Sheltowee Trace Trail Thru-hike 2016

 Adventures of Ed, Hiking / Backpacking, Outdoors, Sheltowee Trace Trail  No Responses »
Sep 132016
 

Last year I was going to hike the sheltowee trace trail as a thru-hike.  Due to the timing of buying a new house, I had to delay it.  This year I am going to complete it in the fall.  The sheltowee trace trail is currently 323 miles and runs from Burnt Mill Bridge in Big South Fork State Park, Oneida, TN to north of Moorehead, KY.  It runs primarily though the Daniel Boone National Forest.  It is known as “Kentuckys Longest Trail”, Trail 100, and is blazed with turtles because Daniel Boone who traveled the trail was named “Big Turtle” by the Sheltowee Indians.  You can find out more information at these locations:

The Forest Service USDA has a pdf file with info and trail

SheltoweeTrace.com has information

SheltoweeTrace.org has trail notes, information, reroute information, and a store where you can buy maps and ST Gear.

I have also done a few videos that I will link to on my website.  The first is my gear planning.  I am still a few weeks out from the hike and this could change, so I provided a link to my gear list that I am using for this hike at geargrams.com in the video.  I intend to do the hike at not more than 21 days, roughly 14 miles per day with approx 12 hours of daylight available in the fall.

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Fitness for Hikers: Strengthening Legs & Cardiovascular

 Adventures of Ed, Hiking / Backpacking, Outdoors  No Responses »
Jul 272016
 

One of the biggest surprises for hikers is how “hard” those hills and mountains are, especially if you have gotten out of shape either during the hiking off-season or due to job, age, etc.  Hiking is an awesome way to stay in shape but getting in shape “on the trail” can be very hard.  So I created a video (the first of a planned series) on how to strengthen your legs and improve your cardiovascular system using a relatively cheap recumbent exercise bike you can buy at walmart.  The nice thing about having the bike at home is that you don’t have to plan your fitness around a gyms “open for business” times and you can do this while at home watching tv, watching the children, or whatever you normally do.  This is great to stay in shape for those “off seasons” or if you just watch to get in shape in general (I lost over 40 lbs using this exercise bike).  The bike I use is the Gold’s Gym Recumbent Bike.