Preparations 2024

In almost two weeks, we’ll step foot on the Appalachian Trail for the third time.  This long section that we’re planning to do, we will be headed north (NOBOS) and will start in southern PA and God willing, will go almost as far as the New Hampshire/Maine border.   

Preparations as we try to plan and organize for life on the trail for three months can be very hard and complex.  There are so many details to work out, new equipment to buy, and arrangements to be made, but at this point, I think we’ve figured out as much as we can.  As is with life, things come up, so you can’t plan for everything.   We have so many people to thank (listed below) that have helped us or plan to help while we’re on the Appalachian Trail. 

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 We have officially broken up.  Those who have followed us on past adventures know I had a love-hate relationship with my trekking poles.  After two years of consistent issues, it is time for me to move on.  I ended our relationship and will be starting anew with brand new poles, affectionately known as “Trail Buddy” – hopefully this is a much better relationship and there won’t be any on-going issues as was in the past.   Time will tell – hopefully it wasn’t ME that was the problem!

Y’all! I am really worried about coming upon another rattlesnake! I wasn’t prepared the first time and am so thankful nothing happened. But what do you do if you’re far away from civilization and you get bitten? How does one prepare for this? I’ve read that the rattlesnake kits don’t work, not to suck the venom out, don’t put a tourniquet above the wound – the only thing they say is to call for help immediately.  Thankfully our Garmin GPS has SOS capability.  But what if help can’t get to us for a long, long time? OH! MY! GOODNESS! KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS!

 It’s happened again, it was so easy, we didn’t even have to try very hard.  We’ve put on additional body weight.  We all know this is good for FROG as he will lose 25 pounds or more, but his sidekick who will walk the very SAME number of miles as he does, will hardly lose anything.  Yeah, yeah, women build muscle, hah! I think I must be the exception to the rule!  It’s been 2 years since our last walk and I am still upset about this - I really think I need therapy -know any good therapists out there?

You won’t catch me wearing only my “birthday suit” this time! I made sure to pack my bathing suit for those hot spring baths we may come across again.  No way I am going to expose myself to those that may have binoculars again!

I may or may not have added more clothes and another pair of shoes to my backpack.  Shhh, it’s just between you and me, FROG doesn’t need to know.  I mean seriously, how can you expect a woman to wear the SAME two outfits for 3 months?!

Our Box is ready to Bounce!  Our bounce box (the box that follows us each week from post office to post office with necessary items such as: clean clothes, detergent, coins, soap, shampoo, etc) has been put together and ready to be shipped to our first stop.  FROG has informed me that our first week will be one of our longest ones (this trip) without a shower -- 7 days – did ya’ll hear that, 7 days without a shower! So … we will be in BIG need of that box! For all involved at the end of our first week – PRAY THAT OUR BOX DOESN’T GET LOST!

We have gotten so lazy:

(1)   No more Bernoulli’s Principle!  We had air mattresses that we blew up using Bernoulli’s Principle (all those that love Science like my FROG does, knows exactly why we had to have this particular air mattress!), instead we have gotten an accordion-style pad to just simply open up and throw on the tent floor.  It’s not as thick as our Bernoulli’s mattress but hopefully our choice for a simple pad won’t make us mad but ohh so glad.

(2)   We bought a camouflage jet!  We’re going to be so fast you won’t even see us! Hah, one can dream! We bought a camouflage “JetBoil” cookstove, it’s supposed to heat up our water in much less time than our other cookstove.  That means we can get to our 3-course meal that much quicker – our dehydrated spaghetti, dehydrated green beans, and our snickers bar!  We might be smelly, but we’ll have a full belly!

No more down flying all around! Our sleeping bags both had holes which have been sown and repaired – thank you Wardie Turner.  We will think of you as we drift off to sleep all snug as a bug in a rug.

We’ve been practicing! Backpacks are all packed and getting a test-run – INSIDE OUR 500 SQ FT HOME! Do you know how hard it is to walk around a small area, both wearing our full pack and trying not to bump into each other or the walls and doorways? Not an easy endeavor!  If we can handle this, we will be able to handle any small space we need to get through! WE’RE FROG & FAITH, WE’VE GOT THIS! BRING IT ON!

THANK YOU to our very own personal TRAIL ANGELS:

(1)   Beth – has agreed to take a bus (I hope her experience is not as horrible as ours was!) to meet us at the trailhead, hike with us a few miles, and then return home in our vehicle and to keep it and our belongings safely at her house while we’re gone.  AND her generosity continues as she has agreed to send out some resupply boxes and to be our “go-to gal” if we need anything while on the trail. 

(2)   Natalie (who we haven’t met yet) has offered us beds, showers, and meals in her home, free of charge, at the start of the trail so that we could have a good night’s sleep and our “last supper” before we head out.

(3)   Jessica, Tracy, Miranda (Ken), and Sam, Meagan, Kimi – all volunteered to send resupply boxes to us along the way.  Well, the first three volunteered wholeheartedly, I think we may have coerced the last three into it!   It’ll be like Christmas, we can’t wait to see what y’all come up with!

(4)   Robin & Dave and Judy have offered their homes for rest, relaxation, food and showers and to be our personal chauffeur and take us wherever we wish to go.   You have no idea how much your hospitality will mean to us!  Thank you doesn’t seem enough.

(5)   Nightly check-in crew: David, Suzanne, Ann & Hugh, Beth, Ryan, Miranda, and Ann W.   Thank you so much, Brian, for getting our Garmin and iPhone to finally connect so that we have the capability to contact home nightly.  There’s so much comfort in knowing family (& friends) are only a phone call away. 

(6)   Ann & Hugh who have volunteered to pick us up at the end of the trail no matter where we end up and to walk some of the trail with us.  You two are simply the best and really brave to want to be at the end as we finish our journey after not showering for multiple days! You may want to make sure you have masks handy!

(7)   Maryann & George – who may bless us with their presence (presents: FOOD?!) during one of our stops.  We so hope it works out; we’d love to see you (with or without food)!  Any more takers on meeting us on the trail?  

(8)   Sam & Todd, who have agreed to bring in our mail and take care of any important items that arise during our absence. We are so thankful God brought y’all into our lives!

(9)   Our Sunday School class at Oakwood Baptist in Texas that will be praying for us and our safety.  Remember, pray about those rattlesnakes (& bears, while you’re at it!)

(10)Thank you, Twylah, who will be trimming our hair and making us look good (or attempting to anyway) for the start of our hike – can you plan to meet us throughout so that we always look this good?

(11)A HUGE thank you to our Facebook support team (you’re all trail angels to us!) that will be following our journey and that have promised prayers, support, encouragement, and messages along the way.  Your comments mean the world to us! We may not be able to respond to all the comments, but we read every single one and it really does motivate and encourage us to keep moving forward one step at a time.  We have the best support team around!

And lastly, thank you to George, Margie, and Beth Ann that gave us suggestions on our new name that I’ll be using for our blog.  We have incorporated all the suggestions – it’s a mouthful, but here GOES … 

A footpath of Faith: Our blog as we FROG, and share our tales on the trail, 

in our OBOZ going NOBO as exHOBOS