DIY Hammock

A few months back my sister was about to begin an outdoor class for her bachelors program which would have her outside studying wildlife and what have you across many of the states parks. She would be staying in cabins and research facilities which in itself is neat, but also as a person without gear, a great opportunity for her. As far as I was aware, she had very few hours in a hammock and as a college kid with a limited budget I decided to make her one. I started with 3 and a half yards of 1.7oz ripstop nylon, hemmed the edges and sewed in a channel for the suspension. I had a pair of amsteel whoopie slings from my last DIY hammock and tied them in. In just a few hours I was in my front yard hanging in the freshly minted hammock. It was a nice feeling having built it, especially in such professional form. My original DIY hammock was a table cloth, so this is quite an improvement. I spent the night in it of course as a final quality assurance check. Although I had made it to be a quick hang and chill hammock, it made for an exceptionally comfortable evening. I made a stuff sack to go along with it and gave it to her.

Since having the hammock, she has paired it with a much needed bug net and tarp. Now that she has all the makings of a sleep system, it is time to test it in the field. This will be her first foray into overnight backpacking and I am stoked to test her mettle. We plan to attack Springer Mountain from the south, which I had only done once prior. Its not overly difficult, but it is considerably hotter now than it had been back when I did it. Being that its been over a month since my last outing, I am itching, regardless of the weather. Come to think of it, I just looked at the weather and its 100% chance of rain. Looks like it will be a muddy trek.

Getting caught up

I started this to keep myself honest to myself and to have a reminder that I said I would accomplish a thing. Something to look back on and be like “Dude, you said you were going to make a knife. Why is it not done yet?” I was between projects when I added this one (a blog) to the list. So the truth of the matter is, that I'm almost done with my first knife and currently carry my own handmade wallet. I have nearly achieved what I had started at the beginning of the year. The question is; why did it take so long? I drew out, patterned, and cut all of the pieces for my wallet in 2016. It then sat until a week and a half ago because I didn't have contact cement. Seriously. I set off a project for half a year thanks to glue. I'm telling yah, the excuses I make for myself are ridiculous.

I had some garbage steel that I was playing around with last year when I made a jig for hand filing knives. I “made” three blades to prove that the jig worked and I could move ahead with the plan. It wasn't until two months ago that I finally ordered quality steel worthy of being a blade. When it arrived, I sat on it. It would take me a few weeks to finally get around to doing anything about it. I ground, profiled and filed my blade to a point where I was “happy” with it. It wasn't as I had designed, and in the grinding process I clipped the tip off. Normally I would toss it and start over (in a few months), but I pushed forward. I tried making an excuse that I couldn't heat treat the blade and that would be my big holdup until I had a forge, but instead I made use of the tools and materials I had at hand. Now, sitting on the counter, is a heat treated blade ready for final grinding and sharpening. I've ordered new abrasives, and am so close to being finished it is crazy.

Lets jump back to the wallet. The only leather I had on hand was super thick. Thick enough that I could probably make belts out of it and have them last longer than this blog probably will. The leather that I had was purchased nearly a decade ago when I got into steampunk and decided I was going to start tooling leather. Spoiler alert...that was short lived. There are literally dozens of free and hundreds of less than free templates and patters for wallets on the internet and I wanted none of it. I had decided that I would make my wallet based on what I thought a wallet should look like. Being that I am a straight noob in the wallet, and especially leather crafting industries, my wallet design was crap. The original design I made for the cards simply didn't work. The space I had left to slip bills in, wasn't big enough. All around, the wallet was garbage. Seeing that a wallet that couldn't hold cash, nor card was useless, I attempted to remedy the problem.

The wallet that I ended up with is stout. You could probably stop a bullet with this wallet. I'm not willing to test that hypothesis, I'm just speculating. Its ugly, dyed with food coloring and barely functional. I have to fold cash in half to make it fit and it only holds 4 cards. The fact of the matter is, it works. I have used it for nearly 2 weeks and it has not left me hanging. I took my hits with this project, learned from them and moved on. I saddle stitched the mess outta that wallet. I broke half a dozen needles, but I learned how (and how not) to join leather together. Had I given up, I may have had to encounter some of these problems with a project I was actually proud of. But instead I now have a shitty wallet and a properly heat treated shitty knife, but at least they are getting done.

Winding down

To have gone from just 2 weeks prior having never hiked or solo camped before to taking on a 30 mile trip in 48 hours was a big accomplishment for me. The original plan was nearly 10 miles shorter with an extra 6 hours to do it in, yet I pushed myself to go farther, faster. This was not at all without consequence. Of the 32 miles I traveled, I can staunchly remember maybe 5 sightings. I’m sure there were hundreds of interesting things that I straight missed in my goal to put up numbers. That wasn’t what this trip had been about, merely what it had become. I literally missed the forest for the trees as I pounded out mile after mile, nearly as if watching a movie in fast forward. You get the gist of the story, but you don’t really grasp the emotional connection with the characters. That’s exactly how I feel now, having sat down and condensed my trip into a handful of paragraphs. I had just spent 48 hours in the wilderness and although I’ve achieved quite a bit, I don’t feel fulfilled. I missed the mark on this one. Does this mean I am done hiking? Absolutely not.

Now don’t get me wrong. I saw some really cool stuff. Wildlife I had never seen before, bizarre growths off of trees, crazy rock formations, and spectacular views. Although I may have seen them, I did not appreciate them because I felt rushed. Nothing was rushing me, but myself, for I had a feeling that I couldn’t stay for too long and take in the beauty of my surroundings.

What I have taken away from this adventure is that life is not a race and should not be treated as such. I had set out with a plan and decided that it wasn’t enough, inevitably missing the point. Yes I can hike 8 miles in 3 hours and choose to hike another 6, or I can hike 8 miles in 6 hours, take in what the trail has to offer and chill out a bit. I think over the coming outings I will find out what my happy medium is and not limit myself to racing around in the woods.

3 Day weekend PT 5

I don't know what it was that woke me up this morning but I was slow to get out of the hammock. It had rained all night, yet I was completely dry. A true testament to the importance of preparation. When I finally got up and moving I was amazed at how foggy it was. visibility was about 30 feet, which was pretty spooky. My shoes, as expected were completely soaked, which brings me to my first bit of advice. Buy wool socks. As soon as I started hiking I forgot my feet were wet. I couldn't say the same thing had I been wearing cotton. I hiked for about a mile before I came to the spot I had wanted to stop for breakfast. Slaughter Creek sat at the base of some roughly cut stairs at the junction of another trail. Looking back at my GPS data, I may have gone the wrong way at this point, but the trails intersect again shortly.

It was not long until I was at the top of Blood Mountain. With an Elevation of 4,458 feet, it is the highest point in Georgia along the AT, and I don't think I could have chosen a worse day to be sitting atop it. The top of the mountain is pretty bouldery. I don't think that is a word, but I'm at a loss for how to describe it. Its like standing on top of a stack of boulders that have been flattened over a millennia. With the addition of rain and fog, it made for some treacherous traveling. There were points where you needed to have a third point of contact with the rock to avoid slipping to who knows where. Seriously, I couldn't see, so I don't know what would have happened. Photos do not do the sketchiness of it justice, so you will just have to take my word for it.

The view from atop Blood Mountain

The trip down the side of the mountain was steep, muddy, and extraordinarily slippery. I figured I had to be getting close when I started passing groups of day hikers, all of them questioning how far it was to the top. I told my wife to pick me up at 10 and she ended up being 30 minutes early, which I think is a first for her. I rolled into the parking lot at Neels Gap at 9:58, soaked, covered in filth, and beyond exhausted. In the parking lot were trees filled with hundreds of pairs of hiking boots and shoes. After hiking 32 miles in 3 days, I had zero desire to chuck mine up along side them. On the ride home I was already thinking about my next trip and what it had in store for me. 

3 Day weekend PT 4

I stood atop Preacher Rock for nearly an hour taking in the view and thinking about the importance of stepping away from society and technology. This was the first time in two days of hill climbing that I couldn’t spot the influence of man for as far as the eye could see.  It was a wonderful, yet fleeting experience as a group of hikers had just began to summit, and with that, I was on my way.

 

The next few hours seemed to drag on longer than usual. The terrain was nicely varied, breathtaking at times, monotonous at others, but there really is something to be said for human interaction. After all, we did evolve as social creatures. Trailside depression was something I have come to realize exists and I have yet figured out how to deal with it. As I kept on pounding out the miles I got close to the wall again. The distance between water sources on this stretch of trail is weird. You will run into patches where there is water every half a mile and then there will be a dry section that’s 8 miles long. My choices on this were to hike 6 miles, 14 miles, or somewhere between there without water. I personally only carry two liters of water, and with rationing I like to be close to empty by the time I’m afforded an opportunity to refill.  So, today was a 14 mile day. I slept next to water but soon would realize it didn’t really matter. 

I made camp at Woods Hole alongside a boyscout troop. I hung my hammock on the edge of the site and got in and out a few times making adjustments to my suspension until it was perfectly dialed in. This was something I didn’t do the night prior and am willing to bet that that lead to my poor night’s sleep. Dinner was alfredo with salmon which was not hateful at all. As I was kicking back and drinking my hot chocolate watching the troops try to decide who was going to spark the campfire and who was allowed to hold the knife, I felt comfort in their presence. My son, being 5, is coming up on the time where I’d like to get him out camping I’ve dragged my feet all spring and I really need to prioritize it or else it will never happen. There were a dozen kids here, all 12-13 years old, and watching them work together to do stuff like cook, and hang bear bags, was entertaining to me. As I finished up my cocoa I looked at the clouds. Having had looked at the weather before my trip I knew there was a small chance of rain, but it hadn’t rained last night and I was hoping it wouldn’t tonight. I hung my ridgeline anyhow to aid in rapid tarp deployment if it started in the middle of the night.

Again, the sun began to set and I crawled into the hammock. Exhausted from the day and still really hot, I could not stop sweating. It was pretty warm yet and with the lack of a breeze, it wasn’t getting any cooler. That was until the rain came. 

At first it was a couple drops; just enough to encourage me to hang my tarp. I hung it high as it was hardly raining and I didn’t want to trap in heat. As soon as I got back in the hammock, all hell broke loose. Massive water drops slammed into the tarp as thunder roared through the canyons. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but the lightning was clear as day. The wind began to come in sideways and I heard the boyscouts running around hollering to one another trying to get in their tents before they got soaked. I hopped out and dropped my tarp down closer to the hammock. Storm mode is what I call it, and storm mode is exactly what was needed. Rain water rushed beneath me as if I had hung over a river. It came from all angles and thrashed my tarp about, really testing my knot tying skills. It continued like this for at least half an hour, and I couldn’t help but think of the two guys I had met the day prior.  When it finally let up, we all emerged from our shelters to evaluate the damage. 

A pair of kids whom had left vents open and another that had set up downhill got totally soaked. Through trial and error, meticulous research and a bit of luck, I was completely dry. After the excitement around camp wore off and the kids simmered down, I crawled back in the hammock and went to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day. I would be summiting Blood Mountain, the highest peak my state had to offer along the Appalachian Trail, where my wife and kid would be waiting to pick me up.

3 Day weekend PT 3

Since I had pushed through to Justus the day prior, I was less than two miles from what my intended second day stop was going to be. I knew immediately that the plans were going to change and I would end up hiking much further than anticipated. After eating breakfast and drinking my coffee I hit the trail. That had been my first night in the field in the Warbonnet and unfortunately, I didn't sleep so well. I think I hung my head too low because my feet kept going numb. It was odd. Definitely not the hammocks fault, but something that I would need to address tonight.

It was about 5 miles before I came across a road crossing and a good place to take a break. Gooch Gap. I spoke with a dude who had just pulled in and he had informed me that the road in was less than a mile of non paved road. I made note that this place would be excellent for the family. The water source was plentiful and there were a ton of clearings for tents. Also my car wouldn't get thrashed coming in. I passed a dude in Army issued boots while he was complaining of foot issues. I was wearing trail runners, no problems yet. The next 3 miles were pretty much all uphill, so I just shifted the load on my pack and hit it.

I passed what looked to be a boy-scout troop and unfortunately they had yet to be taught that uphill hikers have the right away. Its a lot harder to regain momentum going up than it is going down. I did meet an older couple and their dog Mitsy. As I came up on them the gentleman said “Mitsy, hiker” and Mitsy hastily got of the trail and sat down. It was very cool. After I passed, she returned to the trail and kept heading downhill. 

With every hill that I summited I would take a photo of the view. Cameras cannot take in the beauty nor do justice to the rolling hills. To this point there had always been something man made in the picture. I knew I wouldn't be happy until I was truly free of civilization and I hoped the next peak would be void of buildings or roads. Suches Georgia would not fail me for Preacher Rock atop Big Cedar Mountain provided me with a breathtaking view completely absent of man made obstruction.

This is a big picture. Click it to fully enjoy the beauty of Big Cedar mountain

3 Day weekend PT 2

Every time the terrain changed or I came to a valley I expected to find water. Like a man stranded in the dessert, every rustle of the wind sounded like a babbling brook. It wasn't until I was so near the point of failure that I was looking for an adequate spot to sleep that the trees finally gave way and the sound of Justus Creek was undeniable. It is a bit of a descent to the creek as it is in a valley. As I was coming down one side a pair of guys were coming down the other. We talked about the trail and the day as we refilled our water and they informed me that there was room at their site just a quarter mile up the hill for my hammock.

I was beat and as soon as my hammock was hung I started on dinner. Mashed potatoes, dehydrated veggies, and ground up jerky make for a surprisingly filling meal. While I was eating, two more people showed up, also in hammocks, but clearly unprepared. Each of them were armed with an ENO hammock and a 5x5 tarp. Together with a hank of cordage and a box of bungies, they managed to string together the most ridiculous sleeping system I have ever seen. I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't want to be rude. All I can say is that they are lucky it didn't rain. I hung my bear bag with the others down by the water, crawled into the hammock and started dozing off. That was until another kid came into the camp site asking whose bear bag was black and hung on yellow rope. Of course, it was mine.

I get out of the hammock and greet the dude, who informed me that in the process of hanging his bag, he broke the branch mine was on and now it was on the ground. Seeing that my bag is by the water, about a quarter mile away, and by now the sun had set, going out to re hang it was not high on my list of shit I had wanted to do. But it had to be done. On our walk, the kid informed me that he was from New York and he took 30 days off to see how much of the trail he could cover. I envy the people that can drop everything and go fulfill a dream, even if it is only 30 days.

I got into the hammock again for what I could only hope would be the last time and immediately fell asleep. It didn't rain that night, I had my tarp up anyhow. I wish it was clear so I could see the stars. Maybe tomorrow I wont use it. At the start of the “season” I had told myself that I was going to hike the entire Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail this summer. Every step I took was putting me closer to achieving that.

3 Day weekend

My little hatchbacks wheels struggled for traction. Summer performance tires are no match for rained out, non maintained national park roads, especially when climbing uphill. There were stretches of road that I could really open up and semi rally my way through, but the bulk of my travel was in the single digits. I was already behind schedule and what I imagined taking 30 minutes was now over an hour in the making. 7 miles. That's all it was, but man was it rough. My sport suspension was howling at me to stop but I just kept it in first and let her drag me up the hill. I looked forward to the descent, but come to find out, it wasn't as much fun as I had envisioned.

Finally I had made it to the top of the mountain. The turnaround point of my last trip and the starting point of this one. They call the last chunk I had done the “approach trail” to the AT. What I was about to embark on was the actual Appalachian Trail, and I couldn't be more excited. My itinerary was pretty relaxed, 8.1 miles the first day, 7.7 the second, and 8.1 the following, where my wife would meet me at a park in the mountains to bring me back to my vehicle. After speaking with a couple from New York who travel the US chasing the best hikes the nation has to offer, It was time for me to start mine.

Not two weeks had passed, but the trail had changed from a somber deciduous forest to a luscious and densely packed wilderness. Already, I was hearing life that was non existent on my last trek. Although I was later than I had planned, it was still before 10AM and the song birds were still out, removing my desire to plug in headphones. After hiking for a bit and passing a few interesting groups of people, ranging from 50 year olds to teenagers I found a quality watering hole and broke for lunch. A volunteer approached me and we talked for a bit about the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and what her roll was. She was out marking with flags, areas of the trail that could be improved. I noticed them after we split ways and made an effort to look at the trail the way she did, taking note of what she was recommending. Some parts of the trail were washed out and in need of repair, others were small ground water run offs that could be dammed and turned into refilling stations. Either way, it was interesting to see that although it isn't paved, the AT is without a doubt maintained.

The goal was to stop at Hawk Mountain Shelter and break for the day, but when I hit the 8.1 mile mark in just under 3 hours, I could not justify stopping. I had done a fair bit of reading and knew that the Hawk Mountain Shelter would be my last water supply until Justus Creek, about 6 and a half miles away. My choice was to pound out the miles or sleep between water sources. Seeing that my food required water to cook and my body needed it to survive, I was forced to push on.

Gearing up

After returning from Springer, I was hooked. I already was hooked with hammock yard sleeping, but now hammock camping was solidified on the list of interests. I knew that itch was there and running out into the woods with as little as I had was all the justification I needed to get scratch it. Having been into hammocks for over a year at this point I went ahead and purchased the camping hammock of my dreams. The Warbonnet Blackbird. Now I know you guys at home cant hear it, but when I think of the Warbonnet BB I hear the sound the pearly gates make when opened. You know the sound. I've gotta say, I am beyond please with my Warbonnet and could (and probably will) write a whole page on why it is better than the rest. I also got an insulated inflatable sleeping pad to help with heat retention. It is not the best tool for the job, but the specialized hammock under quilts are just out of the question at this point.

Now with some new gear and a couple miles under my belt I was ready to make a plan to get back on the mountain. I spent the next week and a half thinking about the next trip. Where was the water? How much food will I need? Where would I make camp? These were some of the questions I had to answer if I wanted the trip to be as successful as possible. I called up a friend to see if he would be interested in joining me, he said he was, so I planned the trip. 2 days, starting at Amicalola Falls and finishing at a road crossing 19.5 miles later. Using other peoples guides and different maps, the plan was set. A few days before the hike he had to back out because of work. Rather than letting his schedule dictate mine and canceling the trip, I instead took Friday off and turned it into a 3 day weekend on the AT.

Weekend in the woods PT 3

After falling on my ass at the top of Springer Mountain, I started back on the nearly ten mile trip to my car. I had no intentions of making it that evening, but I wanted to get close. I was beating myself up pretty bad at this point because the whole situation was avoidable. Never take untested gear into the field. This has become my wilderness mantra. As much as I can now, I test my gear at home. Especially if it is homemade. But I digress. The Appalachian trail is littered with shelters maintained by enthusiasts and volunteers, the one at the base of Springer was pretty nice. Unfortunately I don't care too much for people so I passed up staying there for the night. I made it about halfway back to where I started before finally calling it a night. I set up camp on top of an unnamed (as far as I was aware) hill and prepared dinner. Instant mashed potatoes, pasta, and tuna. It wasn't great, but after 14ish miles, it was what I needed.

The wind was howling and I began to become concerned with an issue I was expecting to face, but didn't want to think about. Unlike ground camping, when you are suspended in a hammock, there is nothing under you to insulate and help maintain body heat. Even a slight wind will roll by and strip your body of all its warmth in no time. This phenomenon is something I had experienced a lot in my yard, and hadn't really came up with a solution for...especially since I just decided on a whim to go do this. It had been in the 40s back home and with my 40 degree sleeping bag and zero insulation under me, I had been regularly waking up shivering. Now that I was in the mountains, I knew it would be worse.

I wrestled with the idea of setting up the tarp to help block the wind, but of course, the wind had no bearing. It was literally swirling around my campsite. I decided that there was nothing I could do about the wind and made the executive decision to use the tarp as a barrier between my butt and my hammock. It did not look like rain, but I have been wrong before. Eventually the sun started to set, it continued to get colder and It was time for me to crawl into bed. I took my food bag and tied it off in a tree like I had read to do. After seeing bear poop along the trail, I wanted to keep the smell of tuna far from where I would be sleeping.

Throughout the night, the wind never really died down, it came in gusts, and it made the lose parts of my hammock flap. Unfortunately based on the design, a big chunk of fabric next to my head would rustle with the slightest breeze. All I heard was a bear exhaling in my ear all night. Of course, with this being my first solo camping experience and having recently watching The Revenant, it kept me spooked all night. Needless to say, between the idea of an imminent mauling and sliding about on a tarp in a breezy hammock, I slept pretty poorly. I didn't die of hypothermia and I wasn't ravished by a bear. The sun came up, I packed my stuff and made it the rest of the way to my car.

The lesson I learned from this experience was a great one. I had been putting off this trip for over a year, and for what? I didn't have the best gear in the world, but I made what I had work. I didn't have to wait for my schedule to line up with anybody else's, I went alone. I guess the point of it all, is that the things that were keeping me from my dreams were all self imposed. I pulled the trigger that day, went out and made it happen instead of sitting at home and complaining that this wasn't right or I need this to do that. I stopped making excuses and am better off for it.

Weekend in the woods PT 2

So, let me set the stage for this hike. It is the warm-up hike taking you to the Southern Terminus of the daunting 2k+ mile trip north that thousands of people set off to take on annually. I cannot speak for the rest of the trail, but this section is tough. Georgia doesn't have massive mountains like the west coast, we just have rolling hills. Lots of them. Springer mountain is about 8 miles from the top of the falls and only about 1500 feet higher. Sounds easy right? Its not. The hills are killer. That 1500 feet of elevation gain is coupled with a multitude of 500-1000 foot hills that you have to conquer first. Without trekking poles or any clue as to what I was doing, it was tough. I hiked for a a few hours playing leapfrog with a few groups, none larger than 5. Myself, being the introvert I am, gave a half hearted greeting and carried on my way. Eventually I came across a hill that really made me question what I was doing out here. I dubbed that hill “Strong Quads and Trekking Poles” as you would need both to summit it comfortably. I had neither.

Shortly after said hill I stopped for lunch. Spoke with a young family who was out on an overnighter like me. I said I would see them at Springer and carried on. I played leap frog with a few groups again for the next couple hours until I made it to my final hill. Springer Mountain. Atop that hill was where I planned to sleep for the night. With the idea that I was almost finished I put my head down and took on the beast. The 1000 feet of elevation in under a mile was as expected. Daunting. My legs were throbbing from being worked harder than they had in recent history as I kept on. I made it to the top. I dropped my pack and enjoyed the view for a few minutes. I was not alone at the peak. About a dozen folks where chilling in hammocks or sitting on logs, all of them in their little groups. I found two trees that were adequately spaced and strung up my hammock.

Just a quick primer on my hammock and sleeping system in general. My hammock was made from a banquet tablecloth. Taffeta nylon to be specific. My homemade hammock was fastened to the tree with straps cut from tie downs (more on that later) and in the case of rain, I had a 8x10 tarp from wally world. Anyhow. I had tested all of my gear in the yard. I have trees that are great for hanging between, They are however on the small side as far as diameter is concerned. Expecting the trees on the trail to be thicker, I made a new tree strap from a different strap than the ones I had been using in the yard. Now that we are caught up. Back to the mountain.

I was hanging in my hammock, enjoying the view and coming to grips with what I had just accomplished. Yes it was a minor accomplishment perhaps, but a win is a win. Suddenly and violently my new hammock strap snaps and I plummet to earth. Luckily I learned enough from the hammock forums that there are two rules to hammocking. 1. you will fall and 2. never hang higher than you are willing to fall. I wasn't but 2 feet off the ground, but I for sure landed hard on my back, and with a busted sleep system and a bruised ego, I packed up and headed down the mountain. Looking back, I knew at the time that I would be fine and I could have stayed and slept atop Springer Mountain as planned, but my pride hurt and I don't care too much for crowds.

Weekend in the woods

Being outside has always been a major player in my overall happiness. I love the outdoors, the beautiful simplicity of not having cell reception or having to hear the highways has always made me feel better. As a kid, my parents did an amazing job at filling my summers with outdoor camps, and although we lived in metropolitan Tokyo, they managed to get my into the outdoors. Hiking, rock climbing, white water rafting, you name it and I did it. Thanks to them and the amazing MWR program we had access to, my love for the outdoors was chiseled into the stone that forms who I am today. Fast forward quite a few years and now I live in North Georgia where the outdoors is easily found. Georgia is home to the Southern Terminus to the Appalachian Trail, a fact that sadly I was not privy to until about 2 years ago when I found people on YouTube hiking from one end to the other. Georgia to Maine. Roughly 2,200 miles. People hike this. In one 4-6 month stint. The idea of this fascinated me and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Until one day in April when I said enough thinking. I had previously made a hammock out of a table cloth which I enjoyed hanging in out in my yard. So I bought a tarp in case in rained, borrowed a camp stove from my dad, and I threw what I thought I would need to survive the weekend on the trail into my backpack.

Saturday came and I packed my car and drove the hour north to Amicalola Falls state park, the starting and finishing point of my trek. Mind you, I had done no real hiking prior, and surely not with a 30lb pack on my back. The plan was simple. Hike from Amicalola falls to Springer mountain on Saturday and come back on Sunday. The trip would be a little less than 10 miles each day. I am a fairly healthy fellow and this didn't frighten me. That was, until I saw the steps at the falls. The first quarter mile of my journey was nearly straight up hill, followed by almost 600 steps to the top of Georgia's tallest waterfall. I don't know if it was my lack of physicality or the fact that I hit it too hard, but by about step 200 I was ready to quit. Less than an hour into my two day adventure I was questioning if I had bit off more than I could chew.

Needless to say, I harnessed my warrior spirit and pushed on. Making it to the top of the falls was just one of many minor victories the weekend would provide. Nearly quitting quickly left my mind as I crossed out of Amicalola State Park and into the Chattahoochee National Forest. Now I was alone. The majority of the people I had met at this point where there for the falls, however, my journey was just starting.

No More Excuses

I've spent the bulk of my life interested in making things, taking stuff apart, and finding out what makes them work. I have dabbled in pretty much all of the “mainstream” hobbies and a few more less “mainstream” ones. I have made some real quality items in my day, and a whole lot of not so quality items. The majority, truthfully, were never finished. You see, I have this problem and its multi faceted.

1. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and take a lot of pride in my work. More often than not, this will be what stops my project. I will hit a point where I am not happy with my product and just quit. Which leads us to my second point.

2. I am lazy. I really am. I look for excuses in everything to explain away why I haven't finished something. Sometimes this will ground a project before it has even taken flight. 

3. Probably not the last of my problems, but this is enough self deprecation in a single post. I am a dreamer and I have an excessively addictive personality. When I find a project, a hobby, or anything for that matter, I will skip sleep, tirelessly learning all that I can about the matter at hand. Because of this, I can burn myself out on a subject, or hell, stumble across something in my research that is more appealing then the original topic. Its happened before, and I would be lying if I said it would never happen again. More often then not, all of this dreaming leads to excuse making and I never get around to actually using any of this knowledge. Which is why I guess we are here today.

2017 rolled around and I said I was done making excuses. I set an extraordinarily simple goal for myself. I would make and use my own knife, and my own wallet. I have been interested in blacksmithing for about a decade, and over the past couple years I have focused that desire into knife making. My grandfather was a hobbyist leather-worker and when he passed I inherited his tools and a few of the wallets he had made. My shitty Fossil wallet was falling to pieces, giving me the perfect excuse to make my own. Needless to say, the year is half way over and I am using my grandfathers wallet and a store bought knife. I told you I was lazy.

So, now, literally at the apex of the year, I will levy that goal once more. I will finish a wallet, and I will carry my own handmade knife. I am tired of making excuses and this is where I stop. Regardless of outcome, I will finish. No more stopping short because I don't like the perceived outcome. Finishing a sub par product will do nothing but teach me how to make it better. I am putting this out there to document my adventures and to have something that is keeping me accountable to my dreams. So, if there is anyone out there reading this, strap in, it could get bumpy.