Two of my best friends Matt and Hannah Abbotts are currently thru-hiking Pacific Crest Trail .  They started at the US-Mexico border in California and are north bound walking the 2650 miles into Washington.  Currently, they have traveled roughly 450  miles and are about to enter into Majove desert.  I’m really pumped for them and a little jealous. They are having a great time and are perfectly healthy. Can’t ask for more than that I reckon. They reported yesterday that most days have been 85-110 degrees with little to no shade.  They look forward to traveling up into the Sierras soon.  Here are a few pictures they sent to me.

I also want to say that we have been great friends for quite a few years now.  Which I am proud of not only because they are really good people that can give you a run for your money in a hot sauna any day of the week; but because they are truly living the dream of chasing adventure.  In 2008, Matt thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. In summer of 2009,  Hannah and Matt circumnavigated Lake Superior by kayak as partners (~1200 miles). This past winter they asked me to become a Minister online so I could marry them. I was and still am honored. So after 10 minutes on the internet I then joined their hands in marriage. Now they are a happy couple and hiking the PCT as Mr. and Mrs. Abbotts.  Please check out their website at www.asuperioradventure.com for daily PCT journal updates as well as journals from past adventures!

I have been playing around with a couple new stoves for the last couple of weeks. I am interested in using wood fuel because the stoves are generally extremely lite, simple and use a renewable fuel resource found on the trail  which eliminates the burden of carrying fuel from home. Here is a little run down on what I have learned so far… A couple weeks ago, I bought the Evernew ti DX multi fuel camp stove that burns  wood, alcohol or solid fuel tablets.  It’s mainly engineered to be used as an alcohol stove. However, the cylinder shaped windscreen/potstand can be also used as a mini wood burning stove in a pinch. The whole kit weighs just over 3oz which is crazy lite. When the cylinder is used with wood fuel, it acts exactly like a mini “burn barrel” with the chimney fire effect. The holes around the bottom edge of the cylinders allows air to flow into the heart of the burning fire and then escape up through the holes around the top of the cylinder and below the cook pot.  This Evernew stove boils a couple of cups of water in roughly 8 minutes. However due to the small diameter and height of the cylinder; the  stove must be babysat and fed small sticks constantly which gets annoying. So I prefer to use the Evernew DX set soley as an alcohol stove  and having the wood option as backup. I plan on using this system in the summer months when  stove time will be minimal.

More fuel is needed in the snowy winter season rather than summer  because snow must be melted into drinking water on a daily basis. It is more efficient to use readily available wood as fuel in the forest rather than store bought alcohol fuel.  So to overcome this obstacle, I looked around on the internet at what other people have come up for homemade woodstoves. I came across John Falk’s website called “Trail Gear”. On his site I found photos of the “compact wood stove”.  It intrigued me because of its simplicity. No moving parts, no batteries, no blowers and a large fuel capacity. My father and I also watched some videos of the stove in action on YouTube. We decided to try to make one ourselves out of some old cans in the barn.  This is what we came up with  tin-snips, step drill and Thirty minutes.

The stove works outstandingly well. Weighs only 6 oz. The upper “soup” can is removable and fits inside of the lower “paint” can that then fits inside of my cooking pot.  An alcohol stove is also compatible with this system by  using the lower can by its self as a pot stand/windscreen around the alcohol stove tucked inside.  This stove is bigger than the Evernew stove that I bought which is the key difference. It can be stoked with 1 by 8 inch  sticks by  pushing them into the feeding hole located on the side. The larger fuel capacity also allows the stove to be stoked at longer intervals. I am a huge fan of this cooking system and will be using it often. I may even start taking it to work to make hot lunches…!

Please check out John Falk’s website www.trailgear.org for more information, pictures and online store. He has great ideas.

Starting two weeks ago I came down with the flu that then turned in a sinus infection which has now turned into a pretty harsh cough. However, the bright side is that I am getting healthier as time goes on. I reckon that I will be feeling 100% sometime next week. As of right now I still have to sleep sitting upright because I cough uncontrollably if horizontal.

Other updates include a new campstove purchase made by Evernew and new insoles made by SuperFeet. I will work on writing a post for each this weekend. Work has been pretty crazy. Some days we end up working 21 or 22 hour days. I can honestly say its the most difficult job I have ever had because it involves solely hard physical labor with hand tools. I use three tools for the entire job; a shovel, a sledge hammer and  a rake. The past two weeks have been even more difficult due to my poor health. I looking  forward to the weekend! It should let me catch up a little bit I think.

More soon.

-Samuel

Well the season has started for land reclamation (a.k.a.- reclaiming disturbed land-or better yet- landscaping on a big scale). It is my first season with G & J Siltfence Inc.. This company is similar to the company I worked for in Colorado last season. However, the big difference is that instead of running heavy equipment, we install silt-fence. It is the black fabric fencing around construction sites used to retain silt during run off.  So, to put it simply, I traded in the drivers seat for a sledge hammer to make  money.

This job works well for me because it is seasonal and thus fits my preparation schedule for the hiking project next year. It will allow me to put away enough money for over half of my trek budget of $16,000 plus cover my all of my college loan payments, insurance and phone bills. The only reason this job allows for this to work is that there is an endless amount of hours available.  One drawback is that it takes away time away from other areas of my life but so far has worked well with physical training. This is because the job is heavily physically labor intensive all day, every day. I have had great progress with my training by following up after work with a hour run or 3 hour bike ride or strength training in the gym or swim/surf days. I try to make training as fun as possible and so far its been working very well.

Alright enough is enough-more soon.

-Samuel

I met with the N.C.T.A. directors earlier this week at their office in downtown Lowell, MI. The people I met were all very friendly and helpful. I recommend that you stop in there and check out it out. They provided information on the current status of the trail sections, navigation data and a list of other resources that should prove very useful in putting together the my NCT thru-hike game plan.

This week I am going to use the GPS data points that they provided to good use on Arc GIS. This program allows me to put the data points onto layers of my choosing to create custom maps. This will no doubt prove extremely handy in this North Country Trail adventure.

I want to thank the N.C.T.A. for the support. -Samuel