heavy rains, winds, and lightning. I love this thing! I posted the lessons learned on my Hennessy Hammock page for you hammock hangers.

Today I'm preparing for my 2 week AT summer trip. I've dehydrated 3 lbs. of apples, 3.5 lbs. of pineapple, and 5 pounds of beef. I still have 7 more pounds of beef to dehydrate today. I've done some calculations for you weight freaks that also dehydrate and added them to my hiking foods page. Basically a dehydration weight ratio like one pound of apples unprepared makes 2.5 ounces of dried apples. One 14oz can of chunk pineapple makes 2.6 ounces of dried pineapple. One pound of beef makes 3.2 ounces of  jerky.

My trip plan has changed slightly to allow someone to join up at Needle's Gap and hike at a slower pace after that point, and to also allow me to make a side visit on my way back home to see my Father.

I've also gone thru the pages and changed the font on most of them. When I first started the site, I had that picture that is under the navigation bar as the background on all pages. The result was hard to read text, so I tried using a bold font, which helped, but was still very crappy for reading. Later I changed the background to the current one which is very nice, but never changed the fonts back until today.

Tomorrow is Father's day, so make a point to call dad! My family is back in  Alabama for my wife's family reunion. I couldn't go because of field and recovery. But, they got me a new postal scale that reads weights very accurately (1/10th ounce) up to 3 pounds, and a silk Hawaiian print shirt to hike in. I'm going to look like the coolest backpacker on the trail this summer, and at 2.1oz it is very light. 

SGT Rock!