Hold Yo Pot

Pot Stands!! So exciting I know. Well, most of you probably don't know, but awhile back, I made my own stove that burns using denatured alcohol...pretty simple soda can stove.

That's the first go, I'm making another one soon, that should be a little shorter, and better crafted....

So, once I got my pot (which, btw, is the REI .9L ti non-stick, shallow but wide, which will make stirring much easier) I decided it was time to make my pot stand and wind screen. I did a lot of research (so many smarter people out there on the interwebs than me). My first go was two different stands. One is just a pot stand. The other is a combination pot stand and wind screen. I made them both out of a large tin can, and needless to say they were both very rough drafts.

I realized quickly that while I might not always need a wind screen, for weight and packing reasons, it would be helpful if the pot stand just included the wind screen automatically. The problem with the one I made is that it's rigid, so it wouold be difficult to fold into my pot. I tried to come up with better designs, and just kept hitting road block after road block.

Then I stumbled upon a post about a lighterweight stand/screen, and decided to give it a go. It's made out of aluminum roofing flashing, which is pretty cheap. Like $6 for a 10" x 10' wide roll, which will allow me to...well, make many mistakes haha. So I give credit where credit is due, here is the link I used to make my screen, which I ultimately found on zenstoves.com: http://web.archive.org/web/20051210090354/www.datasync.com/~wksmith/newdesign.html

Anyway, I need to punch holes in the bottom of it, but I won't get my hole punch for another few days, so here's my first draft, of pot stand #3. Substantially lighter than the tin can stands, and a much better looking design. Which, while isn't important persay, is always appreciated by a designer at heart :)

Haven't tested it out just yet, I will once I get some holes in it, and will report then. Oh, and it weighs 1.3oz Not bad! :)

Snow Day

Another loverly trip on the AT :) Except this time there was snow!

And loooots of it! In fact, we grossly underestimated how packed down the snow would or wouldn't be. Opps. Lesson learned: next year, I'm going out with snowshoes.

This trip, we set up our sleeping bags in the shelter. No tent. It was so nice waking up, right to the sun and seeing the trees and sky, and no tent around you :) This is kinda like my home shelter. It was my first shelter I stayed in, and this hike around here, which I've done several times, was my first hike in PA. And the first place I stepped on the Appalachian Trail :) I'll be super excited when I get here this summer, walk around the resevoir, and there's the shelter!

For dinner, Matt and I made this recipe he found in a backpacker magazine (so I certainly can't take credit for it!). Chicken flavored ramen, can of chicken, oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, and garlic pepper...so tasty. Like, honestly, I would eat it in my house. (great food for the unemployed! Cheap!) If anyone wants the actual recipe, I'll be happy to share!

On a side note, I officially put in my 60 days notice to my landlord over the weekend. It's super official now, but hasn't completely set in that this is really happening...probably won't until I get dropped off in Georgia haha. So unreal :)

Subscribe!

Well, I fiiinally figured out how to make it so you can receive an email whenever I update this thing :) Huzzah! On the right bar, under "followers" is a subscribe link. Enter your email, and voila! Automatic updates :)

Now you have zero excuses :)

Happy Happy

Wellllll, just had some meetings about my thesis. Sometimes, you think about your thesis ideas so much, you get really scared that it's not really a great idea...you start to doubt how important it is or if it's big enough or whatever.

And theeen you go to class, and you talk to people, and discuss all your ideas, and get feedback, and people help you move forward and think about things in a different way, and you get really excited and confident and motivated and it is such a great feeling. I got some really good ideas today in our small groups, and I am pumped. Everyone loves my concept, and it feels so good to be reassured.


Oh

happy

day




I am about to start actually designing, and I have some sweet ideas. I'm excited about creating a place where people can come together, be outside, learn from thru-hikers, and even be in an environment where they might not normally envision themselves being. I'm excited to push some boundaries, and design a place where other people have opportunities to push their own boundaries. This is why I fell in love with design in the first place - providing people with experiences just by the kind of space their a part of. How cool is that.

Soon I will hopefully be putting up sketches on here. I know this was supposed to be a hike blog, but since my hike is partially geared to aid in my research and design of this community. But I want to share the ideas, you guys can give feedback too, the more feedback the better! I'm excited and hopefully when my ideas start coming to life, you will get excited too :)

So that's all for now. Stay tuned for some design drawings soon!

No Thesis

Well after a bit of a battle with my university, I am not allowed to do the thesis in conjunction with my hike. Well, let me rephrase. I'm not allowed to finish my semester early to leave for the hike. Since I will not be registered for classes over the summer....what I do on my own time is my perogative :) So now I will be leaving right after I give my final presentation, which should be 14 April. I'm really bummed that I can't leave sooner, but happy that I still get to go at all.

Still not a lot of time.

The more I think about it, the longer my list of things to do before I leave grows. It's quite intimidating, adding things to my list, taking things off as I do them, buying new gear, testing gear...Today it took me at least an hour just to choose between two fleece jackets! That's crazy talk!

So as of today, I have a final date to prepare for :) ...finally.

And it feels good.

Kinda like this :)

First Post

Okay, first post. Nothing to write about...yet :) Just wanted to get this thing created, and sent out. This will serve as my blog to talk about all things hiking related in my life. AKA my Appalachian Trail hike, all the little hikes before and after, products I like/dislike, hikes I like/dislike, photos, comments, everything!

Subscribe to my blog, you'll be automatically updated when I create a new post! Makes things easy :) Love to all my family and friends that actually end up following this...means a lot to me!

PS, I wanted to make my blog be "hikerash.blogspot.com" but I thought it might be too easily misconstrued as "hike rash" so I ditched it. Stupid name.