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Trail Journal




Date: Mar 26 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

About 2 mos. left to start off on the long hike. I have obtained almost all the necessary maps and equipment. Now starting the apartment closing phase. I still need to work out more and lose some weight. On average males seem to lose about 25 pounds during their hike. I lost about 7 pounds on a 9 day hike around Lake Okeechobee, so I am expecting to lose weight rapidly at first. I am also somewhat anxious, as turning in the apartment notice has an element of finality to it.



Date: April 26 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

The hike sank in more fully during the past month. The feeling was a mix of excitement and apprehension, best described by excerpts from two songs from the musical 'Sound of Music'.

Excerpt from 'Climb Every Mountain'

Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every byway,
Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream.

Excerpt from 'I have confidence'

What will this day be like - I wonder,
What will my future be - I wonder,
It could be so exciting,
To be out in the world to be free,
My heart should be wildly rejoicing,
Oh, what's the matter with me?

I have always longed for adventure,
To do the things I've never dared,
Now here I am facing adventure,
Then why am I so scared?


I have been working out quite regularly. My strength and stamina have improved considerably, but my weight has been holding steady at 205 lbs. I think it's time to go on a diet.

Suriyan, my brother has offered to transcribe my journal as I mail pages to him. So it should be current with perhaps a one to two week delay. Thanks Churi.

I have also bought the tickets. From Palmbeach to Montreal it will be an AMTRAK train, then a ViaRailCanada train to Gaspe. From there a hitchhike to Forillion Park, where my hike begins. I have also let my supervisors at work know that I will be leaving in a month.

Borrowed several books and tapes from the library to learn French (the Quebec portion is mostly French speaking). I sampled them and returned all of them except two that are really good. For folks trying to learn a foreign language, my suggestion would be to sample a good number form your library and then decide which ones to buy - if at all. Some are excellent, others ok. The one I like most is 'Learn in your car - French' by Penton Overseas Inc. Their lesson progression is very natural and easy. French is a beautiful language and pleasing to listen to. I have been somewhat surprised at how quickly I have been able to learn the basics. I think it is a combination of one semester of French in college and a more recent Spanish learning experience. The French grammar and word usage has similarities to Spanish.

I have been hiking every other week-end. I went on a 3 day hike in the Ocala National Forest in Florida during the 3 day Easter week-end. I usually do a one way hike and then hitchhike back to my car. But, this time I decided to leave my car at the hikes end (point B) and ride my bike to the trail's beginning (point A) before the hike. So, I dropped off my backpack at A, drove my car and bike to B and started to ride my bike to A at about 4:00 PM. I have not ridden long distances on my bike, so I have never given much thought to distances and speeds. Turned out, it was way too long to make it by night. The last 4 mile section was through a narrow road with no shoulders making it quite dangerous. I decided not to do that section that night and instead to find a motel along safer roads. I got to a Fox's Den Inn at about 11:00 PM. I rang the bell on and off for about 90 minutes. A lady finally answered over the intercom and told me that they were closed for the night and that I should leave. She could have answered the bell the first time and not wasted a lot of my time. It turned out to be a family run affair, where they offer rooms after hours only if they feel like it. Anyway, over time I have met some of the most lousy people in the Ocala National Forest area. I ended up riding another 6 miles to another motel and finally slept at 2:00 AM. My butt was very sore. I again rode the bike the next morning and started the hike as planned. The rest of the hike went quite smoothly except the forest was extremely dry and I had to hike without any water for about 3 hours at the end of the first day. We've had very heavy rains over the last weekend and I was expecting the little ponds to be full but it seems it has been so dry that even that downpour did not help much. I also met my first Appalachian Trail (AT) hikers. They were 'Sourdough Bob' and 'Rambling Rose'. They thru-hiked in 1985. They are in their late 70's but look much younger. We had a long discussion about AT related stuff.



Date: May 12 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

Went on a practice hike to Dupuis Management Area and J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area near W. Palmbeach from 5th evening to 7th evening. They are adjacent forests. Corbett is to the north while Dupuis is to the south. One can see a gradual change from pine stands to everglades swamps as one heads south. The previous time I had been to this area the middle 10 miles or so were very poorly marked. One has to follow very old, faint blazes. They are commonly absent due to tree blow downs or faded due to the elements. At such times, you guess the path by a combination of actual trodden areas, pieces of ribbon tied to trees or just plain guess work. It can sometimes be frustrating to stand in the middle of a swamp in water about a foot deep with no clue as to how to proceed. It's not even possible to rest as the area is covered with water and there are no dry places to set the pack down and sit. I had recieved a newsletter from the Florida Trail Association stating that this section had been cleared and reblazed. So I was expecting a fairly easy journey. However, I found out that the volunteers had been working from the ends and had left about 4 miles unmaintained. This had always been the poorest maintained section and continues to be so. The progress on this section can be half as slow as the maintained ones. The Dupuis portion was exceptionally clean and I found only one peice of trash. The volunteers and section leader certainly deserve a big hand for their efforts. During the hike, I saw an alligator on the trail. I know to look out for them near water, but this one was in an area where I did not know of any water near by. I tried making noises and waving sticks to drive him away. He looked at me for a couple of seconds and then completely ignored me. I then did a large semi-circle around him and continued on. During that time I had visions of being chased by an alligator (my imagination went - may be he has been lost in the forest for a long time and is now so hungry that he will try to attack and eat a human on land). Alligators look very clumsy and slow when they walk on land but they are known to be quite fast when needed.

Also saw a wild hog with its little one. Wild life with young seem to use the following strategy when surprised by man. Mom and young usually live or hang out near a shelter area - could be low brush or a tuft of dense grass. If surprised by man, mom makes a run for it while the little one hides and stays very still in its shelter. Most of the times, this is effective and the danger passes. But should the man come too close (as I did since its hiding place was on the trail itself) then the little one also makes a break for it. It can be startling to see a creature dart from within a few feet of you. I have seen this occur several times with deer and this time with wild hogs. It was quite funny to watch the piglet run, squealing all the time.

The last day, I hiked back on an empty stomach. I had one brownie the previous night for dinner and ate nothing during the entire day. I was absolutely exhausted towards the end and had to lie down under a tree for a half hour even though I only had about 2 miles to finish the hike. I had a faint glimpse of how expedition teams sometimes collapse a few miles from base camps. When the energy, strength and morale start to go down after a long exertion, there is a point after which the drop becomes very rapid. I think irrational decisions and panic occur at this stage.

I got back and continued to read the book - Survival: How to prevail in hostile environments, when I ran into the sentence:

Around the hiker's 15 miles (25 km) mark the glycemia curve decreases appreciably and drops below the fateful point of 0.80 grams, after which one feels drained and exhausted.


I had the exhausted feeling around the 15 mile mark. The solution is to eat something, especially sweets to keep the glycemia level up. I thus learned a lesson to eat at least something during breaks. The book is written by Xavier Maniguet and is a must read for outdoor adventurers. Good chunks of it are not applicable or overkill for AT hiking but one does learn how the body works under different circumstances.

I am now in the process of finding storage space, changing addresses, consolidating accounts, getting travellers cheques etc. My friend at work, Kathy took care of my kayak storage problem. It would have cost me a bunch more to put it with my other stuff. Thank you Kathy. She is very helpful and a good and fast problem solver.

My days have become very hectic all of a sudden. I have also been working out, so once I come back home, I am ready to go to bed. Between that, taking care of the closing and moving and hiking some weekends, I am now in a time crunch. This is very unusual for me. I closed my 55 gallon aquarium today and bid a somewhat sad bye to my fish. They have shared my life for the past 1.5 years or so.

I also got e-mail from old friends from my undergraduate college - Ille and Vemuri. I had not heard from them for about 10 years. It was a great pleasure to re-establish contact with old pals. Both of them live in Calcutta.



Date: May 21 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

Went to Miami 13th and 14th to visit Vikas and Sangita. They live in Delaware and were there for a vacation. Vikas was my room mate at University of Delaware. They are the only ones I knew before they were dating and subsequently got married and now have a beautiful 14 month old baby girl named Mira. She would not let me hold her at first but by the end of the second day she allowed me to. We are now buddies. :).

During the two days the four of us went to the beach, Deco drive, Miami zoo and little Havana - a Cuban area. We were searching for a place to eat in little Havana and had slim pickings as both Vikas and Sangita are vegetarians. Finally, we had dinner at an Italian place. It was ironic - having Italian food in little Havana, but the food was good.

Went hiking again from 19th evening to 21st evening. It was a repeat of my previous hike to the point that I camped at the same spots. The previous time a good portion of the trail was under water. This time it was so dry that I did not even get my shoes wet. Due to the heat the bugs were less intense. I saw another alligator on the trail. It was lying on the trail as though he had been walking along it and decided to rest. It was facing away from me. As soon as it heard me he turned around in a flash and lunged mouth wide opened. I have seen snakes threaten by opening their mouths but compared to an alligator they are down right comical. This guy could have easily fit my head in his mouth. I was about 20 ft away but backed away almost instinctively and almost ran into a large bush. Shouting and waving was then completely ignored by Mr. Gator and I had to walk around him. I am starting to get used to this now. Also saw a little deer run away from its shelter like the piglet had done on my last trip. Little deer have a much shinier brownish red coat and have white spots. Also saw a fox at night when I got out of the tent to check on the rustling noises. The hike was much easier than the last one as I remembered to eat along the way. However, the middle four unmaintained miles continue to be an adventure. At one point I spent 15 minutes searching for the next ribbon.
br> Gave my kayak to John and Jeanie Garell for the duration of the hike. Thanks Garell's and Kathy.

Packing, change of addresses and winding up going on full swing. Suriyan has taken over most of the page maintenance. I am glad as I am somewhat short on time. I think the page is also becoming better.

I will be leaving on the 29th of May morning by train and will reach Gaspe on the 1st of June. From there I will hitch-hike to the trail head at park Forillion and start the hike on the 2nd of June.



Date: May 25 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

Wound up all of my projects at work. Tomorrow will be my last day at work. I have cleared out my personal stuff. I am now cleaning my apartment to get the deposit back. My apartment has been a mess for some time. My apartment is presentable only when I am moving in or out. I have also got travellers checks in Canadian dollars.

My feelings now - the anxiety is gone completely as I am overwhelmed by all the little things that I have to take care of before I leave. I am also eager to get on the road so that I can put these pesky chores behind me.

I am reading 'One hundred years of solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a translation from Spanish. It is the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of a mythical town called Macondo through the history of a family called Buendia. Its characters are larger than life and the imagery is very vivid. This is the fifth time I am reading this book.

Well, this is the last entry from my computer, as it heads to the storage tomorrow. Back to my maid duties now.



Date: May 28 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

Said goodbye to people at work on Friday. Started moving my small stuff on 26th. Vivek helped me move the big stuff on 27th in a U-Haul. A little into the ride to the storage area in the U-Haul truck, the speedometer needle slowly started droppping to zero even though the vehicle was moving at a decent speed. Looks like the odometer cable got screwed up and we logged a trip of only 6 miles when it should have been 50+. As they also were charging per mile, I ended up saving about 25$. Vivek and me then went to a Mexican restaurant Rosalita's - excellent food.

I got my ears pierced on the 26th. I had wanted to do it when I was moving out of Louisville about 4 years ago, but wimped out at the last minute. I was quite nervous this time too but decided to go through with it. When the piercing lady was done with the first ear, I told her it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. She said 'it usually isnt' and added 'It is actually the guys who are the most difficult'. I can understand this. I see a lot more women donate blood than men. I think if all of a sudden men and not women were to give birth the population would take a big plunge - wimpy men!! Any way, the pain was not as much as I had expected. It was a dull pain rather than the sharp one from a shot. It almost sounds and feels like a stapler. The down side now is I have to lug around a solution and cotton swabs to clear the ears for the next 4 weeks.

Switching gears, a note on the logistics. Mail to Canada from the US seems to be a problem due to customs. So I will be avoiding all US - Canada mailing. I will carry the maps for the New Brunswick section to Montreal on my train journey and then mail it to Matapedia which is on the New Brunswick, Quebec border. There is also a 15 days section that has no stores. However, there is a resort hotel called La Gite in the middle. I will be mailing 8 days worth of food here. I will be carrying this food by train to Montreal and then mailing it. The 15 day section covers a forest called Parc de la Gaspesie. I have obtained the required permissions and reservations for this section. Francois Boulanger and Pascale Handfield of that park have been extremely helpful in this regard. Pascale is very nice to talk to. One section of the trail goes via Mt. Jacques Cartier which is the highest peak in Quebec and is home to caribou. As it is their birthing time no one is allowed in that section. I will be bypassing this by walking a dirt road. There is also a chance that I may have to by-pass the entire Parc de la Gaspesie section if the snow is too deep. Currently, there appears to be about 3 feet of snow at the tops. Lets see what happens.

The transition to minimal living has been gradual for me. I have been packing and putting away stuff for a week thus reducing my reliance on appliances over days. The moving was done in 3 days - again, giving me time to adjust. Tomorrow I start my 4 day journey to Gaspe by rail. This should give me all the time to adjust to a life of several months with just a backpack.

I saw the movie, Roadtrip, on 28th night. It was a decent time pass comedy. My weight has been on a roller coaster. First it dropped to 200 and then shot back up. Since I stopped my gym enrollment about a week and have been eating like a pig the weight is now 209 lbs. I would like to see where it is when I end the hike. Also from tomorrow I will be homeless, unemployed and footloose - in other words a bum.



Date: May 29 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

Got up early, threw trash etc out, turned in the apartment keys and dropped my car off at Vivek's. While there, I took some photographs of him, his wife - Lusia and me.

Rode a train after a long time. The previous one was in Alaska about three years ago. Train journeys are fun and have an atmosphere of their own. I was napping on and off a good portion of the time. The seats had good room but not enough for a good sleep.



Date: May 30 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: W. Palmbeach, FL
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

On the train I started talking to a guy. He is a trucker from near Montreal. His truck broke down in Ft. Lauderdale and he decided to return home by AMTRAK till his truck was fixed. He had run out of all his cash and the dining car would not accept credit cards. I bought him lunch and snacks. I think he was also a coke head. He would disappear to the bathroom every couple of hours and come out sniffing and sneezing. His world is quite different from the yuppy life we are familiar with.

Went through customs. I was afraid they would not let me through as my date of birth is incorrect on one of my documents. But things went OK. The officer knew about the AT extension to Park Forillion. I was surprised.

I am now in a bed and breakfast place and am ready to sleep. I could not sleep well in the train so I will be making up for it today.



Date: May 31 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: On board via Rail Canada train
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

I went sight seeing in Montreal. Saw the museum of fine arts, China town and old Montreal. All of them are downtown and within walking distance. I mailed out my stuff to Matapedia and La Gite hotel and changed my money. All money under 5 canadian dollars are in coins. Looks like I may have to lug some coins around. Sightseeing with a backpack has a very different feel. There is a feeling of freedom and belonging to the place - its hard to explain. My transition to bum is also complete. I have a week old stubble and have already got a slightly unkempt look. At one point I was sitting on a bench downtown with my backpack open and rummaging. I asked the time from two people and they completely ignored me - it was cool. Some general impression on seeing people in the downtown Montreal area (that's the only place I have been so far), women dress much better. Take out black from their dresses and most of them will be nude. People are far less fat than Americans. A significant portion of the crowd is just plain rude or they don't like being talked to in English.

I am now on a via Rail Canada train headed to Gaspe.



Date: Juni 1 2000
Trail Day: NA
Miles Today: NA
Location: Cap Gaspe, Canada
Section Mile: IAT NA
ECT Mile: NA

I got to Gaspe around noon. As soon as I got off the train I asked another guy to take a photograph. He told me he had just returned from Antartica. He offered me a ride in a cab across a bridge and took me to a Fisheries Department saying he was going to give me a poster. As no one was in the office he just got my address and he said he would mail it to me. His name is Daniel. I don't know what to make of him. I was quite nervous as I had no idea who he was. But he was helpful. Then I started walking the road towards Forillion park. About 15 minutes into the walk it started raining with very strong winds. It was enough to push you around. Just as suddenly it cleared off after about 15 minutes. I then got a ride into Forillion Park about half way to Gaspe. Started walking again and got a ride for about 3 miles from a couple from Montreal. They were young and the girl was very beautiful. They dropped me off and I started hiking the trail.

Got to the light house which is the beginning point of the trail. There is another short trail that takes one, half way down to the water's edge. As soon as I started walking the trail I saw the girl that had given me the ride flash for a photograph. Then she saw me and was embarassed. Anyway we walked down to the end of the trail. From there its a somewhat steep climb down to the water's edge. Somehow made it. Washed my feet in the ocean, took some photographs and got back.

I have decided to start the hike one day earlier as I was able to get rides very quickly. This is the last entry of the pre-hike journal. What can I say - let the insanity begin !!







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