{"id":4942,"date":"2021-10-31T10:15:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T14:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=4942"},"modified":"2021-10-31T12:34:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T16:34:46","slug":"boots-on-the-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/10\/31\/boots-on-the-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Boots on the Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This is another Sunday Story \u2013 no politics \u2013 just some tales from my backpacking days!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Housekeeping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cHousekeeping\u201d notes from Our America.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Many of you access Our America through Facebook.&nbsp;&nbsp;I know that some are concerned about the impact Facebook is having on \u201cOur America\u201d and the world, and are considering dropping the platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;There are several other ways to access \u201cOur America\u201d besides Facebook.&nbsp;&nbsp;You can link through Twitter at @martydahlman. Or you can subscribe to the WordPress site \u2013&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dahlman.online\/\"><em>www.dahlman.online<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;(click the register button on the side menu).&nbsp;&nbsp;Or you can be \u201creally special\u201d and join the select few that get their essays emailed directly to them \u2013 just email me at&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"mailto:dahlman@aol.com\"><em>dahlman@aol.com<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;and I\u2019ll put you on the list.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em> To the moment (who\u2019s counting) I\u2019ve written 1,171 essays \u2013 and I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to stop soon (why do I write like I\u2019m running out of time?).&nbsp;&nbsp;If YOU would like to \u201ctry your hand\u201d on \u201cOur America\u201d as a guest essayist, I\u2019d be honored.&nbsp;&nbsp;Just a few guidelines:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>essays should be around 1000 words \u2013&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><li><em>this is not a forum for personal attack (though politicians might argue the point)<\/em><\/li><li><em>I reserve the right to decline to publish any essay \u2013 for my own reasons<\/em><\/li><li><em>While the essay will be published as a guest essay and I will know who wrote it,&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><li><em>You can choose not to have your name published (I get it).<\/em><\/li><li><em>Keep it moderately clean \u2013 it\u2019s a family \u201cshow\u201d.<\/em><\/li><li><em>Yes, I was a teacher, and No, I won\u2019t be grading your \u201cwork\u201d<\/em><\/li><li><em>And if you and I disagree \u2013 that\u2019s OK, alternative views are absolutely allowed.&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>And finally, thanks for reading \u201cOur America\u201d!!!!!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Boots<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I learned to hike in the Boy Scouts.&nbsp;&nbsp;We started out on five-milers at Scout camp, marching the hills and woods of Woodland Trails near Eaton, Ohio.&nbsp;&nbsp;At eleven I learned why checking those \u201chot spots\u201d on your feet were so important \u2013 they never, ever seemed to get better on their own.&nbsp;&nbsp;You need to get a piece of \u201cmole skin\u201d, a thin felt pad with an adhesive backing, over the red spot, soonest.&nbsp;&nbsp;By the way, I later learned that duct tape worked too. Fix it early, or find a blister later, when a lot more elaborate first aid&nbsp;&nbsp;is needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;But either way, you were finishing the hike!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two pairs of socks worked, a thin cotton layer under a thick wool pair.&nbsp;&nbsp;The cotton absorbs the sweat, the wool absorbs the effort.&nbsp;&nbsp;And dry feet, to this day, dry feet are so much better to stomping in the wet.&nbsp;&nbsp;Wet feet feel bad, get soft, and end up blistered for sure.&nbsp;&nbsp;So a good pair of boots, supportive, well fitted, water resistance and broken-in are essential.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How important were good boots for me?&nbsp;&nbsp;Well for my high school graduation present, I asked for a serious pair of hiking boots.&nbsp;&nbsp;My Raichle mountain boots cost more than $100 in 1974, a huge amount of money for boots at the time.&nbsp;&nbsp;But they let me hike ANYWHERE \u2013 snow and rock, dirt and swamp.&nbsp;&nbsp;And they lasted well into the 1990\u2019s.&nbsp;&nbsp;When they finally died, it wasn\u2019t from bad leather \u2013 it was from worn out soles and no \u201ccobblers\u201d left in the world to replace them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hooked on Wilderness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my last summer in Dayton, Ohio, my Scout Troop (229) sent a crew to the \u201cHigh Adventure\u201d base in the mountains near Philmont, New Mexico.&nbsp;&nbsp;I was thirteen, technically too young for Philmont, but I talked myself onto on the crew (persuasive even then).&nbsp;&nbsp;We hiked maybe seventy miles over several days.&nbsp;&nbsp;The first days were tough with a forty-five pound backpack at elevation, but by the end I was \u201chooked\u201d on backpacking, and the wilderness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We moved to Cincinnati, and a new Scout Troop, 819 in Wyoming.&nbsp;&nbsp;I ran into a group that loved to backpack, both the kids and more importantly, the adults.&nbsp;&nbsp;We hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina and Tennessee, and north in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.&nbsp;&nbsp;And we found trails in the mountains of Pennsylvania (I wrote about one of those experiences,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/01\/31\/hiking-with-jack\/\"><em>Hiking with Jack<\/em><\/a><em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We went out to the high plateaus and mountains of Colorado, and up into the summer snow of the Maroon Bells above Aspen.&nbsp;&nbsp;But we also found closer places, like the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.&nbsp;&nbsp;And a bit farther south, we hiked a trail along the Kentucky\/Tennessee border near Cumberland Gap National Park.&nbsp;&nbsp;It was a \u201ctwo-day\u201d hike called the Mischa Mokwa Trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mischa Mokwa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve hiked the trail twice, once with the troop and once on my own.&nbsp;&nbsp;It\u2019s about twenty miles long, starting off near US Route 58&nbsp;&nbsp;and Shawanee, Tennessee. The trail goes up across the state line into Kentucky, and heads east along the ridgeline.&nbsp;&nbsp;At the end it comes south off the ridge, across a state line again, this time into Virginia, and ends near the small village of Ewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first time with the troop was a good two-day backpack trip.&nbsp;&nbsp;We drove one car to the Ewing end, to shuttle kids back to the trailhead at Shawanee, about a fifteen mile drive.&nbsp;&nbsp;Our big adventure \u2013 what to do about the rattlesnake wrapped around the trail post sign, right beside the path.&nbsp;&nbsp;You won\u2019t go back, and you can\u2019t go forward (especially with kids). Going around isn\u2019t good either, as rattlesnakes often come in pairs.&nbsp;&nbsp;Better to deal with the snake you can see, than the one you don\u2019t!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a big stick, a really big stick, that did the trick.&nbsp;&nbsp;We picked the snake up, and launched it into woods.&nbsp;&nbsp;Then we hustled the troop along the way.&nbsp;&nbsp;A pissed off rattler isn\u2019t going to chase you, but getting far away from that shaking tail is a really good idea.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Solo&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I was in college, I drove back down in my Volkswagen \u201cSquareback\u201d to hike the trail on my own.  A little over halfway there\u2019s Brush Mountain with an abandoned town, called the Hensley Settlement.  It was founded in the late 1800\u2019s, and once had a population of near 100.  There is a school house (more of a log cabin), a store, and a \u201cspring\u201d house; though there was also a big sign saying that the spring water wasn\u2019t drinkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Great Depression drove folks down the mountain looking for work, and the young men went off to World War II and found a whole different world to live in.&nbsp;&nbsp;The last Hensley left the mountain in 1951.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Park took over the settlement, and in the sixties began restoring buildings.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today it\u2019s a \u201cliving museum\u201d to Appalachian settlement, and if you go when it\u2019s \u201copen\u201d there are folks talking about the way people lived.&nbsp;&nbsp;But when I was backpacking through, it was after hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;I had the entire settlement to myself, walking down the dirt street, looking in the buildings, all set for life \u2013 with no one there.&nbsp;&nbsp;It was un-nerving:&nbsp;&nbsp;a town \u201call dressed\u201d up, but no life around.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019re not supposed to camp at Hensley, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019d want to do that anyway.&nbsp;&nbsp;I don\u2019t worry about wildlife camping in the wilderness, you take the proper precautions and bears pretty much leave you alone.&nbsp;&nbsp;Raccoons can be annoying \u2013 but they\u2019re a nuisance, not a danger.&nbsp;&nbsp;But I do worry about people \u2013 and an empty town would just be too much.&nbsp;&nbsp;I wouldn\u2019t sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thumbing Back<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next day I finished, picking my way down the steep trail off the ridge and back into the valley.  I ended up in Ewing, and began looking for a way back to the trailhead and my Squareback, about fifteen miles away.  It was the 1970\u2019s and \u201chitch-hiking\u201d was still an OK thing to do.  I had friends in college who travelled the country, by \u201cthumbing rides\u201d.  So I walked over to US 58, and stuck my thumb out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even though I was a dirty hiker with a bush of unkempt hair and a bandanna, it didn\u2019t take too long for someone to pull over.&nbsp;&nbsp;It was a couple of guys my age, in a 1967 Mustang with Tennessee plates.&nbsp;&nbsp;I threw my pack in the trunk, and climbed into the back seat.&nbsp;&nbsp;The \u201cboys\u201d wanted to give me a \u201cTennessee ride\u201d, to see what this \u201cNorthern boy\u201d might do.&nbsp;&nbsp;We screamed down the road, with the speedometer needle pushing 120.&nbsp;&nbsp;What took me two days of steady hiking to cover, took less than a half an hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think I gave the \u201cboys\u201d what they wanted \u2013 an excuse to drive crazy, and a look of terror as we screamed around the turns.  But we made it back to the entrance of the trailhead parking lot, and my Volkswagen Squareback. It had a top speed of seventy miles an hour, going downhill! After that \u201cTennessee Ride\u201d I was pretty happy with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sunday Story Series<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/01\/24\/riding-the-dog\/\">Riding the Dog<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8211; 1\/24\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/01\/31\/hiking-with-jack\/\">Hiking with Jack<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 1\/31\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/02\/07\/a-track-story\/\">A Track Story<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 2\/7\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/02\/14\/ritual\/\">Ritual<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 2\/14\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/02\/19\/voyageur\/\">Voyageur<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 2\/19\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/a-dog-story\/\">A Dog Story<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 2\/25\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/03\/07\/a-watkins-legend\/\">A Watkins Legend<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 3\/7\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/03\/10\/ghosts-at-gettysburg\/\">Ghosts at Gettysburg<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 3\/14\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/04\/04\/more-lessons-from-the-state\/\">Lessons from the State Meet<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 3\/28\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/04\/04\/more-lessons-from-the-state\/\">More Lessons from the State<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 4\/4\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/04\/11\/stories-from-the-road-1\/\">Stories from the Road<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 4\/11\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/05\/02\/a-bear-wants-you\/\">A Bear Wants You<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 5\/1\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/05\/09\/my-teachers\/\">My Teachers<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 5\/9\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/05\/23\/old-friends\/\">Old Friends&nbsp;<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211; 5\/23\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/06\/06\/the-gift\/\">The Gift<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 6\/6\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/06\/20\/echoes-of-mom\/\">Echoes of Mom<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 6\/20\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/07\/04\/stories-of-the-fourth\/\">Stories of the Fourth<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 7\/3\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/07\/25\/running-memories\/\">Running Memories<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 7\/25\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/07\/30\/lost-dog-of-eldora\/?fbclid=IwAR3QX-v-lZpcaWU8t7JCrvLq3TS5tPC3eYblWQlQ3URxwbdYx7HQX9SPJyk\">Lost Dog of Eldora<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 8\/1\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/08\/08\/dogs-and-medals\/\">Dogs and Medals<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 8\/8\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/09\/05\/the-new-guy\/\">The New Guy \u2013 9\/5\/21<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/09\/12\/stories-of-9-11\/\">Stories of 9-11<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 9\/12\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/09\/26\/the-interview\/\">The Interview<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 9\/26\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/09\/28\/night-moves\/\">Night Moves<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 10\/3\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/10\/10\/funeral-for-a-friend\/\">Funeral for a Friend<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 10\/11\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/10\/24\/national-security\/\">National Security<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 10\/24\/21<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/10\/31\/boots-on-the-trail\/\">Boots on the Trail<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 10\/31\/21<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is another Sunday Story \u2013 no politics \u2013 just some tales from my backpacking days! Housekeeping \u201cHousekeeping\u201d notes from Our America.&nbsp;&nbsp; Many of you access Our America through Facebook.&nbsp;&nbsp;I know that some are concerned about the impact Facebook is having on \u201cOur America\u201d and the world, and are considering dropping the platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;There are several &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/10\/31\/boots-on-the-trail\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Boots on the Trail&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - 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