JimmyJen checks in and talks about hiking!

I know that you hear more about resting from us and it's probably because we are so excited to rest after hiking everyday. Rest time is also when we are able to communicate with anyone. So enough about resting, here is a bit about hiking...

Our shortest day was 4 miles, longest day 15.9 miles. No sign of bears yet but we have seen a white tail deer, two snakes, and lots of worms and nasty bugs. A white butterfly flew directly into my face and I thought I was under attack. I inevitably began crying and got a big hug from Jimmy.

Albert Mountain was our hardest summit yet with an elevation of 5,220 ft. It had huge rocks with not many footholds and an old fire tower at the top. Magnificant views!! Standing Indian Mtn. was the highest elevation at 5,498 ft. but the trail took us up a bit slower than Albert so it wasn't as hard.

Setting up camp at night and breaking it down in the morning has given us a chance to work together and figure out each of our contributing roles. For example, Jimmy is good with the stove so he cooks. I am scared it is going to explode so I set up the tent. He usually washes out the pot but I will do it sometimes.....makes me feel like my hands are a little cleaner than usual. While Jimmy is cooking, I lay out our thermarests and sleeping bags. We bathe using wet wipes.

For breakfast we eat pop tarts, oatmeal, or grits. Lately, we've been mixing in instant mashed potatoes with grits if they are too runny. Lunch is small snacks throughout the day. Luna/Clif bars, slimjim, little debbies, sardines, chex mix, cheese its, you name it. Dinner is Ramen Noodles, Pasta Sides (Alfredo or Chicken flavor), or two boxes of kraft mac & cheese. From that, it varies very little. Needless to say, when we arrive to a town/hostel, eating at restaurants is our favorite thing to do. After a shower of course!!

So far, the weather has been great! It has only rained two of 13 days. But we are realizing exactly what "the grass is greener" really means. If it is sunny, it is dusty and hot and people say they wish it would rain. If it is raining, people say they can't wait to see the sun again to warm up. For me, sunny all the time is fine. Thunder and lightning is scary, hail hurts, and rain is very cold. Raingear is not that comfortable. But we will just take what we can get.

We have met some very nice people out here. Among them are Mountain Squid, Pacer, Johny Cash, Old Grey Mare, Jellybean, Low Gear, Green Bow, Crutch, Granny Frannie, Rayway, Big Toe and his wife Mrs. Toe, a girl who is hiking for Katrina relief, moonbeam, Si, Alex, and probably our favorite trail character....John Peterson who is a 70 year old photographer and second time thru hiker. He has lots of funny and interesting stories.

Other than that, hiking is hiking. Uphill, downhill, straight stretches, rocks, dirt, mud, clay, trees, flowers, it's all day everyday. Lots of time to talk or think. Our knees and feet hurt at the end of the day but our spirits are still very high. We talk to each other a lot about our state of mind. I am a bit slower than Jimmy so he walks behind me. We enjoy staying close so we can talk.

Jen a.k.a. "Bed Bug"