The Coming Months

The days are drawing nearer.  I will be getting out of the Air Force within a couple months, Jacki and I will be moving back to Texas after six years, and Lyle is waiting impatiently for our arrival. Jacki has put in her end of work notice and is counting down her 12 hour nights working as a 911 emergency dispatcher.  Lyle is taking general education classes at a community college, while enthusiastically pursuing enlightenment.  I am fighting a losing battle of senioritis at my job.  I'm still doing what I need to do, but oh man is it difficult to care or put forth the extra effort.  I never lack on customer service though.  I really do care about people, just not worthless policies...

We all think about the trail each day.  It's not just a far away thought of something we're going to do, it's only a few months away now.  We'll even be buying tickets for the one way flight to Atlanta next week.  There's a lot to do before then, and I'm not even talking about planning for the hike (which will be almost non-existent).  There's a lot required to get out of the military, and we have to move all of our stuff half way across the country.  It'll be a lot of work, but it'll be even more exciting for us all.

I think I've come a long way in video production.  I've not only learned many great new filming techniques, but I've grown to appreciate great audio recording and various editing methods.  It can be a lot of hard, creative work, but I really do enjoy doing it.  I always get a lot of appreciation from others as well, which does well to boost my enthusiasm about different projects and especially The Project - Hitched Hike.

Lyle has been working on creating music for the film with a friend in Austin, Mason.  I used a short bit of their work in a video for the Friends of Georgia State Parks video contest.  It made the video. 


It's a beautiful blend of acoustic guitar and violin.  I'm looking forward to hearing their new works in the near future.  Lyle also plans to bring along a small guitar on the trail.  I also have a harmonica that Jacki bought me for our 6 year anniversary.  I'm still working on playing something that doesn't sound like a dying cat.

In case you haven't heard, we're on Facebook!  http://www.facebook.com/HitchedHike
We will also be making periodic trail Video updates while on the AT.  This is something that I hadn't thought about then it suddenly dawned on me that it is not only possible, but pretty darn easy!  Here's our "first" trail update of me explaining how we'll be updating everyone.


Many things will be drastically changing in our lives within the next few months.  It's hard to think about all of it though when the trail's beckoning call is growing stronger. 

Why We Love the Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is having a video contest and we thought we would make a video and enter into it.

The voting doesn't start until September 5th, but we wanted to get it in early.


Enjoy!

Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook, as we will be doing the vast majority of our updates on our Fan Page.  It will be much easier to upload video and picture to that site while we're on the trail.

Just search for Hitched Hike in Facebook and click like!

One Year Out

On the occasion of our one year out mark of hiking the Appalachian Trail, I wrote Jacki a letter to convey my excitement. 

Here it is:

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jacki (trail name unknown),

Today is an exciting day, marking the one year mark prior to our great adventure together. In one year, one of the most exciting things I can imagine will begin. Not only do we get to experience this awesome, awe inspiring journey on the historic Appalachian Trail and live life a way that we never have, we have to opportunity to be with each other in the most intimate way possible. There will be no conflicting schedules or outside interferences. No distractions from video games, TV shows, or the computer/internet. It will be just us, and our experiences to share. We will be working, struggling, freezing, sweating, soaking, sleeping, hiking, laughing, crying, filming, and enjoying every moment together. I cannot wait to spend every moment with you out on the trail. It is going to be so much fun and an amazing experience! I can’t wait!!

You’re an amazing women and I don’t think I would have done this on my own had you not driven the idea that we could actually do it. I don’t know if you know this, but your motivation to get out there and live life and do things that are inconceivable to most people has sparked a new kind of revitalization in my life. Which I think has bounded back to you, creating a wonderful cycle of passion for living between the two of us. When you said, “Let’s do this.”, it open my mind that, “Holy crap… we could actually hike this thing… Why not?... Heck yeah!”

I love you so much, and I think this journey of ours will be nothing but a remarkable adventure that builds our love for each other. I cannot emphasize how excited I am to do this with you! You’re amazing! I can’t wait for our shared chores, pep talks, resting at beautiful overlooks, keeping warm together, motivating each other, helping each other, laughing, singing, dancing, and maybe some hiking. J It’s going to be a blast!



Love you with all my hiking heart!

Jeremy (trail name unknown)

Tough Mudder

If you noticed that we didn't put out a new video on backpacking gear this last weekend, it's because I had been working on editing up our Tough Mudder video.
Yes... we did a Tough Mudder. What's a Tough Mudder, you say? Well, it's a 12 miles course full of obstacles designed by British special forces to test a person's endurance, will, fears, and perseverance. It just so happened that a cold front came in the day before our Mudder, reducing the temperature to a freezing, 20°F. It was the hardest single event either of us had done before, but we did it, and had fun doing it.

Jacki got the idea in her head one day while checking her Facebook. She saw an add on the side and checked it out. Once Jacki says, "We should do this.", there's hardly any turning back. She began rallying team members, became our captain and dubbed us Swamp Ass. Pretty soon we had a team of ten built, even though some of the members had never met each other. Two months before the race we got serious about our preparations. We put ourselves on relatively strict diets and began to follow a rigorous workout routine to build our strength and endurance. It helped, but we were still nervous about the big event.

The night before, Jacki arranged a very large dinner party with our entire team and many of their family members. Many traveled from out of town, my best friend Logan from Austin even flew in for this crazy event. The dinner gave our team the opportunity for everyone to meet, relax, iron on our team logos, and just have fun socializing. One of our team members, Kathrine, only knew one person, who she met while thru-hiking the AT. She admitted to being very nervous about the idea of staying with a bunch of strangers for the weekend, but by the end was sad to leave. After the dinner, things quieted down and we all drifted off to sleep, some not so easily.

We all woke up early the next morning, around 5:45AM, rallied our team, and left the house heading towards Aonia Motocross Track in Washington, GA. We arrived 40 minutes later. Our Mini Cooper read the current outside temperature as 18°F. I for one did not have a settled stomach and had to visit the frozen porta-potty a couple of times. It was rather unsettling seeing the blue stuff frozen solid. Once we checked in we stood by a barrel full of burning scrap wood for about an hour before we heard our call to the starting line. Our nervousness quickly transformed into excitement as we climbed the small 6ft wall to the starting line.

Here's the Swamp Ass Tough Mudder.



It was SO cold, it's hard to describe. It took hours for our bodies to return to a normal temperature. It didn't matter though. After four and a half hours, we had finish and were more happy than we probably should have been.

That night we gathered in celebration of our camaraderie and success. New bonds had been formed and we knew that none of us would forget this day. It was the day a bunch of crazy people calling themselves, "Swamp Ass", set out in the freezing cold to get wet over and over while covering 12 miles of ridiculousness. It was one of the best days of our lives.

Backpacking Gear Basics - Storage

In this video, Jacki explains some of the basics of storage gear. Your storage gear is essential to carrying and organizing all of your gear needed for your backpacking trips.

Jacki will be covering:
Backpacks (REI Ridgeline W 65L / Gregory 65z M)
Stuff Sacks (Compression, Waterproof, Mesh)
Food and Water Storage

Please excuse the random gun shots at the end of the video.

Hope you learn something! Enjoy!!

Backpacking Gear Basics - Clothing

In this video I go over the layering system and what I find typically works best for most people out on the trail.

I will be covering:
Socks
Footwear
Base Layers (shirts/pants)
Insulation
Outer Shell (rain jacket)
Hats and Gloves

Please excuse the chicken clucks and the wind. Not my best video production, but the information is there. I hope this will help those looking into buying backpacking clothing to pick what's right for them.

Enjoy the video!

Backpacking Gear Basics

Jacki and I decided, with the suggestion of a few friends, to make a short series on what one needs to go backpacking out on the trail. So, we've start planning and filming a six (seven including the intro) episode series to help those new to the hobby.

The information we present is from our own research and experience. It is by nature, our own opinion, and style. I highly recommend doing a lot of research and short excursions to find what's right for you.

That said, I hope you enjoy the introduction to "Backpacking Gear Basics"!

Great AT Documentaries

Disclosure: I did NOT make these videos! But watch them anyway. :D

Jacki and I just finished watching the AT documentary, "Appalachian Impressions" by Flager Films. It was extremely well done! I wasn't sure what to expect from it in terms of the type of documentary it was, but I had heard good things. The film is basically a very, VERY, informative guide of the Appalachian trail. For anyone watching who is unfamiliar with the trail, you'll learn all there is to know besides actually hiking it. For those of us planning the hike the trail, it's an exciting look ahead into our near future. And to all those who've already completed their journey, it is a reminder of what you've experienced and accomplished, all the good times, and all the fantastic people. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has ever had a desire to learn about the AT. We will be forcing all of our family members to watch this at some point. :)

Here's a preview of the film.



You can order the film at flaglerfilms.com


Another great AT documentary is, "Trek: a Journey on the Appalachian Trail" by Cirque Productions. This was the first documentary that I watched about the AT (about a year and a half ago). It's more of a story based documentary, which I think is great for getting immersed into the trail experience. The story follows fives friends as they make their way along the 2000+ miles. Although not as informative, it is very inspirational. And I think most of our family has been force to watch this one already. :)

Take a look...



This film can be found on Amazon

Check them out!

The Filming Gear I Use for Backpacking

Just thought I'd share some info on the tools I use to capture our footage on the trail, or any other adventure Jacki and I go on.

Enjoy!