1. My sister Amber
2. Leah
3. Katie
4. Murph
5. Rusty
I have a feeling I'll probably be doing this thing alone...but we'll see. Maybe I'll be surprised. Anyway, I've readjusted what I'm doing. Instead of being TOTALLY insane and walking from Kansas City to St. Louis I'm going to start out by JUST doing the Katy Trail. There are a few hiccups concerning the Katy Trail (apparently their is a bridge that was removed near Booneville?), but I think it's still do-able. Go check out the Wiki page (main hazards: severe weather (not afraid), poison ivy (sorta afraid), and snakes (mildly afraid)). Here's the map showing the 225.1 mile trek:
I think the best way to do this is for me to take a train to KC then catch a ride to Clinton (the end point of the trail) and going BACK to STL-Land (the trail ends at St. Charles). There's still a lot of work ahead of me before I can attempt this--I'll need supplies (BOOTS) and I'll have to figure how how much food/water I'll need (and how to carry it). I'm shooting for a Spring 2009 date. I'll probably do a one-day trial run to test everything out...and what-not. Anyway, I'm going to do some more research on this. Anyone with thoughts on this let me know.
18 comments:
Math Alert:
If you currently walk 7 miles in 2 hrs, lets say you walk for 10 hours every day on the trail thats 35 miles a day. If the trail is 225 miles long its going to take you like 6 or 7 days to walk it
if you slept 8 hours a day and only rested for 2 hrs through the whole day you would still only walk 49 miles a day thats still 4 1/2 days. Im not trying to rain on your parade, im just pointing it out.
Well I hadn't done the math before. Interesting.
I don't know what this will do for everyone else, but for me--4 days or 7 I'm still doing this.
I think this has "Man stabbed in an isolated meadow" written all over it. But that could just be me? So...just to keep from reading about it in the papers, I think you should bring another person, the dog, *and* a weapon of some sort.
I am still with you Jason! I think that it will be a life changing event. The time will give you a chance to recharge and think and the nature will be beautiful! I have already started to train. Spring 2009 it is!
Ah Brittany, "daddy's little optimist." Don't worry about me, I can't get off that easy...I'm sure nothing bad will happen to me.
I have found a company (that does business with the company I currently work for) that sells a super-high grade Anti-bear Pepper Spray. I think I'll take that. I don't do guns and a knife is too "up-close-and-personal." I figure if it can knock a bear out, it can handle hobos and stray kitties.
Amber--I'm glad to hear you're still on board. I think it'll be grueling, hell-on-earth style fun. But still fun. I (literally) cannot wait to do this.
P.S. both of you girls need blogs. You're both so twisted/f'ed up...you'd make me look (almost) normal.
Find an Army surplus store and buy three to four MREs. Yeah, they taste like shit (to me, I've eaten far too many) but for six bucks a pop, one of them has enough calories to fuel you for a day.
You need a camelbak for water. You need to figure out where to get more potable water. Food is easy to carry. Three days worth of water, not so easy.
Good pair of BROKEN IN boots. Not new boots on the day of, nor old boots about to blow out. Also at least four pairs of socks packed in ziplocs, more the better.
Wet wipes, for reasons besides Number Two. Acne pads, for plenty of reasons besides acne.
A hat you're happy with.
If you want to go with a minimum of snivel gear, I'd pack one blanket and a sleeping mat. Me, I like a little more because I'm old and I'm a wuss. I'd probably take a sleeping bag.
Mole skin and bandaids for certain. Also some duct tape would be a good thing. Finally, a small mini mag flashlight.
Just some off the cuff one glass of wine consumed suggestions. blueeyes math looks a bit more closer to accurate. None of us are Army Rangers. It will take awhile.
Respects,
Murph
Lee's Summit, Missouri
Mole skin? What is that? Also, what are the acne pads for (if not just acne?).
The "math" is a bit worrisome, but you're both right--we're not Rangers and this is a great distance.
Mole skin is felt with an adhesive backing. You custom cut pieces of it out to place around blisters on your feet (not on the blister itself as it will tear it open and create a world of hurt).
Acne pads are for crotch rot, a sort of rash that can develop down in the nether regions. If you've ever had a case of it, it feels like having someone grind glass into that spot between your inner leg and your valuables.
And the pads are useful for clearing off excessive facial oil (granted, one would not use the same pad for both tasks).
I suspect you'd need someone to play support. Someone who'd be willing to meet you at various points along the walk and resupply basics like water and such. That or one needs to drive through the route and see what is what. Mark those places on a map along with distances and then break the trek down into goal marks based upon various rest and resupply stopping points.
Respects,
Murph
Northtown, Missouri
You're a wealth of information Murph, I can see why people pay you as a consultant.
You've given me much (crotch rot!) to think (ponder) over.
Clearly this is a massive undertaking.
Six years of Army experience tied in with four years of playing Civil War reenactor. It's the little things.
I'd also be sure that my soap for washing was lava soap. That is just me, it seems to work consistently to get one clean no matter what. As for the hair, well, dirty hair for six to ten days isn't the worst that can happen. But one of those travel sized bottles of shampoo never hurt. After day four of a nasty, greasy, itchy scalp. you'll be thrilled to get your head under a bucket of cold water while you scrub it all away.
Might also plot places along the trail that serve actual food. Eating MREs can get old and while some folks wax nostalgic about cooking out of doors, I'm not one of them.
Unless someone else is doing the cooking.
Respects,
Murph
Northtown, Missouri
Hell, Terri has a Navy Seal in our CW class this year. We ought to ask him to come along. He can be the brains I can just walk, write and take pictures.
Terri, you think he'd be interested?
Respects,
Murph
Northtown, Missouri
Yeah, I've been thinking about it--and I think the best bet is going to be scouting the route for camping areas/motels (at least one night, I'll wager we'll want it) AND places to restock provisions.
I've tried cooking outside...and it didn't go too well--remember me trying to make hotdogs Jimu?
Anyway, the more the merrier I say!
I've been calculating the math on this trip and my female logic was pretty close to Leah's.
I wish I could go, but it would have to be the last two weeks in May...and I might slow everybody down.
You girls and your "math..."
MATH: Some ones got to do it
Good thing I didn't do the math. That is why I got the degrees in History.
Jason, surely there are books and websites on the Katy Trail out there. Tonight I'll see what I can find.
Terri, maybe a slower pace is what we need. Or we need a training regime where we walk around Longview Lake every week until we do this thing.
I'm going to start doing that again at least once a week after my workouts.
Respects,
Murph
Northtown, Missouri
http://www.bikekatytrail.com/planaride.asp
Granted, this site is for bikers but it is still useful for figuring out what is available for use along the trail. Something to look at.
Also, one will want to decide on how many miles they want to go in one day.
Respects,
Murph
Somewhere in Kansas
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