Monthly Archives: March 2012

for the love of pulque

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A week till I’m walking. Holy crap.

Very nervous about my dodgy muscles and tendons, but feeling a bit more confident now I’ve cut the back off my right shoe and there’s no pressure on the tendon or heel. Seems I have Haglund’s deformity. So off comes the back of my shoe. No other option unless I want to do it in flip flops or barefoot! Roll on the ankle sprains.

Going to take the first 30 miles into Neel’s Gap very slowly, spending 5 days to do those 30 miles I hope, but I’ll do it in 20 if I need to!

My blog post on Easter Sunday will tell you all if I’m good to go or not.

One more week before saying hasta luego to my girlfriend, one more week of a comfy bed, one more week of hanging out and one more week of Mexican food and drink, one more week of warm weather, one more week of only having slightly stinky feet. Then 5-6 months of none or very little of the above.

Friday is my goodbye drinks. Los Insurgentes, Roma. Pulque, mezcal, good times. If you’re not living in Mexico or some hipster type who pays 1000% what you should in NY, you probably don’t know what pulque is. It’s a prehispanic fermented  maguey plant sap.  It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m quite a fan. Check this place out when you visit Mexico.

I will have a baggie of dried chile de árbol in my backpack to spice things up a bit while I’m away, though I’m going to be missing all things Mexican. If you feel like sending me a litre of mezcal or a couple hundred grams of tamarind while I’m away don’t hesitate to ask me for an address to send it to!

Off to Atlanta at 1:45 on Sunday. Yikes!

North carolina

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If I could sum up the last couple days on the trail this picture would be it. I have made it to the nantahala outdoor center, 137.3 miles in. having a great time. Smokey mountains in a couple of days.

-Joe (still no trail name)

Starting to settle in

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Where do I begin… My first three days back on the trail after my little break were simply amazing.

It was very very easy finding a ride coming out of Helen and back to the trail. I’m pleased with my hitching skills so far. (I didn’t even have a chick with me!) I continued to start my day of hiking and was overwhelmed by the amount of “trail magic” that I experienced.

*Trail magic is basically when you receive any kind of unexpected awesomeness related to the trail. It could come in the form of people handing out ice cold refreshments at a road crossing, someone giving you a ride to their house and cooking you a fresh meal, or even just a fellow hiker giving you something he doesn’t need.

It has been awesome to see how many good people are out on this trail. We joke around out here about it but it’s really just a bunch of different people, young and old, all doing the same thing, with little to know problems at all. Just walkin.

Anyways… I feel like I’m really starting to get a rhythm and the knee is feeling better. I’m taking it alot easier than when I started out, and my knees are definitely thanking me for that.

I just wanted to tell everyone I’m very thankful for the thoughts/prayers I cannot begin to tell you guys how much the support means to me. It keeps me going. Special thanks to Kirsten n Larry for the HUGE mail package. With Katie and you guys, I now have enough food to get me to Maine!

My next stop Is about 5 days from today… So expect an update then. (ok mom)

-joe

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I was gonna write up this funny post and update you guys but I’ll just be real. Im pissed.

Not because this trip is too hard, or I’m too wet, or cuz I’m bored. It’s because my knee (a problem that irritates me from time to time is back) I made it to neels gap, with no problems despite lots of rain and leaving a ton of gear at home. This included my trekking poles which I need to hold my tent up…and, of course, the shelters are packed! I have adapted this new bear gryllsian technique of using sticks to fold my tent up.

But anyways I am having such an amazing time out here and the reason I’m down in spirits is because I’ve been chillin at mountain crossings all day watching all these other hikers hike on while I’m stuck resting and waiting to retrieve my complete gear.

I just gotta remember that it’s a long journey and there’s time. Gotta keep my head up.

Joe

Chilanglés

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Below the Good Badger called me young badger. Young(ish) bugger, more like. Anyhow, one Grant Badger lives in my apartment block and it would be nigh on impossible to support two badgers in one concrete building. There just aren’t enough hidey holes.

So as you guessed it, I’m here to post my first entry on the Appalachian Trials website. One of many to come, I hope.

I’m really excited about this trip that I’ve wanted to make for about 12 years, but at the same time incredibly nervous about an old injury. Take it slow, youngish bugger, take it slow. It’s better one is strollingalong than yellow blazing back to the airport.

I’m a pretty inexperienced hiker, camped a ton of times, but with a car. Also I did the El Camino de Santiago a few years back. You can’t class that as hiking though. More of a 5 week long winebar crawl with hot flat fields in between each drink. It was 500 miles though, so continuous walking at least is familiar.

As my video way down below shows, I live in Mexico City. A beautiful city that has such a nasty stereotype, it’s really not what you think. Not that I “get it” or anything, but it’s been my lovely home for nearly 4 years now. It’s actually a great place to walk in, is way less polluted than you’d expect, and you’re never ever short of things to see and do, the food …. I could go on for a long time about this.

So yeah, walking. I’m not physically prepared because of an injury a couple months back, nor do I own a lot of gear. Gear’s just not an option down here, no choice, crap and at high high prices, so most of it I’m grabbing from REI in Atlanta and Mountain Crossings in Neels Gap in the 2 days before I hit the trail. I feel strangely tranquil about the whole thing though. Weird considering what a stress-fiend I am normally!

I don’t have a schedule, I haven’t planned a thing in terms of mileage and daily targets. I don’t need to, and would never. It’ll all go out the window on mile 0.5 anyway. I’m going to really just go with the flow. All I know is I’m starting April 4th.

Anyway, I’m going into this as open minded as I can be. I try to keep expectations out of big things like this and I’m definitely not looking for anything specific from of this trip aside from completing a dream and getting real nice buns.

Anyway, this is me.

Thank You

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So I was sitting in my room last night, tired, but most of all anxious as can possibly be-

When Zach (finally) set me up with everything I needed to set me lose and this website, everything started to become real. Though I had been planning/thinking about this trip for a loooong time, it always felt sort of like some fiction adventure that was never going to happen. Now, I am ready to go – I’ve moved out of Kelly Creek (the sick house me and 3 other guys lived in while I attended UCF) to move back in with my parents, I’v worked hard to trade out my old heavy gear to significantly drop my pack weight, I started my fundraising page, and I made a goofy award-winning video.

…Now, the time is almost here to step foot onto Springer and start this MUCH anticipated journey. (and I’m going crazy!) As my first post, I just wanted to take the time to give a big long sincere thanks to several people.

1.) Katie – The most legit fiance. Thanks for one, allowing me to follow my dreams. Two, supporting me like crazy during it. Three, Believing in me…and being hot.

2.) Mom – Thank you for your sick Facebook Stalking skills which ultimately led to me winning the Badger Sponsorship. 452 Likes!? No, I really ain’t that popular, I just got good family and an intense mom. Also, thanks for raising me to do big things. I love you, mom.

3.) Dad – Thanks for giving me work for the past 2 months. I was seriously overpaid for what I did, just want to say you are the most hard working/unselfish person I know and you have been my number one example for who I want to be when I grow up.

4.) Mike – I knew you would cry if I didn’t include you in this list.

5.) Rest of family/friends – Thanks for not thinking I am completely crazy for doing this (for the most part)…. I am blessed to have the support that you guys provide.

6.) Zach – Thanks for your emotional support. Your 100% right, it is worth over $24,000,000. I appreciate that you are willing to give back the support that was given to you, by offering to help a thruhiking newb like me. (oh, and your book was aight too.)

7.) Anybody I forgot – If I were to list every single person that I want to thank specifically on here it would take for-e-ver (Squints voice) cuz that is just how much everybody has been so great to me. This experience has been awesome already and I have not even left yet! I have you guys to thank for that.

8.) Anybody who will follow me on here – Im not the greatest blogger in the world (I’ve never blogged in my life) so my posts might be weird and not as legit as Zach’s. (so I appologize for that) But one thing that I can tell you guys is that I am EXTREMELY excited to share my trip with you guys, so you know there will be alot of energy when I update you (if nothing else). I am very passionate about this trip and having people to share it with makes it that much more enjoyable. Thanks.

Ok, Im done with all the mooshy crap. Now, the countdown begins….

Sincerely,

Joe (I dont have a sweet trail name yet)

Meet Your 2012 Appalachian Trail Bloggers

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Last year, I had a ton of fun sharing my Appalachian Trail thru-hike experience with you guys, and as much as I’d like to replicate that again in 2012, I have been struck with this bitter disease known as employment.

(Just kidding, I like my job, almost as much as I dislike living at home.)

So, I instead reached out to a couple of other 2012 thru-hikers to fill that void for us.

The first 2012 Appalachian Trials Blog Blogger (catchy, isn’t it?) is Jake Russell.  I first fell upon Jake’s website a month or so ago and was drawn to his goofiness and concise writing style.  Until he gets a real trail name, I will call him Young Badger.

The second 2012 Appalachian Trials Blog Blogger is Joe Jimenez.  You probably already know Joe, as he was the winner of the 2012 Badger Sponsorship (with 452 Facebook likes Joe, is the most popular person I know).  I’ve gotten the chance to chat with him a couple times already.  He’s a real good guy and is hiking the trail for a worthy cause (explained below).  You should check out Joe’s fund raising page and help him out if you can.

Jake and Joe will be sharing their journeys here on the Appalachian Trials Blog, so I thought we should take time to get to know each other a little better.  I asked each of the guys to provide a brief intro video.  They obliged. 

Without further ado, meet…

Jake Russell

and

Joseph Jimenez