Homer's Travels: Weekly Ephemera #24

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Weekly Ephemera #24

What a week
  • On Wednesday I went out to lunch with Mom.  We used a gift card the Wife got from one of her parents as a gift. 
  • A couple hours after I got home I started feeling strange.  Later feeling strange became feeling sick.  I had a mild fever and body aches.  My strength went up and down like a roller coaster for the next three days.  Saturday I started to feel much better.  Not 100% but closer.   Since I was only two weeks away from going back to the Appalachian Trail (AT) I was really hoping I didn't have anything that would linger too long.
  • I didn't sleep well Wednesday night.  I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well and I realized that the AT was only two weeks away and I kind of had a mini-panic attack.  I realized I had to get my resupply boxes ready and in the mail by next Tuesday to guarantee they would be waiting for me.  So the next morning, for the limited hours when I felt ok, I packed my boxes.  I soon realized that two boxes would not be enough so I changed my resupply plan slightly and added a third box so they wouldn't be over full.

    Besides food I went through all the other things (such as first aid gear, water purification, food preparation, etc.) and found a few things I need to replace or replenish.  Some of the things I'll be carrying will have some serious mileage on them.

    I treated my hiking clothes and shoes with permethrin.  Permethrin is a long lasting insecticide for clothing.  It usually lasts four to six weeks so should last my entire AT hike and should help keep the ticks away.

    The last thing I looked at was my third stop on the trail.  Before I could mail my boxes I had to make a choice between Kingfield which had good services but was 18 miles (29 km) away from the trailhead or Stratton which was only 5 miles (8km) away but was smaller.  The issue is cell service.  If I had no cell service I could walk to Stratton but Kingfield would be out of my walking range.  I checked out the cell coverage in the area for my carrier and contacted a hostel owner about the cell coverage in the area.  She didn't have the same cell company that I do but she said coverage was usually good there and suggested trying from the top of the hill before going down to the trailhead.  I decided to go with Kingfield.  I will be spending two nights there and a bigger town would be nicer.

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