Day -28: Planning & Preparation

Only 28 days more until I'm back out on the Appalachian Trail continuing my hike. I thought this was good timing for my first post to this blog. I did not keep a blog the last time I was on the Trail, so this is new to me. I'll try to keep it interesting for everyone.

I thought I would start off with a little history of me and my quest to hike the Appalachian Trail. When I was 10 or so, I was watching some television news magazine (I know...its unheard of me watching television) about a 78-year-old blind man that hiked the entire Trail with no support other than a seeing-eye dog. I decided then and there that I was going to do that someday...without the dog, of course. I set out to do just that on March 18th, 2000. I started on Springer Mountain in Georgia, the southern starting point, and hiked for 92 days and 714 miles. In Troutville, Virginia on June 17th, I ended my first hike on the AT. Now, almost exactly 5 years later, I'm heading back to Troutville, Virginia to continue my hike.

I am starting off exactly where I left off in Troutville on July 3rd, with the goal of hiking an additional 1,000 miles in about 90 days. This should get me somewhere in Vermont. With the whole trail being a total of 2,167 miles, if I complete my goal I will be less than 500 miles from the finish (Mt. Katahdin in Maine).

When talking about this trip with my friends, I get many of the same questions asked. I figured I would end my first post with the answers to the top 5 questions I get asked:

1. Who are you going with? -Myself
2. Are you taking a gun? -No
3. What do you eat? -Freeze dried food and candy bars
4. How often do you shower? -About once a week
5. Are you insane? -Most likely