steps yesterday: 10617

Finished A Walk in the Woods today. Bill and Stephen walked a couple days in Maine, then decided to quit after Stephen started drinking again, got lost, and just generally messed up everything. Jeez.

I got to thinking that I would have a very hard time with hiking like that. Mostly because I really hate heights and being near cliff edges, and I’m positive that there would be situations like that on a hike through the mountains. I’m not very confident in my ability to not fall over at any moment–especially if I was carrying a 50 pound pack on my back.

So, bottom line is that I want to do some hiking, but on level ground or maybe over gently rolling hills with plenty of room on both sides of a wide path in case I fall over.

steps yesterday: 11250

maybe I’ll write something later. I need to go watch the trailer for Fahrenheit 9/11 now!

steps yesterday: 19217

no more leftover hotdog buns for me. back on the diet.

Bill talks about the strange american relationship to nature, in which nature and civilization are thought of as separate. He talks about how the people who take care of the AT are obsessed with keeping people away and keeping the trail going through nothing but wilderness. He contrasts this with hiking in Europe, where trails go through small towns and farms.

I sort of sympathize with the “all wilderness” people, in that I don’t know if I’ve ever actually had the experience of being in total (or near total) wilderness, and I’d sort of like to know that it’s still out there, even if I don’t particularly want to experience it right now.

status: hungover
steps yesterday: 19500

Party yesterday has me wiped out and afraid to weigh myself. I’m probably 6 pounds lighter just because I’m so dehydrated.

In Walk in the Woods, Bill and Katz manage to lose Mary Ellen, they keep walking over hill and dale, get stuck in a snow storm, but then move on. Bill talks about how the US govt. agencies that are supposed to protect the wildlife aren’t doing that. (Can’t remember the details this morning and I don’t have the energy to try to be coherent).

steps: around 15000

everything was messed up this morning, because I didn’t get to weigh myself before breakfast and I erased the number of steps last night while I was trying to press the light button.

In Walk in the Woods, Bill talks about the history of the trail a bit, Bill and Katz pack, and they embarked upon their journey. Katz is a big mess. On the 5th day, they meet up with this even bigger mess, Mary Ellen, and she joins them.

They come to an inn that has food and soda for sale. Bill reflects on how the experience of the A.T. is one of deprevation, and how, even after only 5 days of deprevation, a slice of white bread can “bring you to the brink of orgasm”. whew!

steps yesterday: around 15000
listening to: Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson moves back to the states after being in Europe for long time. He discovers that his New Hampshire (I think) home is near the Appalachian Trail, which winds along the east coast for about 2150 miles from Georgia to Maine. He decides to hike it.

Gets a lot of books and equipment. Reads about bear attacks. One particularly interesting bear fact is that they really like snickers bars. The whole bear and solitude thing causes him to rethink embarking on the journey alone.

His old friend calls him and wants to go along. Bill is happy about this. When the old friend arrives, however, he’s fat and need to eat every hour or he’ll go into seisures (as a result of some bad drugs he took at some point). The friend’s solution to the conumdrum of being in the woods and requiring regular sweets: he’s brought along a duffel bag full of snickers bars.

And that’s where I’m at right now. Looking forward to tomorrow’s walk. I’m already thinking about my next book/tapes: they have John Muir’s book on tape at the library. What if I become a real nature-lover? Scary thought.

I’ve been walking and running a lot lately. I’ve also started listening to books on tape while I walk/run. I also have a pedometer (for measuring how far I walk). I hope to use my blog to track my progress physically and educationally.

Lately, I’ve been doing over 15,000 steps per day. I’ll try to post the exact number here every day along with what I’m listening to.