Now that we have pushed our start date forward, we can no longer laze along in our preparations. We need some quick training in the force, so sent out the troops in search of the Yoda of hiking. The troops actually happened to be FB messages, and Yoda turned out to practically be in my back yard (digitally speaking) so we … well … seriously lucked out. Yoda is very excited to help us, and even has a craving to join us. That would just be cool! But either way, he has already regaled us with wisdom galore, and has much more to offer.
A few of the helpful hints we have already received:
- hairy feet does not qualify as good hiking boots.
- bringing a generator along is not considered good weight management.
- a king size bed and mattress is not really wise either.
- there will be no drive through windows to be found along the trail.
- delivery is possible, but don’t expect to have it in less than thirty minutes.
- you better really know your mushrooms.
- the Downtown Chicago on the map is just mapmaker’s code. Ignore it.
I personally think that our chances of a smooth hike are definitely growing with tips like this. Our Yoda will definitely get many mentions in the book, and will be at the very least a second-rate actor in the movie.
Seriously though, this type of undertaking is better for having others to guide us. I am in awe of those who were the first to attempt trips like this. Especially those before there were formal trails and stopover locations. Even an experienced hiker might miss small but important details when preparing for a trip like this, so Mark and I are very happy to have a pro on our side. He has already given us very useful information as to what equipment we will need, and some tips about things we never even really though about. And I kind of just started asking. Just having someone like this guide us makes me all the more sure that not only will we succeed at this, but do it WELL.
By the way, if anyone has used hiking equipment that their agèd body can no longer handle, or maybe their passage into responsible adulthood has made obsolete, but might help Two Hiking Idiots survive another day … we do accept donations! 
Maybe in the future, the Yoda will let us post his picture on here so that others will know we are not crazy and that we do have a true hiking guru in our corner. Yes, we are crazy, but this story is actually true…. honest! 🙂
My understanding is he is camera shy, so we might have to settle for legal affidavits haha
I would like to know who the guru is, but I’m glad Nathan’s tip about the camp stove thing was a good one.
Steve will have to light that stove each day……..cause all I saw was “Exploding Idiot….Flaming Idiot……Screaming Idiot…….” when I tried to picture myself using that thing. I don’t do well with anything involving an open flame. I don’t suppose they have microwaves scattered through the woods along the trail do they? 🙂
sure they do. They call it the sun haha
I can recommend socks. Lotsa socks. You can be soaked to the skin and freezing, but if your feet are dry, life’s a heck of a lot easier. And believe or not, your three best medical tools are a BIG roll of gauze, a BIG roll of duct tape, and super glue. Seriously. Outta that, you can make bandages for just about anything, slings and splints (God forbid), and patch up anything from clothing to gear to tents.
And if neither of you are averse to wearing weird gear, I can try to dig up two sets of my British web gear. They’ll give you two brick-sized pouches in front, a large (about 18″x18″, if I recall) pack for your back, and a smaller one (half that size) you can sling off either hip. And I think I’ve got two matching canteens – steel with removable canvas skins, so you can heat them up or chill them, unlike German canteens with the canvas skins permanently attached. Do a Google search for “Pattern 37 web gear”, or find photos of a WW2 Brit soldier – that should give you an idea. Let me know fairly quickly, though, ’cause I’m gonna have to dig them out of the storage unit.
I’d recommend a satellite phone, as well, but I won’t do so, ’cause I don’t want any 3am calls to ask if my refrigerator is running! :p 😀
Some good suggestions. Duct tape was on my list already simply because it is duct tape haha. I’ll get back to you on the web gear but it sounds very useful. Thanks for the hints. I think we can manage to hold all calls until a reasonable hour though 🙂
for hiking equipment: I don’t know if you guys have Mountain Equipment Coop in the states, but any similar outdoorsy clothing and equipment store should work. That type of store usually has an online gear swap (ie, garage sale of used gear/clothes/etc), like this one: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Community/GearSwap.jsp , so you can get some good used stuff for a lower price.
Also, if you guys happen to have access to a dehydrator, this – http://www.backpackingchef.com/food-dehydrator-recipes.html is a great site – the guy has done tons of hiking in the states, and has some great tips and tricks on food packing. I remember reading that he would have, on trails like the appalachian, dehydrated food packages mailed to post offices near his access points, to pick up along the way to continue the hike.
Thanks for the suggestions. We now have a couple of suppliers to look at. I haven’t thought about food yet … well that is not quite true. I am ALWAYS thinking about food haha. But that is definitely a useful site for our planning. Now we just need a dehydrator 🙂