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  1. #1
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    Default "Three Hundred Zeros" -- are you kidding me?

    I'm reading "Three Hundred Zeros", the book about Ken Blanchard's ("K1") 2007 hike.

    Wow -- the guy starts out by nearly being run over by a moose on his shakedown hike. Then he gets on the AT, and has mice fighting over his gear and a bear tripping over his hammock ties right off the bat at Hawk Mountain.

    He seems to wake up every night to the sound of bears poking through everyone's gear at every shelter. Half the time he's eating lunch with a bear eyeing him hungrily. At one point he chases off a bear that has just bluff-charged a couple of fellow hikers. And then he gets stuck at Fontana Dam when the rangers hold him back because a bear has decided to take a break right in the middle of the trail. He also sees numerous rattle snakes and one actually strikes at him and misses. He stops and takes a picture.

    At one point, he's at some shelter in the Smokies and the trampled ground is a "surface cesspool" (his words) of poop and toilet paper as far as the eye can see.

    This thing reads like a zombie apocalypse, only the zombies haven't figured out that brains are tasty.

    And I had just talked myself out of that little 3oz can of a bear mace! Maybe I need an AR-15! And an isolation suit!

  2. #2
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    He did see lots of bears and other animals on this thru hike. Others that hiked with him rarely saw any. I guess he was lucky.

    I guess you haven't got to his best bear story yet which I think was in PA or NJ (sorry, no spoiler).
    Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, the Trail beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind, and soul of man.


  3. #3
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    At one point, he's at some shelter in the Smokies and the trampled ground is a "surface cesspool" (his words) of poop and toilet paper as far as the eye can see



    that sounds about right for the russell field shelter.........

    its doesnt have a privy so the surrounding area gets peppered with waste...........

  4. #4

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    I liked his book as well, one of my favorites due to his hobby, so I'm a little bias. Still a good read though.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    that sounds about right for the russell field shelter.........

    its doesnt have a privy so the surrounding area gets peppered with waste...........
    they don't dig a cat hole? Shame.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Harrison Bergeron View Post
    And I had just talked myself out of that little 3oz can of a bear mace! Maybe I need an AR-15! And an isolation suit!
    Only one question for you: Did HE take bear mace, a gun, and an isolation suit?! LOL

    RainMan

    .
    [I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35

    [url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]

    .

  7. #7
    Registered User dangerdave's Avatar
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    My favorite AT read!
    AKA "DANGER" AT Thru-Hiker Class of 2015

  8. #8

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    And I supplied K1 with the little trail friendly ham radio rig he used on the second half of the trip
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  9. #9
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    Can animals hear radio waves? Maybe all those critters were attracted to that 3 pound ham radio he was dragging around. I guess my 7 oz cell phone charger isn't such a silly luxury, after all!

    I have to admit, it's the most entertaining trail journal I've read since Gator Gump. I just hope it's a work of fiction.

  10. #10
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    Maybe it is an enlightened work of fiction with the goal of decreasing traffic on the AT. Hope it works.

  11. #11
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    Secrets to seeing wildlife while you hike....

    Hike alone, walk quietly
    Wear 'forest' colors
    Heads up, look around
    No ear buds, listen
    Know the preferred habitats of various species so that you know where to look
    Get up early, the hour around dawn has the most activity.
    Hike late, the hour around sunset is also a\very active.
    With experience you gain an eye for finding wildlife, a slight movement, a sound, a silhouette, the alarm call of birds.

  12. #12

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    FYI his first name is Dennis, not Ken.

    By pure happenstance, I met K1YPP at the southernmost crossing of I-81 and had a nice talk. As it turned out, it was only a few days before he took himself off the trail because of his chest pains and headed home to Florida. The rest is history.

    Of all the AT books I've read, 300 Zeroes is the most humorous and most creative in the way each heading is worded. While Dennis had some editorial help, he still did a terrific job in making the read most entertaining.

    And I'm grateful for his helping me when I decided to self-publish my book. He offered many valuable tips and always responded promptly when I wrote him, always with useful and practical advice. I ended up using the same self-publishing company when I wrote Shades of Gray, Splashes of Color.

  13. #13
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    I found the number of bear encounters curious as well, however I thought it was a very well written and entertaining.

    My advice, finish the book, but leave the bear spray behind.. You may want the AR-15 for the shelter mice, but be mindful of sleeping hikers.

  14. #14

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    I helped Dennis through NH. (My hat's off to Slo-go'-en, KD1JV, just "up the road.")

    "Kit-Kat"
    kf1wv, formerly kd2vx

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by imscotty View Post
    Secrets to seeing wildlife while you hike....
    Hike alone, walk quietly
    Wear 'forest' colors
    Heads up, look around
    No ear buds, listen
    Know the preferred habitats of various species so that you know where to look
    Get up early, the hour around dawn has the most activity.
    Hike late, the hour around sunset is also a\very active.
    With experience you gain an eye for finding wildlife, a slight movement, a sound, a silhouette, the alarm call of birds.
    To which I'd add: ditch the hiking poles. It is much easier to hear a hiker clanking his/her metal-tipped poles than one without, particularly on a rocky trail.

  16. #16
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    Hopefully, you've finished the book Harrison. I got a kick out of your comments. You've made some good observations.


    I too have pondered why I saw so many bears. In 2007/2008 there were lots of bear sightings. There was a serious drought and I think it was forcing them to wander further to find water and food. Many of those that I was hiking with had never seen a bear in previous years and saw plenty while hiking with me.Then too, I counted any bear I saw as a “bear sighting.” In some cases, such as the female with three cubs, that was “4”sightings, hence it was easy to accumulate 38 in total.


    I'd have to go back and look, but I don't think that I alluded to the bears actually “poking through everyone's gear,” if I did, that wasn't true. They did wander around several of the shelter sites during the night and I got to watch them, holding my breath that something would go wrong, but it never did, thank goodness. The reality is, the bears are more scared of us and usually would run away at the slightest provocation. They've been hunted a lot and it shows. The exceptions, which I didn't encounter, are the ones that have people feeding them, a dangerous maneuver indeed.


    In total, I did “see” three rattlesnakes. I “heard” more than that, but didn't see them. Going over my photos I realized that I actually saw more copperhead snakes than I originally thought. They're more subtle.


    TNhiker is correct, I believe it was Russell Field Shelter. The “privy” field was pretty disgusting.


    I'm wondering what made you think it was a work of fiction Harrison? I did change a few names of people to protect their privacy, but other than that, the story comes right out of my notes. I can't think of anything in there that was that far out, maybe I just lead a far out life!


    I also agree with imscotty, I tend to do as he indicates: hike alone, walk quietly, etc. More often than not, I would see the bears before they saw me. It did surprise me that, in all three cases, the rattlesnakes got the jump on me. I just did not see them. I've had other encounters over the years, but inmost cases, I did see them first, but not on the AT.


    To all of you that commented here that I ran into on the trail, I can't thank you enough for all the help I received along the way. Certainly Kit-Kat and Steve, (ham radio KD1JV), but others as well. It was the journey of a lifetime.


    Hopefully, this helps clarify some of the mysteries. It tickles me that so many have enjoyed the book and have found it useful. Two other tidbits of information: Two people have written me to tell me they ended up pursuing getting an amateur radio license after reading the book. I thought that was nice. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, two people contacted me to tell me that, after reading chapter six, the heart surgery chapter,they were experiencing chest pains similar to mine and checked into an emergency room and ended up also having a life-saving heart bypass. That was inspiring.
    Last edited by k1ypp; 03-20-2015 at 12:09.

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by k1ypp View Post
    ...I too have pondered why I saw so many bears. In 2007/2008 there were lots of bear sightings. There was a serious drought and I think it was forcing them to wander further to find water and food. Many of those that I was hiking with had never seen a bear in previous years and saw plenty while hiking with me.Then too, I counted any bear I saw as a “bear sighting.” In some cases, such as the female with three cubs, that was “4”sightings, hence it was easy to accumulate 38 in total.....
    In 2007, on a mere 2-day weekend hike in Shenandoah NP, I saw bears on 3 different stretches of trail. 2007 was also the year of the ATC biennial in NJ. On one of the organized day hikes along the NJ AT, a bear came up to the ridge while we were having lunch, turned his tail, and sauntered back down. Never saw more bears along the AT than 2007.

  18. #18
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
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    I've been thinking of picking up 300 Zeroes. Now, I'm convinced.

  19. #19
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    Just finished the book last week. Told my wife he should have named it 300 bears! It was a good read as well as his Trail Journal posts. If you enjoyed K1's book check out Model T's Walkin' on the Happy Side of Misery for another good read.

  20. #20

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    There are some places that get so much traffic that when you dig a cathole you're really just digging up someone else's crap and depositing yours underneath it.

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