Great day one on the trail.

Saturday, March 12th at 10:13 a.m., 23 degrees, snow on the ground.  Hiked 14.3 miles yesterday and camped near Justus Creek. 

Day Zero - wow!

Made it to Hiker Hostel....great stories...great people already and haven't even started.  Met up with Gypsy Girl, Free Fall and Kerin and the train stop.  Gypsy Girl is from Australia, 62 years old and is starting the AT again after breaking her leg last year...and making it to Mt. Washington.  Said she had to come back to start over.  free fall did the AT in 2003, the PCT and the CDT and is here to do a quick 3 week hike.  Everyone is great...lots of thoughts about today - fear, excitement, wierd about leaving Carolyn, leaving home without keys to the house, getting a great text message from my son...seeing the Chatahoochee (sp) river on the train - whizing right by where I use to catch snakes and crawfish in Sandy Springs (it all started there!).  It was wierd walking through a fancy shopping mall in Buckhead to see a friend from Northwestern Mutual...obviously got quite a few stares.

Everything is good to go for tomorrow...Day One...rained 2 inches yesterday so I hope to have that behind us.  Am typing this at the Hiker Hostel...very nice place with about 10 hikers here tonight.  We ordered chinese food for dinner.

all for now...

Ah, Oh......

Had a great strength building workout yesterday and thought I would try the treadmill, walking at a 15 degree angle to get a feel for the trail at a 3 MPH pace....harder than I thought!  What am I getting myself into?

Do Kindles Survive 2,180 Miles of Mountain Hiking?

That's the $189.00 question!  I purchased a Kindle last week based on the rationalization that it weighs 8.4 ounces vs. a book that typically weighs 10 ounces.  That's 1.6 ounces less I have to crate around through the mountains for the next six months...and I get easy access to hundreds, if not thousands, of books.  I crafted a protective sleeve for it out of the cover of one of those cool half-size notebooks we got at the NM Forum last year...works great!  Question is whether it will stand the test of time, rain, raccoons, mice, snakes and bears...stay tuned...

A Challenge to My Friends for Two Great Causes

Carolyn and I have committed to make incremental contributions to two organizations we are pleased to support.  For every mile I walk on the A/T Carolyn and I will be making an incremental contribution of $1.00 to Repairers of the Breach (a very progressive and critical homeless support center) and to our wonderful Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.  If I hike the full 2,180 miles and receive matches from friends and supporters of one cent, one nickel, a dime, two bits or a buck it can really add up and make make a big difference.  Of course, it would keep me motived as well!

The MSO website is:  www.mso.org
Repairers of the Breach website is: www.repairers.org

Please don't feel like you must support this little challenge, but I you are so inclined that would be terrific.  We'll keep track along the way.  Just let us know!

Thanks for the Great Send Off!

On the trail in five days...great send off party last night - Carolyn (as always) did herself proud, keeping with the theme, serving up great chili, corn bread, trail mix, etc. - and of course decorated the place in "campfire style".  It was great to see all our friends turnout in an effort to better understand: one, what this AT thing is, and why on worth would I want to do it, and second, why would Carolyn if think of letting me do it.

The good news is that I brought in reinforcements to help address these topics!  Jay Tews and his wife Debbie and Tina Holan and her husband Scott were "keynote speakers" and shared their enthusiasm for the journey, having experienced it firsthand.  Jay brought pictures that told the tale and Tina sat around the fire and told the stories of what it was really like to do the AT back in the old days when plastic hadn't even been invented.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful evening!  I will miss everyone much along the way and hope that you all remember me and maybe give a little encouragement along the way!  I'll surely need it on the rainy days.  I will do my best to keep the blog up-to-date when I drop into towns along the way.

Am I nervous?  Yes, like crazy!  I have done some interesting things in my life, but this is clearly out of my comfort zone!  I have come to realize that this is the one most significant challenge I have placed before me in my life.  I would have to say that the ten things that will challenge me the most (of course, outside of missing my family and all of you), in rank order from most to least are:

1. Rain
2. More rain
3. Even more cold rain
4. Snow and wind
5. The state of Virgina
6. Oh yeah, the trail up the mountains
7. And yes, the trail down the mountains
8. Missing good food
9. Sleeping on the ground
10. Mean-spirited animals like mice and raccoons

Bears, rattle snakes, wild boars, hillbillies cause me pause but they don't seem get in the way.

Thanks everyone...stay tuned...

Some of the good friends to see me off...

Nothing like a little PBG and whiskey!

Note the decor and get ups!

Sandie committing to meet me on the AT

Don

On the A/T One Week from Today!

Pretty much all set to go!  Pack remains at about 38lbs (darn it) and gear seems to all check out.  I have had to terrific visits with two thru-hikers...Tina whom went solo back in 1988 when it was for real, and Jay, the husband of a woman who works with Bill Brody at SCJ.  Both visits with these icons were very beneficial in my planning!  Tina's big learning on the trail began three days in as she was trying to pack 65lbs heading up north (as her name implies, she's tiny!)!  The very kind Georgia Appalachian Club found her exhausted on the trail, sat down with her, helped her repack and she was on her way to Maine...with much less weight.  It's quite a remarkable feat given the technology and remoteness of the A/T back in 1988.  Jay blasted through the A/T, packing little but tons of miles every day...up to 35 miles in one day!  Being able to spend time with both of these great hikers made me both humbled and excited to hit the trail.  I keep hearing about all of the terrific people you meet on the trail and if they are like these two folks, it will be a blast.

All for now...