Where Did Cindy-jo Go?

Instead of getting a shower and doing laundry at Neels Gap yesterday, all I did was buy a new raincoat and shoe inserts, got lunch, and charged my phone, then carried on. This means on the 26th, today, I am becoming quite ripe. Sleeping is the dead giveaway. At night my thighs are sticky from the built up sweat. I rinsed them, and gave them a good go over with some Gold Bond, but to no avail. Still sticky.

Yesterday was pretty nice out though, to spite the 80 degree heat wave. In fact, it helped dry some of my clothes and gear. I stopped mid day and aired them out. Funny thing is the rain coat I had brought with me, the one I replaced at Neels Gap, still has yet to dry out one iota. It’s almost drippy still. I’m shipping it home as soon as I get to Top Of Georgia Hostel which should be later today. It probably weighs an entire pound with all the water it holds. Worst rain coat EVER! You suck Acer!

Thank God there was no rain last night or today, but I am having a rough go. The first day out was my strongest, which is pretty typical, but my numbers as far as miles complete are bunk. I’ve gotten slower each day. I’m thinking it doesn’t help that it rained for two straight days, my first two days out… And I’m almost out of toilet paper! Noooo!!!!

God, the universe, Buddha, whatever, may be trying to tell me something.

This is going to be a long days hike to Top of Georgia Hostel. When I get there I’m going to adjust gear, eat, resupply, shower, do laundry, and sleep. I’m hoping things get speedier soon. A night in a bunk instead of the tent will help renew my enthusiasm.

It’s morning and everything is still soaked, dripping soaked. I’m less than 5 miles from Neels Gap, where I’m hoping their washing machine and dryer still work. The debate in my head at this hour is whether to put on all my soaked clothes in chilly weather and walk in to Neels Gap or go in in my dry clothes and hope it doesn’t rain.

Think I’m going to go in wet clothes. I’m positive the trail is soaked and there are probably plenty of puddles still. So, at minimum it doesn’t make sense to put on clean, dry socks, or anything clean and dry for that matter.

I just checked the radar and it says by 9AM the storms will be back, so…

P.S. Got bit by a tick the day before I got on trail. No rash, but it’s itchy and I’m concerned about how long it was on me for. Will have to deal with that when I get back.

7AM – Summit Springer Mountain, GA

Started from Springer a little on the late side. It had been pretty cold all night and I got close to no sleep although I had made camp the night before quite early.

The morning though was pleasant and I made my way quite swiftly through most of the day. There was rain throughout, in spurts, but nothing major.

Around 6:30 I decided to go the distance. I had over 20 miles in already and figured if I hiked into the night I could pass Neels Gap, bringing me to over 35 miles for the day.

Weather put a damper on that plan though. Phone service is sketchy sometimes, pretty typical, but I got lazy checking my radar app when I did have service and subsequently got surprised by a big storm, while I was in an area that literally provided no close shelter.

So I threw on my rain jacket and decided to hike through to Blood Mountain shelter at least, but the storm was too much. Everything was slippery, mud was up to ankle high and the trail turned into a river. Also, it appears my $50 Acer rain jacket is not water proof. I’m not sure why Acer would make a rain jacket that rain can get in, but either way, I need a new one. I finally gave in around 9PM and made camp (in the rain) at first opportunity.

I was soaked. And everything I was wearing was soaked. I had some warm dry shorts and shirt in the bag, but discovered I forgot to pack additional underwear… Great. So, I have the underwear I wore in and the underwear I had already changed into. Both are wet. So, commando its gonna be.

I could get into all the details, but there are so many. The last four days have been a whirlwind. This is how it is every year though. I never feel ready, I always forget something, or to do something, and twenty things come up at the last minute that I would otherwise absolutely never have to deal with, but I do, and get on with it.

I arrived at the Springer Mountain Trail head this afternoon at around 4:30PM, thanks to the help and support of my man Jason. Props to any man who will drive across state lines to help me hike.

Because I got here late in the day though, I decided to walk to the Springer Mountain shelter and park it over night, before actually hitting the SPOT tracker. I pitched my tent, ate some dinner and now I’m settling in for some sleep. Going to need it. Long day of hiking tomorrow.

Yay! The truck has a new windshield. Thank you Auto Glass Depot in Fort Myers! They came to me and gave me a totally fair price. All is right in my truck driving world once more. Pretty sure I’m due for an oil change. Going to check my records and probably get one in the morning.

Being that I have been delayed, it’s actually not turning out to be so terrible. Paid some bills today and did a final go over with the gear. Also picked up some boxes from the post office. Decided to do two bounce boxes after all. One primarily focusing on gear overflow and the other food resupply. Also, sending US Postal Service.

Last year I ran out of time and sent everything FedX. I wasn’t thinking. When I would get a box, but didn’t need the contents inside I had to pay again to mail forward. With the US Post Office, if I don’t open it, I can forward it on for free. Tricks of the trail.

So the ATM not accepting my checks for deposit was literally just an issue with there not being enough funds in the business account at the time I was trying to make my deposit. This morning though, there was no problem. According to the teller, this happens when the issuer of the checks makes a deposit and the funds don’t go in until the next business day. Being it was a weekend, the funds were not available until this morning.

On to the next issue… Getting a quote to fix my windshield.

In my traditional OCD fashion, I called like 20 places to get quotes. Finally settled on Auto Glass Depot. They are coming to me tomorrow. Got a pretty fair price $195 (plus $15 if he can’t use the old molding), but it’s scheduled up. One errand closer to lift off! Yay!

I was supposed to leave Sunday morning at 12AM, but my ride schedule changed at the last minute. With this in mind, I figured I would spend Sunday (today) doing some last minute errands and would leave at my leisure using my own vehicle. I had previously looked into renting a car for the ride up, but I missed my window for cheap rates, and was instead quoted quite an astronomical one. Pass.

To add to delays I walked out of the house this morning, got into my truck and the once small crack that has literally been in my window forever decided this morning it would move across my entire windshield. Great news! I don’t have comprehensive, so the window is not covered. Yeah. Being it’s Sunday, I can’t even call around for a quote until tomorrow.

On top of all that noise, I tried to deposit my last two paychecks at two different ATMs. Both declined to accept them. So, Monday I also have to go into the bank and talk to a teller, and find out why my paychecks are not going through.

I love how crap just crawls out of nowhere whenever I try to leave town.

This was a long weekend for me, I think a bit longer for my friend Christen. She drove from Cleveland to celebrate her birthday with me in the woods. As it should be, damn it. We have been friends for many years and have hiked previously together. We have always had a grand time on adventures. So, I was looking forward to heading out on this one. 

I had to work Friday, but took off Saturday. That meant I had four days, but wasn’t going to be on the road until well after 9PM. I had been so busy the week coming up to going that I had zero time to dedicate to planning my escape. So, on Friday evening, instead of immediately leaving town, I had to go home, organize and pack.

Christen had booked a campsite for Friday night just off the Florida Trail. (Although we didn’t realize our fortune until much later.) After a long ride down, she arrived in the afternoon on Friday. All day I had imagined me somehow getting it together quick and being there in no time. Instead, I ended up getting tired during the ride and crashing in the back of my truck. I got there the next day.

The campsite was at a quiet spot called Camel Lake. How Christen found this place, I have no idea, but I’m sure she can thank the internet.  With few campers, mostly people in RVs, the place was a welcome site. First, they has shower. Never underestimate the importance of a shower, and it was warm. The extent of this statement will be explained later. Second, they had an on-site camp-director, so the place was ship shape. You felt safe there, like vandals aren’t going to break into your vehicle while you were gone on safari.

Speaking of safari, it was hot the first day. Regular Florida hot, but I spend a great deal of my time standing in air conditioning, and Christen was visiting from Ohio in April. She also brought her dog, whom I am equally convinced was not enjoying the high temperature all that much.

Before leaving into the bush Saturday morning, our camp director informed us there was scheduled to be a pretty strong storm coming in, with it a ton of rain, but should clear up by mid-day Sunday. We continued driving on to the opposite side of the Apalachacola National Forest and found ourselves at our prescheduled trailhead. Instead of heading straight out, we walked in, turned around at a certain distance and headed back, where the truck was waiting. We ate dinner and crawled into the back of the cab. Waiting for rain.

My pick-up has a bed in the back, for those who don’t know me; storage underneath, curtains, interior locks, the works. This left plenty of room for our gear underneath, and we put the pooch in the cab with the cab and bed windows open, so we could communicate with him, and he wouldn’t feel lonely. He only barked once that night, but it was a little warm for my cohorts taste. Since I figured ahead of time, there may be a chance due to weather that we may all end up in the truck at some point, I didn’t bring the A/C because it was already tight quarters, and it usually is much cooler in North Florida than down in South Florida where I live. We suffered through. Well, I was fine, but Christen was sweating, and she wasn’t thrilled with the low ceiling on my camper top. Never bothered me really, but I can see the reason to expand the cabin at some point. Note taken.

The next morning we realized there had been no site of the promised rain storm. It didn’t exactly look like a perfect day, so we knew it was still on its way. We had already made plans to head into town to visit the local grocery for some tick spray. We found some of the little buggers on all of us that morning. Not good. Nobody had them for over 10 hours though, and no rashes. So, lucky us.

We ate, we shopped, it rained a lot. I worked on a deadline for FtMyersMagazine.com while we visited town, and eventually the temperature outside dropped.

On this trip we mostly day-hiked, and camped at Camel Lake. There was a point where I thought we were going to give up and camp on trail, but with determination we made it back just as sunset crashed down. We decided to work our way down the Florida Trail from camp, get to a side trail and follow it in, bringing us in a full loop back to camp. Unfortunately, maybe two thirds into our hike, we had to turn back. Due to controlled burns, the trail was closed. Unlucky us. I feel this is a good point to mention how much water we, or should I say swamp, we had to maneuver past before turning back. It was what it was. We made it.

Maybe a couple hours before our return to camp, I found out how afraid Christen is of hiking in the dark. Again, this doesn’t bother me much, but I have a good amount of experience running around in the dark. To spite the burn, we pushed on and pushed hard to get back to camp just as the sun went down below the horizon.

I’m not the most hard-core person when I hike, I like my little luxuries, but I know from experience I have the ability to go for about a week without a shower, an still feel OK about it. After that, I become grumpy fast. I’m happy we camped at Camel Lake, an I’m happy we got back with time to kill taking showers and eating. It made for a more enjoyable experience. PLUS, I could more easily see the ticks that decided to freshly plant themselves on various parts of my body. Again, I’m positive none of them were on us for long, Mom. I was just surprised they were there at all, since we doused ourselves with repellant and it wasn’t as brushy as the first day out. Interesting and a little scary.

We made a habit of heading into town each day and eating restaurant food, shopping for variables, and killing time off trail. A cool thing we saw was a graveyard for old trucks. All lined up on the side of the road, rusting in the sun. I’m not sure why it seemed so cool, but it was. Just some on road eye candy. My camera is still not working since I dropped it in the river on the Appalachian Trail. So, I grabbed a couple photos off Christen’s Facebook to share here. 

We tried several trail heads. Some were deep under swamp water, some were just enough to let the water sink into your boots, some had little bridges built by volunteers or park services. The sun was strong. The air after the storm had turned crisp and cool. This made the hiking somewhat easier, but after many hours on trail, it doesn’t much matter the chill in the air, it becomes hot from the UV. A great thing about the terrain, there isn’t much climb to it. There are hills, but they aren’t much to sneeze at. I did wish I brought waders with me. Next time I’m in the swamp.

The canopy is frequent. Tall pine and scrub palm. Grassy at times, and swampy others. Lots of birds, and a lovely breeze. It attracts me more than the natural landscape down south from where I’m from, but still it doesn’t attract me as much as the mountains. You get those incredible views from mountains. You don’t get that in the swamp. BUT, Florida does have the most spectacular sunsets ever. So big, so brilliant, and last. It’s got its amazing qualities. Everyone should see this part, the Apalachacola once. Especially, since the small towns we visited
during our trip, brought me back to what it was like in Eastern Glades towns from back when I was young; where close little fishing communities and wildlife thrived. Small town, old world, Florida.

Anyway, we had a great time. I hope we get to do it again soon. My only regret is my friend and fellow hiker, Chrissy, couldn’t have made the trip out to join us. Hard when you have babies to raise. They aren’t little forever though, and there’s always next time, another year, again next season.

 

I have traveled to numerous locations around the country, but I’ve never been to Arkansas. So, I was really excited this past weekend to have the opportunity to go. My boyfriend’d kids are currently living there with their mom on 800 acres in a tiny town where the closest city is an hour drive. We flew into Kansas City, MO, early in the morning. It was a quick flight where thankfully we caught a nap before our long drive south.

Upon reaching the airport, we grabbed our bags and picked up the rental car. Our destination was still four hours away down winding roads. As we drove, we crossed a sea of hills and open prairie. Things just seemed slower, more serene, when compared to what I know of Fort Myers these days. Everywhere you looked there was a whole lot of nothing, and it was good. It felt like this would be the part of US that promoted 4H, and listened to country music. On a Sunday morning, everybody you know is in church, and when you shop downtown they still tip their hat when a neighbor passes by. Like something out a Norman Rockwell painting.

It’s really beautiful. It reminds you of what life may have been like back in the day, before the high-fi, wifi and endless reality TV. It’s wholesome. I’m guessing a much healthier way of life than many of us may ever get to experience. There is a ton of wildlife living among the tree lined dirt roads, barns and houses, ponds and open sky, patches of forrest, caves and gullies. Even in the bitter cold, which hovered just above 10 degrees much of our visit, you could feel the calm in the air, and in the night you could see stars easily as the nearest light from any big city was literally miles away.

On top of the experience of all that is Arkansas, it was equally awesome to see everyone. The weekend seemed to breeze by. Even though the cold of winter sunk straight into our bones, we braved it, piling into the truck and heading to check out the Ponca Wilderness Area. There were amazing views of caves, rock formations, and clear blue river water. We saw a herd of elk while we were headed back to the house. So, we took a few pictures and took it all in. About half way home we stopped at a cute little truck stop. They had everything from gifts to candies, deli service and hot foods. We decided to stay a bit and grab a sit down snack.

Later that evening back at the house, while watching a movie on the television, I realized I felt a bit nauseated. I ignored it and it seemed to not hit me all that terribly hard. We finished out the day and eventually went to bed. Around 3 AM that’s when I finally crumbled. I was sick, real sick. Basically spending a good 20 hours sleeping and going to the bathroom, over and over again. It was probably the most sick I’ve been in a long time. The next day a few more of us got sick, but it was only those who had the chicken items at the gas station the day before. A case of food poisoning. Eventually I got over it, but it felt like I spent a huge chunk of time secluded in misery in the bedroom. It was not fun.

The next morning we had to head out. Our visit was just a long weekend and we had to be up by 1AM. By this time, unfortunately, the others were finally getting what I had had, but this morning we had to drive four hours back to Kansas City, for a flight that was to last another 3 hours home. I felt bad for the others, but was sure glad I was over it before having to travel. Stroke of luck for me.

They remained strong, doing what they had to to cope and meet the flight on time. We got on the plane  finally pulling into Punta Gorda, FL, right on time. After getting our bags, we headed outside for our ride. As soon as we hit the pavement the heat and the humidity were like a brick to the face… Welcome home.

It’s three months to the day since I got back from the Appalachian Trail and started back at work in the real world. That was November 8, and now it’s February 8th. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I’m planning on making my third attempt at the world record for self supported hike.

I want to justify going again because I had a three year plan. Why quit now? I’ve only completed two. Nobody wins a world record their first, sometimes their second, or third attempts, and I’m not one to back down from challenges. I guess I’m stubborn. I have two years of training and money and time invested. I also feel like if I give up, what the hell was all that effort for? I don’t want to be that 80 year old woman who said she tried the impossible and gave up right when she was about to turn a corner. Now I have the maps, the apps, the training, the experience, the gear. After two failed and half witted attempts, I’m more knowledgeable, and better prepared than ever. How could I not be?

Then there is the reality of my poor strategy and all the time I mentally crumbled out there. I learned so much every time I went, but maybe I’m getting too old for this sort of thing. Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to stay on track. Maybe I’m just not physically strong enough. Maybe I never was. Maybe I’m fooling myself. It feels like crap to have everyone I know backing me up and cheering me on, just to come home with my tail between my legs, twice. A third time is really going to sting.

There is a huge part of me saying there’s no way in hell I’m cut out for this record. My number last year was pretty much pathetic. Yet, I knew I’d have to hike the whole trail at least once before I could possibly make any serious attempt due to the many surprises one encounters on an adventure such as this, and now I have. There isn’t one part of this trail I haven’t seen. I have a better understanding of the time of year I should go, where supply is plentiful, where I can and can’t charge my electricals, where the hot showers are, and how little I can get away with hoisting upon my back at any given time without risking health, happiness, or speed.

It is near impossible to predict weather no matter what time of year I go. It’s seems I always get slammed with unexpected temperatures high and low, or intense amounts of rain, threats of snow or ice. I get sidetracked by “whoops” moments that cost time and cause me to expel excess energy for no reason what so ever. I hem and haw once I’ve had a shower and it dawns on me I have to go back out there and stew in my own filth for an unknown amount of time before the next one. Plus, for God’s sake, so much of this is just about luck, proper execution at the proper time, making all the right decisions, flawlessly. That’s a tall order when you strike out against Mother Nature and yourself. You never know what she’s going to deliver, or how you’ll perform. You just pray for the best case scenario and to not get lost along the way.

At the same time, I’m acutely aware I’m attempting to compete against many people who train at elevation, a luxury I don’t have, leaving me handicapped coming from Florida. They literally metabolize oxygen differently than I do. They are running like Kenyans compared to me. To feel the confidence I would have liked on a third attempt, I would had to have been at least somewhat close to the time I was reaching for, 54 days. I was nowhere in the ballpark. I’d have to pick up my pace and be more than twice as fast. I may be asking my body to do the impossible. I’m not 25, not 35. I’m 45, soon to be 46. Recovery sucks on old bones such as these.

In fact, my health just generally sucks right now. I thought it would be good to give myself a couple months off from training and let my body heal, let life happen, but now I just feel fat and tired. In fact an entire additional month has passed by with me just being lazy. At this point I’m completely out of shape. The idea of hitting the gym and streets at 4AM for the brutal training schedule I once kept seems like a feat for giants. I’m not thrilled by the idea in the slightest, and have no idea how to get myself motivated again. I’m immersed in junk food, toxic stimuli, stressed out, bad sleeping patterns, bad habits sort of living. It’s nauseating. I look in the mirror and ask myself how I got here. My physique is completely not where I want or would need. If I do this again, it’s going to be a long, grueling struggle to get back to where I was. I feel like a blob. How the hell am I going to pull this off?

It doesn’t help that the support systems I had are starting to loose their luster. My boss isn’t exactly thrilled I would be gone yet again for months. My financial backers are probably a little less excited to back me, and my friends don’t treat my efforts with as much seriousness any more. Mentors tell me to give up the nonsense and start focusing on improving other areas of my life. I can’t say I blame anyone. I didn’t exactly reach my goal, again, and at this point it’s not looking good, but if world records were easy to achieve, everybody would have one. The way I see it, I knew when I got into this it may take years of attempts, and not everyone would understand what I was up against. I look to the world record held by Diana Nyad for swimming between Cuba and Florida. She made a ton of mistakes, learned to overcome them, but kept going. She analyzed her performance, made the necessary changes, and still faced new challenges with each attempt. She didn’t finally pull it off until she was 64 and five attempts in. I don’t think the average person appreciates what needs to be put into pulling a record off. It takes total dedication, but do I possess that gift? Do I have the ability to analyze myself properly and distinguish between whether or not I’m just being stubborn and not letting go of an impossible dream, or am I being strong and holding true to my desires? Who am I? What makes me think I’m on the right track? Because I’ll tell you what, nothing leaves your life suspended in mid air like attempting the impossible. I literally can’t move forward with the rest of my life. All my money, my time, my everything goes into this. So, I guess the question is am I really all in, or not? If I am, all other things in my life will continue to coast on autopilot until I finally get beat up enough to say it’s over, or win. Or do I put this behind me, and work on improving my current status and start thinking more about ways to secure my future, stop chasing dragons, this drug, hiking.

I literally hate giving up. I’ve stayed in hopeless situations before, and lost everything because I was too stubborn to just walk away. Is this another one of those moments? Or is this my calling? I’ll tell you what, nothing makes me feel more normal, more alive, than this quest. To give up and allow myself to be assimilated into the real world makes me shudder. Hiking isn’t an option, it’s a lifestyle. It’s my life. What am I without my wanderlust and competitive edge?