Kennesaw Mountain. Again. And again!

This week's hike was Kennesaw Mountain. *yawn*

I'm getting sick of this hike. But it wasn't the best hike for either Steph or me, with respect to our energy levels. We were both wearing our backpacks with 3 liters of water, so the extra weight may have had something to do with it.

Since Saturday's hike was sucky, we did it again on Sunday. We're committed to this! Or, maybe, we should be committed!

Next weekend we won't be doing the group training hike due to other committments. The following weekend I'll be trying to find a hike near Sao Paolo, Brazil while Steph does Kennesaw Mountain twice in a single day.

This Hike
Length: 2.1 miles (twice!)
Elevation Change: 657' (twice!)

Total Miles Hiked
Steph: 17.1 miles
Dean: 17.1 Miles

Group Hike #2 — Stone Mountain, GA

Yesterday's group hike was to the top of Stone Mountain via the Mountaintop Trail. This is a pretty well known hike in Atlanta, it seems everyone has done this hike before. Except Steph. ;-)

We started just outside the park at a local church where we all met up, adding a bit of distance to the hike. (I wish I had a GPS unit, so I knew exactly how long we hiked!) The day started off cold, in the low forties, and a bit windy. Once we got moving we both warmed up quickly and started taking off outer layers of clothes to cool down. On the way up we met Jerry, a personal trainer, who we hiked with most of the way. He set the pace (fast!) and we kept up with him for much of the way. I feel like we ran up the mountain! We were trying to beat the cold wind and rain that were coming in from the west.

We reached the summit, turned around to look quickly at the views of the Atlanta area and take a picture. Steph's camera battery was dead, so we were SOL on the pictures! Oops! The rain started and we headed downhill again. The mountain is awfully slick in the rain! We were slipping and sliding on the rock as we came downhill, thankfully none of us hurt ourselves.

I think this was our best hike so far! I felt stronger than I have on other hikes, yet I was working MUCH harder than I have at Kennesaw or Enchanted Rock. I'm beginning to notice a difference in my energy level and endurance.

Next week we're headed back to hike on Kennesaw Mountain. Hopefully the weather will be a bit more cooperative!

This Hike
Length: 2.6 miles (estimated)
Elevation Change: ~800' (estimated, I cannot find a good resource for this number!)

Total Miles Hiked
Steph: 12.9 miles
Dean: 12.9 Miles

Silver Comet Trail and Drink for Discovery!

I got home from Charlotte mid-day today and decided to go for a walk on the Silver Comet Trail with Allison, Todd and Miles. We did a five mile walk! I'm breaking in my boots for this weekend when we're climbing Stone Mountain.

We've also been busy arranging a fundraising event for our hike. Dennis Lange, one of our friends and the co-owner of 5 Seasons Brewing has been generous enough to offer us the use of the beer garden (patio) at 5 Seasons AND free beer! I have started contacting other Georgia based brewers asking for beer donations. The plan is to "Drink for Discovery" and explore the range of great beers offered by brewers from around the state. Additionally, we're working on donations of items for a silent auction with the proceeds all going to HFD and LLS. If you have anything you can donated (services, tickets to sporting events, etc.) please let us know! Watch this space for more info as we firm up our plans.

Weekly training

Our mid-week training started this week. Well, it really started last week, but we were out of town and didn't get the schedule until mid-week. We're a bit behind on the training.

I'm in Charlotte, NC, so I hit the local YMCA yesterday and spent some time on the treadmill.Did I ever mention how much I hate the treadmill? What a boring way to exercise! On the other hand, the treadmill makes me set a pace and stick with it.

I'm looking forward to being back home and getting outside to exercise again.

Half way there!

We've just surpassed the half way point on our fundraising! As of right now we have $4009 in our accounts after less than three weeks of fundraising!

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. We still have a long way to go, so keep those donations coming! We're going to canvass our neighborhood tonight to solicit further donations. We're also heading to one of my favorite brew pubs tonight to see if we can arrange some kind of event and silent auction in the next few weeks to help push us over the top.

Keep watching here for more news on our training and fundraising!

Training Hike #4 - First Group Hike at Kennesaw Mountain

Today was our first group hike with the HFD team. We did the mountain top trail at Kennesaw Mountain which is getting easier each and every time.

After today's rainy, cold and foggy hike (yuck!) we met at REI for a clinic on hiking apparel, shoes, safety equipment and hydration on the trail. I picked up a pair of hiking boots for myself, Steph couldn't find anything she liked so she's waiting on some pairs from Zappos to arrive in the next few days.

We have a lot more stuff to pick up, including backpacks with water bladders (a.k.a. camelbacks), a few Nalgene bottles for extra water and better clothing. The cotton t-shirts and shorts I have been wearing get hot and sweaty pretty quickly, its time to invest in some clothes that wick water away from my skin and breathe better than cotton. This is turning into an expensive sport! And we just thought we'd have to buy some shoes and water bottles. Hah!

Next weekend is a hike to the top of Stone Mountain! I can't wait! In the meantime I'm off to walk the dogs with Steph and check out my new boots.

This Hike
Length: 2.1 miles
Elevation Change: 657'

Total Miles Hiked
Steph: 10.3 miles
Dean: 10.3 Miles

Training Hike #3 — Enchanted Rock

Today we did our third, and longest yet, training hike at Enchanted Rock, outside of Fredericksburg, TX. We were in San Antonio, TX for the weekend — Steph just got home, I'm here through Wednesday for work — so we made the 80 mile drive northwest of San Antonio this morning and started our hike around 11 AM.

It was a beautiful day, bright blue skies, high temperature in the mid 70's and WINDY! On top of the rock it must have been blowing 50+ MPH! When we reached the top I had to take off my hat because it would have blown off otherwise. I was seriously worried about being blown by the wind and taking a bad step in one of the small cracks in the rock. The scenery was just gorgeous. Large rocks teetering on top of smaller rocks, some large trees and a lot of smaller brush mixed in with cactus. As we walked around the rock the views changed from gently a gently sloping face on the south side to a sheer face on the north side with a number of rock climbers.

As we passed through Echo Canyon bwteen Enchanted Rock and Little Rock it was, well, rocky! Large boulders littered the ground which made it challenging to walk through and find our footing. And as we made out way back down to the trailhead we had to do some bouldering. I was following the trail markers, or so I thought, when we had to carefully work our way down a 150' vertical descent over large rocks. It was quite a challenge to navigate our way down an unmarked trail slowly and carefully to avoid hurting ourselves.

This was our most challenging and fun hike yet. We completed about 4 miles in 2 hours and felt really great about what we accomplished. I can't wait to see what next weekend will bring!

This Hike
Length: 4 miles (estimated)
Elevation Change: 425'

Total Miles Hiked
Steph: 8.2 miles
Dean: 8.2 Miles

Fundraising update...

Yipee! We've received our first check from the snail-mail that went out on Monday. These aren't updated on the donations page as quickly as internet-based donations, since we have to physically mail the checks in to LLS.

Also, some of you may have noticed that we actually have 2 fundraising sites on active.com. Steph's site and mine. However, since Steph's friends and family are currently kicking my friends and family's asses, I figured I'd even the score a bit. HELP ME CATCH UP TO MY WIFE! As of today, I have only $145 in my fundraising account!

Steph has $1011! Go wifey!

Our goal is minimally $8000 between the two of us, however, each of us have to break the $4000 goal independently. So help me catch up, folks! I've updated the graphs on the active.com sites to accurately represent what we have and what's needed for each of us to reach our goals.