Cross Training

Several days ago we rented bicycles (new beach bikes with fat tires, belt drive, and no gears).  We have been hiking on the trails, hiking on the beach, bicycling, and climbing dunes to get ready for the hike.

I have also been using the GPS in my Android phone with Google Tracks and Google Latitude to track these hikes in anticipation of using one or the other for our AT hike.  Today we biked to Nags Heads Woods Nature Center and hiked all the trails, then  biked to Nags Head Town Park and hiked that trail, then biked to Jockey's Ridge and hiked that trail (including some minor dune climbing) .  Then we biked back to Beth's Cottage.  In total, we hiked 7 mi. and biked 12 mi. this afternoon.  

Here is a map  I made using Google Tracks.  Note that the battery ran down so it ends on the way to Jockey's Ridge.  This is one of the reasons that Google Tracks is not useful for a 6-7 month hike.  However, it could be very useful for documenting a day hike.

Google Tracks also generates data and puts it in Google Docs.  Here is a spreadsheet from today.  These are both useful but Google Latitude is what I will be using for the AT hike.  It is not meant for this purpose either, but I have determined that I can turn on Latitude, get a location sent (when I have a connection), and then turn it off.  If I do this every day or so, it will generate a map of our progress on the trail.

Finally, it is getting warm - I know because the snakes are coming out.  We have been here for over 2 weeks and had not seen any.  Today we saw 2.  Here is a picture of one.