Wohoo!!!! i put in for vacation tiime...

“now i'm crossing my fingers.

In october I'm going to be hittin' the trail solo for 5 days. Location yet undecided but I have in narrowed down to a couple places :)”

“Where are you headed?”

“Depending on weather, I'm thinking NCT in Michigan

or some place in southern indiana somwhere (not sure yet where)”

“The Knobstone trail would be very nice for this length of a trip SC. It's in Southern IN and is about 46 miles long. 10 miles/day isn't too bad and it's quite nice scenery.”

“and lots of PUDS!”

“yes, but how is the water in october?

Will water need to be stashed?”

“When ya takin off???...I'm soooo nosey!!!”

“does any body know the water issue in late october? I really am considering this.”

“there is not a lot of water on the kt period. during wet seasons (such as october) you can find water. when meangreen and i hiked it this last spring we were muddy all day and had to cross tons of streams.

staging water is a reliable thing to do, however i believe with a little planning you ought to be able to hike the KT even in the hottest weather without staging water.

...basically if you look at a map of the kt, while the trail doesn't CROSS water a great many times it does come CLOSE to water a great many times. so if you are prepared to hike off trail a bit and plan ahead i think it would be manageable.

it's a beautiful trail and i can't wait to hike it again.

SC, did you look at crash's trip to the porkies? the bears miss you!
last edited: 7/19/09 5:14:41 PM”

“Somehow, I usually imagine you as always being on vacation...from both job and reality quickly coming to mind. Yuk-yuk”

“Yes, I looked. But I can't get time off nor the car for that time period.”

“I think I'll go ahead and order one of the maps.”

“for the kt?

it's a fairly short drive from chicagoland given the quality of the destination. the trail is very clearly blazed. we had no problems with blowdowns like the crazy year before.

meangreen and i want to hike it out-and-back in 4 days...unsupported. i was a cripple after hiking it in two days, but still it's possible. crash gave us support on our last effort. i think i would prefer to one-way it unsupported before i commit to a yo-yo hike like this, but with meangreen it's all good... :)”

“I am officially on vacation!
Chestpain is gone. No headache. Bags are almost packed.
I am feeling more at ease than I have in month. Tomorrow early morning off to the airport and a little hop across the pond. I am looking forward to see friends. I am looking forward to the hikes I got invited to. I am looking forward to all the things that I am going to see and do the next three weeks.”

“Cool.”

“I am all packed and set.
Ready to go to bed. Don't think sleep will come easy tonight. I'll probably spent most of the night tossing and turning.
Looking forward to leave tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn.”

“we leave on saturday for the keys, john pennekamp and bahia honda state parks, with the camper(with the ac). our friends are already there and the water is crystal clear. can't wait to do some snorkling and just kick back.”

“A/C in August in S. Florida?
I've got to get A/C for my teardrop.
The poor thing has just been gathering dust in the garage all this summer.”