"Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone." "Of course you are, and I'm going with you."

Welcome to the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, Virginia. 

We are on a quest. What we want to find... no one really knows

Backpacks can be packed 2 different ways... comfortable and wrong. 

Tips for packing, all you really need is a pocket knife, nalgene, bandana and GORP. 

And probably a pack with a frame. (see photo above for the wrong idea). 

Trees are always prettier than you remember them being.  

Also these trees are so old, the seem like the are whispering in the breeze. 

Or maybe I have just been reading too much LOTR lately. 

Cody is a man. (see photo above for example) 

Putting up a tarp in theory always seems easier than it actually is. 

Rain flies should always be slanted downward, and so should the sleeping tarp. 

But maybe not so slanted that you slide down and off the tarp in the middle of the night. 

You always need sugar on hiking trips with lots of people. 

People get grumpy when their blood sugar level gets low. 

So lo and behold, our fearless leader cracks open a bag of Sour Patch Kids. 

The day was saved. 

This is not just a bagel sandwich. 

This is not just a bagel and cheese sandwich. 

This is not just a spam and cheese bagel sandwich...

It's a Luncheon Meat Pork Flavored Sandwich, grilled to perfection on a MSR backpack stove. 

We are too good to even have SPAM. 

Ain't got nothing on your sammies. 

Take that Rachel Ray

Here is a pretty picture of flowers to make up for the anger and mystery meat in the last post.

Sorry about that folks. 

 An old friend of mine once jokingly said, "to make any picture 'artistic' all you have to do is make one thing in focus while everything else is blurry." 

After looking at this picture, I think he is right. 

I mean, its just a stick after all. 

p.s. click on the picture to make it bigger and better. 

I posted another picture of trees for 3 reasons:

1. I hope no one forgot how much I love trees

2. To remind you of where these adventures took place

3. Trees are always prettier than you remembered 

These are feet. Your soul is in your sole. 

Five Fingers to hiking boots. 

Feet get you places. 

To end this post, I leave you with my smelly gear. 

No, I don't want to clean it. But thank you for asking. 

Rather than take out the rank clothes, wet shoes, dirty sleeping bag, crunchy bandannas, river water logged jackets, muddy socks and unpurified nalgene water, I have decided to write a hiking haiku:

gear always smells bad

when adventures come to close

assimilation. 

go take a hike, 

rach