On the Trail - The final journey north to Maine has started. My mom and dad dropped me off on Sunday at The Delware Water Gap and I started to follow the black bears and rattle snakes north. 

May 23 - Today I was scheduled to hike 12.4 miles from to Wildcat Shelter on the AT and hike 1.6 on a side trail to Greenwood Lake NY to resupply about 4 miles into my hike, I met a dog walker who out of the kindness of her heart offered me a ride to town! Yeah! No one really likes road walks or side hikes any way. So about 40 minutes later, which was only 1/4 mile to her car I got a ride to town, shopped at CVS pretty good selection and got a ride back to the trail. Since it is more convient for her, she is dropping me off 6 miles north of where she picked me up. Crazy Dog Walker Lady! So my plan is to leave my pack at the ice cream store and run 6 miles south and then turn around and run back 6 miles north to my pack and then hike 4 more to the shelter. So my 12.4 mile day just turned into a 18.4 mile day! "A good deed never goes unpunished," my punishment is 6 miles of extra hiking.

Mastering the art of cooking in your office

I bet you did not know you can cook the following items in a microwave or hot pot

• Hardboiled Eggs
• Fried Eggs
• Pasta or Quick Rice
• Oatmeal

Parking

The key to finding a place to park my truck is to be very familiar with the town parking regulation, limits, and traffic patterns. Since it is now winter and dark at 5:00 pm, living in the truck means I can go to bed early. Unlike the summer, when it stayed light until 10:00 pm or later it was more challenging. I typically park in a residential area with little or no traffic. I try to find neighborhoods of family's that are quite in the evening and morning. I also have to make sure there is not too many street lights so that I can go to sleep in the dark. I have to get to my truck late in the evening, so that no one sees me crawl into the truck and get up early enough that no one sees me leave. There are many streets close to campus that provide this opportunity. It is also nice to have friends on the campus and local police who recognize my truck, if necessary.

Worth Every Penny

I bought a gym membership for $419 at the university. The gym membership includes:

• Unlimited Showers and no water bill
• Unlimited Clean Towel, I never have to wash one again
• Free Cable TV from 5:30 am - 11:00 pm (with mild exercise)
• Hot Tub
• Pool, Weight Room, Track, and more  
• Free Wi-Fi

This comes out to $35 a month!

The Red Truck Challenge

Last May, my apartment lease ended. At this time; I have to decide if I wanted to renew my lease, I choose not to. At the end of May, I put my belongings into a friends shed and stored them for the summer. I gave most of my furniture and kitchen items away to friends who were moving into new apartments for the summer. I started living out of my truck, camping on the weekends, traveling a lot, and sleeping on friends couches. I thought by the end of August I would look for a room or house to rent, I just never got around to it. So, I continued to live out of my truck. So, I have challenged my self to sleep in my truck for 365 days! Currently I live in a 1999 Ford Ranger.

Blossom Lake

Blossom Lake is technically in Montana. This 3 mile hike is in the covered woods. Pear Lake is just as the guidebook describes it, a muddy gross pool of stagnent water.