George Borum (1913-2012) from Centralia, Illinois, was a man of many talents. He was a sign painter, calligrapher, auctioneer, carver, and a tramp art artist to name a few. To Mickie H., he was a priviologist, an outhouse expert. Mickie and George got acquainted through outhouses. George wrote and illustrated “Our Vanishing Americana… The Little House Out Back”. Mickie was an outhouse collector, bought George’s book, and became penpals for years.
Mickie sent me many of the original sketches that George Borum sent to her. They are all pages out of his sketch book and signed. I think you will enjoy these pictures. You can read more about them and see all of them on the page dedicated to George Borum. They are under the Drawings and Sketches category in the tour.
I hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 2021 and 2022
Special Announcement! Corona Virus Update
Because of the Corona Virus, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) recommended that no one hike the AT in 2020. I decided to delay my hike until late March 2021. I continue to post new videos with thoughts and gear information. Thank you for following me.
The ATC gives out hang tags to thru hikers. This is my 2020 hang tag, front and back. On the back, they print a Leave No Trace (LNT) item and in 2020, it was Respect Wildlife.
Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Hang Tag
it is over 2,193 miles long stretching through 14 states from Springer Mountain in Georgia to the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine. It will take 5,000,000 steps and I’ll go through 6 pairs of trail runner shoes.
I will be VLOGGING the hike on YouTube. Please subscribe to my channel and view various gear and hiking videos. If you click the little bell on a video page and then select All Videos, you will be notified when I post new videos. My channel is JLDRDOTCOMand is located here: https://www.youtube.com/user/jldrdotcom
2022 Update!
In May of 2022, I drove to PA and stayed at a hotel near the AT. I actually went to the AT there and hiked for a day and then returned to the hotel. The next day, I was dropped off in Harpers Ferry, WV at the ATC headquarters. I had my picture taken in front of the building and registered my hike. I then left to hike NOBO on the AT. My videos of this hike are on my YouTube channel. My channel is JLDRDOTCOMand is located here: https://www.youtube.com/user/jldrdotcom
I hiked for several days in WV, MD and PA but ran into an issue with heat, humidity and not much water on trail. Most of the time, the only water I found was by the shelters. I ended up calling the hike because it has only been a year since I had a quadruple bypass and the heat and humidity was getting to me.
I’m not sure what the future holds for me as far as backpacking on the AT goes but I will be continuing overnight backpacking trips near home. Thank you for following me. I will be adding videos on my channel on a regular basis.
To see all the gear I took in 2022, I created a 2022 Gear Video. Click HERE to see that video.
My 2021 Appalachian Trail Experience
After getting on trail at Amicalola Falls State Park, I proceeded to hike several days. During that time, I did some serious soul searching and decided that at this time in my life, my priority had to be taking care of things at home vs. being gone for up to six months away from friends and family. Of course I would make tons of new friends on trail but I felt a calling home. The videos I made on trail turned out great and show a lot of the trail. I would have liked to have done many more.
As it turned out, it’s a good thing I went home because on the way home, my I felt my chest tighten up. It went away and then came back two months later. I went to the doctor and after testing, they told me I was having emergency open heart surgery the next day to correct several blockages. The surgery was successful I’m sure in part because I was in such good shape from preparing for the AT hike. The recovery took several months and I did cardiac rehab from August 2021 to December 2021. During that time, my cardio improved 134%. The average improvement for people is 40%.
The AT is drawing me back. I plan on doing a section hike in 2022. Unfortunately, a full on thru hike in one year is not going to work for me. I’m also planning on doing some shorter backpacking trips closer to home with friends and family and I’ll be vlogging those trails when it happens. In the meantime, here is a stat you can think about: Of all the people who begin a thru hike, only about 19% actually complete their hike (2020 data). That percentage has been going down during the last 15 years.
The Appalachian Trail is HARD!!! Most of the time, it seems like you are going up and a lot of the time, it is a steep up. I found that I enjoyed going down much more simply because I could get my breath. Yes, the knees would hurt but at least I could breath normally. The trail also tears up shoes. In the few days I hiked, the toe flap in the front of both shoes was coming unglued and other areas of the shoes were showing signs of wear. You are constantly getting your shoes caught on rocks and roots. So for anyone out there who is contemplating hiking the Appalachian Trail, be aware that it will probably be harder than anything you have ever done before right out of the gate. I hope you enjoy my Vlog of my AT hike.
Monetary Contributions – Gear and thru hiking costs money and Vlogging takes a lot of time and effort. If you enjoy my videos, consider donating. Every dollar helps.
Comment from a visitor about the shirt his pictures are on…
I met Victor Hayes probably about the time he drew the outhouses that were on the t-shirt. I was a high school kid from Grand Rapids, MI. My parents were teachers and we lived in Elk Rapids during the summer.
I don’t remember where he lived in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, but he rented a tiny white cabin, across from the Elk Rapids Golf Club, for the Summer. He would sit outside his tiny cabin and paint. He had his art displayed, for sale. I think he rented that same little cabin for multiple years.
He was known to be kind of a jerk. If a golfer hit a ball across the street, and near into the little cabin resort, Victor would grab it and wouldn’t give it back.
I somehow got ahold of him and made an appointment to meet him. I was hoping to get some advice and encouragement. I wanted to be an artist (I ended up not a painter, but a graphic designer). I don’t remember what he told me (or didn’t tell me), but I remember going back to our cottage and telling my mom that he wasn’t encouraging and that he was kind of a grump. He wasn’t very nice.
A few years later I heard that he died in a car accident. He used to drive an old Chevy Impala. I think it was a ’64. It was copper color or medium brown metallic.
That’s my memory of Victor Hayes. I liked his art, he did a lot of fall-color landscapes in watercolor. He was a good artist, but not such a nice guy.
Yes, it’s a bathroom, a public toilet, a roadside rest stop. But it happens to be an unusually stylish roadside loo, on one of the world’s greatest roads. This month, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration opened Ureddplassen, a $2 million installation near the town of Gildeskål along the Norwegian Scenic Route Helgelandskysten.
This spectacularly restful rest area features a few simple block benches of “Norwegian Rose” marble from the town of Fauske—the same stone used in New York’s United Nations building—and a lovely viewing platform of amphitheater-style steps facing the small beach and the open sea, ideal for gazing at the aurora borealis during the winter or the midnight sun in the summertime. Ureddplassen’s remarkable frosted-glass toilet building, designed by Oslo-based architects Marit Justine Haugen and Dan Zohar, has been created to evoke “a sense of poetic solitude as it complements the natural landscape of Norway.” Perfect.
It isn’t too often that an Outhouse can be saved from being scrapped but Hope found this Outhouse laying on its side and ready to be cut up by the owner. She convinced the owner to give it to her and here are her own words describing the find.
Restored 3-holer “Saved” from scrapping Outhouse
Hi, I recently found an old 3 seater outhouse laying on its side in the back of someones house. My husband and I thought it would be great for our back yard as a tool shed. Our house is 117 years old so this is a perfect fit. We have dressed it up quite a bit, but left the interior original. I absolutely love this building. Hope
3-holer ready to be chopped up “Saved” from scrapping Outhouse
The picture of it laying on it’s side is how I found it. The fella was going to chop it up. We painted the outside, but left the interior all original.
3-holer “Saved” from scrapping Outhouse
If you look at the inside shot, you can see a lower smaller hole. That one was used by the children. They being shorter needed a lower hole. In our Outhouse, we had a smaller diameter hole for the children and built a step out of wood for them to climb up onto the platform.
“Saved” from scrapping Outhouse window
Pictures used by permission of Hope Moore who took the pictures.
Someone I worked with in Germany sent me an article written in German about Outhouses in Finland. The basic thought of the article was “We are free from worries in this small outhouse.”
HC statt WC – Outhouse instead of Indoor Water ClosetThe Finns Know: One of the last Outhouses from the past
We have created a new web site for the Outhouses of America Tour. Our intent over the next year is to slowly transfer outhouses over from the old html site to this site.
Also, comments people Emailed us sometimes sat in the hopper for days, weeks or months. This should allow a quicker movement to the web site.
