East Hills Update - Halfway House Fiasco

Had a big dirty old white pine come down on our bath house last week. Judging by the snow on the side on the trunk it came down before Friday's storm. The damage was pretty minimal, only one structural beam cracked. That should be easily fixable by patching in a section of 2 by 10 onto it. The tree came down with such force that the top beyond the building sheered right off. It punched 4 inch diameter branches right through the roofing. the post and beam construction held up surprisingly well. We are lucky it wasn't an oak that came down, the results would be much different. I knew i was spending my Sunday in the woods with a chain saw, I didn't think I would spend part of it on a roof dealing with white pine.

The bath house stood up surprisingly well considering.

Top section sheered off upon impact.

The only damage to a structural element, roof joist where tree connected with house.

Branches punched through the roof.

Crest of the roof where tree hit, after cutting the tree off.

Holes left by the branches.

We took a large tarp and covered the whole roof to wait until warmer weather to fix.

Building a Backpack - Part Two

The backpack is nearing functional completion. I initially based the geometry on another backpack I own,  but I extended to sides to five inches three more than the width of the base dimensions. This change had a huge effect on the backpack shape and feel. Its a lot bigger than I had intended. I wanted a flap to go over the top but eventually I settle for a top cinching system. This was the easiest to sew, using some paracord to tighten the opening. 

Work shirt sewn together at the buttons and bottom, used as backpack lining.

Hand-stitched gap where waistline fell short.

Eventually I will go back and re-do the geometry so that the bodies perimeter is the same as the original waist line of the pants. This way the button can stay fastened and not cinch the bag, it'd be more of an aesthetic feature.

Shows the cinching problem with the waistline.

For fun stitching on the side pockets.

Getting the loop and shoulder straps right took some thinking and about 5 tries. Notice all the scrap thread from re-dos.

Machine sewn strap support tab, form strength.

Showing the contrast lining and original ORVIS label. I may remove or modify this label.

Building a Backpack - Part One

So one of the things I have been contemplating, since getting off the AT, is building gear. In consolidating my belongings I figured I should have a designated bag for project and art supplies. Though the original thought was to create lightweight backpacking style packs, this bag would make for good practice.

I have done quite a few sewing projects before, but this would be the most adventurous. I also believe this pack to be a test platform I can iterate on over time.

The material would come from an over sized pair of khakis left over from my ska days, and an extra large navy work shirt I bought for my juggalo costume one Halloween. It was a bit of a guess if it'd be enough material, but I would size the pack appropriate to what I had.

The pants are what I can only describe as duck pants. They have leather accents on the pocket openings. Every seem was cut using a razor and the bits were laid out to see what I had. The large swaths of textile that is the legs would be the body of the bag. I figured the waist line would make one good shoulder strap and I could piece together a second. From the legs I had extra here that would make both straps. The back pockets would be flat on the outside of the pack. The front pockets get reversed and used as side pockets facing forward. This is a tribute to the water bottle side pouches found on many backpacking packs.

Back pockets

Front pockets

Al the bits and pieces after tear down.

April 11th - 38 - Lost Mountain Shelter to Cove Mountain Shelter 500 mile mark!

As I utilize the privy, I notice someone spent quite a lot of time, and two sharpies, writing the entire Lorax on the inside walls. I leave feeling surprised, impressed, and relieved. Hiking today about 17 miles over Buzzard Rock, Mt. Rogers, and the Grayson Highlands.

The sun came out for a warm but windy lunch at Buzzards Rock. Live, Vegemite, Owl, Scrambles, Haiku, Wiffle & Tuesday are all here enjoying a break.

White blaze on Buzzard Rock

Grayson Highlands State Park is a great hike, but the loose softball sized rocks make the trail tough. I decline Mt. Roger's offer of taking the half mile side trail to the summit, instead take a longer break at the shelter for eating. The park offers wide open expanses of high country used at one time for grazing. This section in some places really reminded me of Montana, mainly how brown or tan everything is. I passed two or three groups of scouts throughout the park. Just before Cove Mountain Shelter, I cross over the 500 mile mark on my trek.

Noodles and Biscuit are the only other hikers here tonight.

April 10th - 37 - Damascas, VA to Lost Mountain Shelter
No hurry to get out of town today. I am undecided on my plans. Live is hiking two more nights before his family meets him for a few days off. Dan has some alternate hiking routes planned, like southbound from 30 miles out. Ill keep hiking for now, everything hurts but that's become more of the constant state out here. I delay the town exit with a lunch at subway and a milkshake from the ice cream place.

It's about 1pm when I am finally on the trail. The hike up and out of town is not as bad as others. The At follows the Virginia Creeper Trail, sometimes on the wide old dirt railway other times on hilly single track above the Creeper.

At the shelter there are quite a few groups of sectioners, and two other thrus; Noodle and Biscuit. I share some PBRs I hike out of town with a young veteran from Florida. He talks about the war in Iraq and we share stories of the trail. Its a good mix of people here tonight.

DIY Corian Cutting Boards

I bought this chunk of Corian at a counter top shop nearby. It measured 21" by 27", and cost me $20 cash, not sure if I got a good or bad deal but it fit my budget. Corian is an engineered material by DuPont, and to my knowledge makes a good cutting board. I have a large oval Corian block that is about an inch thick and could be used itself as a weapon. 

I ended up getting 3 cutting boards and a little scrap. I had never worked Corian before, but it does so much like very uniform hardwood. 

Initial design drawn on rough side of cutting board

The handle of each board is a letter J, this is a gift for a cousin with first initial J. So the concept is custom monogrammed boards. I got a little carried away and put a quasi wrought iron swirl into the pattern. I drew the patterns on the non finished side of the board. 

Holes first for alignment, then jigsawed remaining material.

After using a compass to make the rounds, I punched the centers to line up the hole saw. I started on the handle first, before cutting the length, so if I botched the handle I could cut it off and start over. A centering hole was drilled and also one on the inside radius of where the handle meets the board. The hole saw was next. A jig saw with a thin scroll saw blade was used to cut the inside of the handle and the excess material on the outside. I then used the round carving bit on a Dremel groove to outline the handle and outside of the board. If i did it again, I would router the grove before cutting out the hole so you can use a compass jig and the centering hole. The other carving and sanding bits where used on the Dremel to round and shape the swirl and edges. All of the surfaces and edges the user could touch where hand sanded with 120 to 220 grit paper. 

Used a Dremel to router outline and carve detailing.

I relatively happy with the finished product, handles match up nicely when stacked.

The largest board, with an 11" x 15" cutting surface, has two J handles. The the other two boards are 9"x 12" and 7" x 9".

April 9th - 36 - Abingdon Gap Shelter to Damascas, VA
With only ten miles planned on today, it is a pretty leisurely wake up sequence. Its closer to ten than nine when I start hiking. Dan is meeting his family a few days from now so he is ahead of his schedule. At this, in effect, one quarter point on the trail, realities of the thru-hike are in full swing. I can eat anything and hike all day if I choose. But choose is the best part of the trail for me. There are so many choices and iterations, almost any decision can be made, it'll all work out. 1716.4 miles left to hike. A number that seems just as long as 2185.3, but there is a finality now. It's taken me a month and a few days to get here, I could probably finish the trail before September. I can thru-hike.

Crossing into my forth and longest state.

Dan and I eat at the Blue Blaze Cafe first thing into town, Dorothy shows up and eats before heading back out onto trail. He is ahead and zero-ed in town yesterday. I knew him mostly by his real name, but eventually picked up the trail name Dorothy for carrying pink crocs on the outside of his pack.

After milling around town for a while, we head up towards the Woodchuck Hostel, definitely on the list of worthy hostels. Woodchuck, himself, is a previous Thru from Kalispell, Montana who moved to Damascas recently to be closer to the trail. As a previous denizen of Bozeman, MT, I am excited when he pulls up to the house still sporting his blue Montana plates. "It's full tonight" he says, so I rent a chunk of yard space for my tent and take a shower for 8 or 10 bucks. Blink, Haiku, and Live-n-learn are here. I meet Young Beard and Sunshine for the first time as well. There's also Hieko, the German, and White Sauce, the southbound hiking, massage therapist.