Daniel Boone Nat'l Forest / Red River Gorge

Biostatistics is over! I don't know how, but I managed to get an A. I am not sure I can tell you much about biostatisticss other than what a "p value" is and how to use it to reject a null hypothesis (and I am not going to try and explain it here in case you were worried - I just wanted to throw out the nomenclature to sounds all smart and stuff). After one day off, we are back in full swing with three classes over the next eight weeks. The only class of any interest will be pathophysiology. Basically, the study of human diseases, or "what happens when normal physiology gets whacked and off kilter". You know, physiology, the only class so far that I got a B. Grrr.

So, since this weekend had not been punctuated with exams, papers or assignments yet, I did what I always do: go hiking and camping solo (tangentialtal thought: why when I live in Chicago which is no where near anything friendly towards my outdoor interests, all my friends camped and hiked and did cool stuff. Now that I live at the doorstep of nature, I have no friends that want to come play? Ironic) Back to the update: This time I went to the Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Climbers will know that this is (or was, b/c now the New River Gorge is all the rage) the premier climbing location to go to east of the Mississippi. I have planned to go to the Gorge for years and I finally made it (sorry Michelle!). But I just hiked and camped, no climbing (I am waiting for Michelle). Here are some of the highlights:

Attacked by crickets on the Big Turtle!
The Sheltowee Trace is a 278 mile trail that starts 10 miles south of the KY border in TN and ends at the northern KY/OH border. The entire length of the trail is blazed with a white turtle, since Sheltowee means Big Turtle. Based on my experiences this weekend, a cricket would be more appropriate. While hiking the ST in the Gorge area, I was attacked by thousands of killer crickets. OK, the real story is that there were many, many crickets hopping around and when I would get in the way of that hopping they would slam into my legs. So, I guess I wasn't attacked per se, nor were they trying to kill me, but there were so many hopping around that it actually sounded like it was raining. I remember hearing somewhere (probably the visitor's center) that Sheltowee was the name the Shawnee Native American's gave to Daniel Boone. But why they called Boone the Big Turtle is what I want to know. I don't think I would have been flattered.

Where is Jane?
While on this little hike, I came across a huge rock outcropping (at least 20-25 feet tall) and some swing ropes. On my way back, there were sunbathers on the rock and kids swinging off the rope and into the water. Much to my amazement, the sunbathers starting jumping off this huge rock and into the water. They did an assortment of back flips, back flops and random Tarzan-like moves. I was so tempted to shed my clothes and join them (I was wearing a bathing suit people - I knew it was going to be 94 degrees that day and I was going to be by a river - I was prepared!). I am not sure why I didn't join in on the fun, but I am definitely going back. Oh, interesting side note: one of the guys jumping off ropes and cliffs had the EXACT same Hebrew word (translated to Jesus the Messiah) tattooed on his ankle that I have tattooed on my wrist. I was floored. We also had the same reason for doing it in Hebrew: it is the Jewish scholarly and Biblical language, which is the root of our Christian beliefs. It was a good thing they matched so one of us wasn't walking around with "Don't forget to walk the dog" tattooed on our bodies.

Somehow the Red River just doesn't exude "wild"
So I am not sure where I got this perception that the Red River was this wild river with steep cliffs on either bank and crazy climbers scuttling up every crack and crevice that could be found and marked. But the river itself (at least what I saw of it) is tame and so low that kayakers had to hike lengthy distances in it because it was to shallow. There were the occasional outcroppings, but they were not the norm. Mostly it was just a muddy, slow, low stream easily waded through. All the cliffs are off in the rest of the forest, which is where you will find the hard-core climbers. There is something very cool about driving through the forest, looking up at a distant rock face and seeing microscopic climbers doing multipitch climbs. Total respect.

My philosophy of camping
I decided during this trip that campers like to bring their conveniences of home out to the woods with them. They come to "relax" and "get away form it all", yet they haul load after load from an SUV the size of some small countries to their site, laden down with everything from huge tents the size of the Taj Mahal, stoves on legs, home sized air mattresses, coolers of food and I kid you not here, a generator. Activity around the campsite related to setting up, cooking a meal, and going to get cleaned up at the showers. This causes one to think where is the relaxing in all this? Where is the getting away from it all? Perhaps we need a little lesson in simplicity and the real relaxation that it brings when we do not have to worry about our stuff or keeping ourselves occupied every minute of the day. Look at the trees and the stars, listen to the animals, stir the fire if you need to move around, and just enjoy the company of your friends or the solitude of your thoughts for a change.

Small world with a Kenyan connection
I left the Boone early enough to have time to shower, eat breakfast and go to church - something I was looking forward to after being out in the woods enjoying creation (and did I mention it is one mere hour away from my front door?). I saw in the bulletin a listing of folks that were going on mission trips in the summer. On the list was a woman going to Tenwick Hospital in Kenya. That is the exact same hospital my advisor is sending me to on my rotations! Of course I wanted to meet her if I could but I am new and don't really know anyone, so I was going to have to ask around to see if anyone could point her out to me. A few minutes later a couple sat down and during announcements I leaned over and asked if she had been going to the church a while and then asked if she knew Valerie Phebus. She looked at me and said, "I am her." Turns out that she is in the PA class of 06 at my school (so she is about to graduate)! We talked awhile after the service and she gave me her contact info so that I can pester her with questions when she gets back. How cool is that. Then this conference at a confrence I met an Indian man who grew up in Kenya. He was so excited that I was going to go that he gave me his sisters name and e-mail so I could look her up when I was there and stay with tem (apparentforeigny house forgien medical students all the time - as he and his entire family and children are all doctors). Where does his brother-in-law work? Did you guess it? He runs the hospital. Some say coincidence - I say not.

OK, that is all for the update. Dive Rescue SCUBA training had to be put on hold - the ankle couldn't bear my weight and be able to haul an "unconscious" diver out of the water while both of us were wearing fins, tanks, etc. However white water rafting is being planned for sometime in July in the New River Gorge! School? I'm in school? I moved here to camp, hike and be outdoors.

Paz,

J

Cankle Update

After one week of much bruising, swelling, and sleepless nights due to increased pain, I decided to seek medical advice on my cankle (an ankle so big it is just an extension of the calf). The Dr. grabbed, twisted, slid, inverted and everted my ankle so much that I actually cried. I can hear him in his head saying, "Does she really need an x-ray or is she just faking the limp?" Well, I got three x-rays and we are break/fracture free. Just have to wear an air split for 1 month... sexy!

Hiking the AT20 miles down, 2,155 miles to go

Another exciting installment here from Lexington, KY. Now that cadaver lab is over, I have had to find other amusements for myself - because certainly telling you all statistics tidbits is not nearly as exciting. Although, I have learned the statistically best way to bet on horses. Seriously, the chair of the department of statistics is my bio stats professor and she imparted this wisdom during our last class session which was on probability. She said that you wait until about 2 minutes before the bets are closed for a race and then as soon as the Las Vegas odds come in you bet on the horse that had the largest odds change in favor of winning. She didn't explain how and why this is the best, but I take her word for it. Nothing like real-world examples on odds and probability stats to keep it relevant. ;-)

So what are the odds that if a person goes hiking on the Appalachian Trail (AT for those in the know, whose entire length is "blazed" by white rectangles to keep backpackers on the right path) by themselves, that they will remain alone for a period of more than 30 minutes? I can tell you from experience - the odds are not good so don't bet on it. Solitude is not a word you use to describe the AT during Memorial Day weekend. Monday I realized I had a three day weekend coming up and no plans. On a whim I decided to go hike the AT since I live relatively close to it now (6.5 hour drive vs. Over 13 from Chicago). I went to my favorite friendly outdoors outfitter, got some first hand advice on where to go and what to see (they pulled out all these maps, sat on the floor, spread them out and went to town telling me about all the cool things to see). I ended up buying a topo map of the Jefferson National Forest in VA. I planned a 22 mile loop, 20 miles of it on the AT itself. I hadn't even left the trail head parking lot when I met a couple that was there to do an overnight backpacking trip to celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary. Half of their route overlapped mine and so off we went together. Tom, the husband, was a Boy Scout Master and knew the area like the back of his hand. Armed with his knowledge and combined with his gift of story telling and my love to hear stories, I was entertained and educated on backpacking in this area for the first 5 hours of the hike. Within 500 yards on the trail, we ran into more hikers heading north (the common direction for most thru-hikers who are those crazy breed of folks that decide to hike the entire AT - all 2,175 miles of it, from Georgia to Maine, non-stop, which usually takes 4-6 months). I learned that thru-hikers have trail names. During the course of the weekend I met Librarian, Hog Harley, Hammock, Tree Frog, and Show-Me.

Backpacking (hiking with a 20-40 lb. back pack that contains all your food and gear to camp for several days/weeks in the wilderness without returning to civilization for supplies) is a subculture within those who love to be outdoors. But within the backpacking subculture there lies even more subcultures: those who hike the AT, especially those who thru-hike; those who use alcohol stoves rather than the traditional lightweight backpacking stoves (the bottoms of two soda cans fit together with some holes in it, in which you pour rubbing alcohol and light it on fire - only good for boiling water very slowly at low altitudes); then the even stranger subcultures are those who make their own alcohol stoves and other miscellaneous gear; and those who do not use traditional tents but tarp tents (I have no idea what this is as I have not actually seen one yet). I have never met a group of people that can talk about things in terms of how many ounces they weigh for SO long. But, if you had to backpack 2,175 miles with all you could possibly need on your back, you would make sure every ounce was absolutely necessary, too.

Some other neat things I learned about hiking in general - or specifically about the AT:

At specific points (trail heads and wilderness entrances) there is a "sign-in" box. You write your name (real or trail), date entered the area, methods of travel, number in party, etc. This is how the park service tracks hikers in case there is someone missing. Hikers also use this to track progress of other hikers - to see if someone has passed through and when - tracking how far behind someone they are as they often get to know each other on the trail.

Every 8-9 miles on the AT is an adirondack, a three sided log shelter with a raised platform that generally sleeps 6 hikers. Some are "double deckers" and are lovingly referred to as the Hyatt. You sleep in these if you don't have a tent. They are usually the social hot spots on the trail where you share food, borrow supplies, swap stories, compare ounces on equipment, admire homemade alcohol stoves. They also attract mice because this is where food is made, dropped, and stored. Mice will eat through your expensive backpack to find your nibbles - including toothpaste or anything else that has a scent. SO, everything comes out of the pack, gets hung up on "mice ropes" that are hung from the ceiling with coffee can lids on them to keep the mice from climbing down the ropes. Also in these adirondacks are notebooks that hikers write tips/info/thoughts in. Good water sources, mice issues, etc. One entry that made me smile was from an Aussie the night before I was there: "the moon was full and the night sky cloudless - I woke up in the middle of the night wondering who left the lights on it was so bright." People leave all kinds of things they no longer need in the adirondacks such as they tear out whole chapters of books they have read with notes on what shelter the next chapter will be in for those reading it after them (remember, a chapter in a book might weight several precious ounces, that once read, is no longer needed and therefore left behind).

There are sections of the Jefferson National Park that have wild ponies wandering around that you frequently stumble upon. But don't be fooled by the term wild. They are as tame as could be and are used to "pictures for food." I met up with and hiked the second half of my first day out with Tree Frog (or Nate in the real world). We came into the Balds (areas that are at a high enough elevation that there are no trees, just low shrubs, and so the top of the "mountain" is "bald" and affords a 360 degree view of the area) and there were the ponies. Nate was taking a picture of one and it walked right toward him and then sniffed in his backpack pockets for food! The ponies are kept in certain areas by these zig-zag corrals that hikers have to walk through each time they enter or exit the designated "wilderness areas".

While I learned more than this, I am sure some of you are bored by now. It is a special breed of people who likhikingng/camping stories. But one last thing learned was that boy scouts are indeed always prepared. At mile 8, on day one, (12 miles and one day more to get back to where I left my car), I fell and sprained my ankle. The trail is hard work, many large rocks to navigate, etc. I hit a relatively easy part of the trail, got busy talking to Nate who also hiked at a much faster pace than I, and stopped watching where my feet where going. Boom. Down on all fours I went. I thought I broke my ankle but after a few adrenalin filled moments, I did a check and it was just very badly sprained. By the time I hiked the two miles to the shelter I was planning on staying in and got to the river to soak my foot in the cold water, it looked like I had a large lemon stuffed into my sock where my ankle should have been. I had never seen anything like it. With in an hour, I could no longer bear my weight on my ankle. I couldn't even walk to the bathroom (ok, tree). Obviously, this worried me as I had another day and 10 miles to go. There were no options but to hike out. But a boy scout came to my rescue. He had an ankle brace with him. Other boy scouts offered ace bandages too. In the morning, with brace on, right foot supported by a new found walking stick, and 1600 mg of ibuprofen in my system, off I went. All in all, it went much better than I could have expected (praise God). I got some bad blisters on my left foot due to the over compensation it had to do for the right foot being unable to carry weight and provide balance. But I made the ten miles in 5 hours. The icing on the cake? There were notes on my car from the various people I had hiked with in my two days on the AT (they had to pass my car to keep going north on the AT), all with e-mails addresses and contact info! So, I may not have gotten the solitude I went looking for, but I made some new great friends!

Oh, the AT in VA is beautiful - a true testimony to God's creative eye. So, I have 20 miles down and 2,155 miles to go. It may take years at this rate but I think I am hooked and am trying to figure out when I can get on the trail next - and trying to figure out how to make that darned alcohol stove for next time.

Paz,
Jess