That’s right. Beer drinking cigarette smoking couch monkey Bruce_Daddy is going on a 30.5 mile hike tomorrow. In the mountains. It’s the Art Loeb trail, usually a 2-3 day hike for mere mortals. Here’s a link, if you give a shit:
Art Loeb Trail
Section 1 2 3 4
Also, if you never hear from me again, please check here from time to time to see if they wrote anything nice about me.
I’ve enjoyed everyone’s wit, wisdom and insight.
Good day.
If I actually make it I’ll post some pictures.
Bruce,
Do you want to be buried where you collapse, or should we cremate you and throw your ashes in the Reedy River? 
Seriously, have fun and take lots of water.
Ugh. From one beer drinking, cigarette smoking couch monkey to another, may the gods go with you. 
try to make sure your thighs don’t chafe and start a fire.
30.5 miles doesn’t sound too hard over the course of 3 days though, thats 10 miles a day, about 4 hours of walking a day. unless the terrain is uphill alot of the way.
Longish hiking story from the past. Not necessarily relevant.
In 1973 some friends at work wanted to do a bit of backpacking in the Smokies in the late fall. The plan was to get overnight reservations at Ice Water Springs shelter, Mt. Le Conte Lodge and do a nice 6-7 mile per day hike over a three day period. Total mileage would be maybe 14-15 miles. Nice plan.
I hadn’t done anything strenuous in years. It had been high school days since I had done any hiking. I didn’t even have a pack. So one buddy loaned me one of his and I packed enough for the three days, with a little extra, and had about 60 lbs. in it. I had emergency supplies and equipment, extra clothing, all sorts of safety first gear. I was at least 50 lbs, overweight at the time.
One of the other guys was in decent shape, an experienced hiker and had no more to 25 lbs. in his pack. The other one of the three of us was a heavy smoker, had a little experience hiking and was into the light-is-right packing concept. He may have had 30 lbs. in his bag.
Anyway, we drive to the Sugarlands center to learn that Ice Water is booked for the night, but Le Conte is available for the next night. We take that and agree on a “backcountry site” at the foot of the mountain that Clingman’s Dome is part of. Four miles straight down. Tent site. Easy hiking.
I’m going to shorten this some. Next morning it’s 4 miles UP, get to the Clingman’s lot about 1:00 PM, drive down to Newfound Gap lot, and head out for Mt. LeConte, which is at least 11 miles away. Need to get there for the night.
It starts getting dark around the time we get to Ice Water Springs (this was our aimed-for site the previous night, okay?). By this time the smoker and I are about beat, so the experienced guy decides to let us make our own pace and heads off alone ahead of us.
It gets full dark in another three or four miles, temp starts dropping, so it’s getting hypothermia time. The other guy starts saying we should just pitch a tent on the trail and rough it for the night. I insist that’s a bad plan because of bears. We keep at it, walking maybe 50 yards and stop for a couple minutes for breath, and keep this up for what had to be hours.
Finally about 11 PM we make it to the shelter and wake everybody else up getting into our bunks. Sleep like the dead.
Next day some dimwit starts feeding a bear some Pop Tarts through the chain-link at the shelter and it takes at least an hour before the bear goes away. We hike down to Alum Cave Bluffs and get in the car and head home. Survived.
All this is to say that being bad out of shape and under-experienced does have its down side.
All the same, good luck on the trip!
That’s right, but we’re doing it in one day.
And yes, it is a bit hilly. (.pdf)
This makes me very :mad:
Don’t forget the beer and cigarettes!