Preparation and Emotions

What you see above is most of my gear for the trail. What I see is the fruition of many months of planning, purchasing, and compromise. Multiple hours of scrutinizing between two items in each hand at Campmor and many more of researching specs on amazon.com in multiple tabs (as well as items I already own) has led to this indispensable stash. Since then, I've shed some clothes, eliminated stakes from my tent in lieu of sticks I'll find, and even purchased a more efficient sleeping bag to arrive at a maximum weight of 37 pounds. This number includes about 16 lbs of food that I'll be starting off with (resupply points early on the trail tend to be sparse and overpriced), but I expect to be carrying less than that for the rest of the trail because I'll be used to the routine and will have more opportunities to restock.

I'll be shipping my pack and poles to my uncle outside of Atlanta who I'll be visiting with for a couple of days before I start the trail. This is because: 1) I don't trust my pack with airport bag handlers (just too many valuable items), 2) many items in my pack would never be allowed on a carry-on, and 3) I bought my plane ticket on skiplagged.com (buying a ticket with a layover in your destination, so I couldn't even check a bag in the first place (ultimately saved 50% on a plane ticket!). A few more notes about Skiplagged: it's not illegal, it's very unlikely you will be put on a no-fly list, and it was started by a young genius who is currently being hassled by the big airline companies and is looking for support. So I highly recommend using his website and even donating a bit to the cause like I did.

For those wondering (which I assume is all, kind of a crucial piece of info), I officially leave for my trip on March 12th and plan to start hiking on March 16th. The trail is about 2100 miles long and I plan to take about 5 months. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous for my trip. You see, many aspects of the trail can be sorted out as they come, but it will ultimately make the trip more expensive in the long run. I've heard of people finishing the trail but blowing their budget to the point that they accidentally spent twice as much as they had planned to. I'm trying not to be that guy. As was the case when traveling around Europe, I prefer to plan quite a bit ahead of time so I don't have to stress as much during the fact. I guess it comes down to saving money now (on gear and food, for instance) so I can have more freedom later (regarding hostels and recreation). Another thing I'm nervous about is the fact that 75 percent of people who start their thru-hikers don't finish. That's right, 75 PERCENT. To put that into perspective, only ten percent of people didn't finish the boston marathon last year. I know it's one day at a time, but this is one instance where being prepared is a deal breaker. So prayers would be appreciated. 

Many hikers mail food to themselves at strategic locations in order to save money on food and to enjoy foods that can't easily be found along the trail. I decided to send out numerous drop boxes in an attempt to maintain a somewhat balanced diet and also to save money by buying in bulk from BJ's (for those unfamiliar, it's similar to Costco). Aside from the usual granola, trail mix, oatmeal, and pasta, I dried apple and banana slices at the lowest setting in my oven, made a snack i really like called Cocoa Peanut Logs (essentially chocolate, peanut butter, and rice crispies in a bar), and prepared olive oil and thai peanut sauces to be put in travel containers (I don't like the preservatives and prices of mountain house freeze-dried meals). For many days, I had stations to bag up each food item, put into the appropriate box, and weigh the boxes for shipping.

Last week, I shipped all of my boxes out before I became aware of the official rule that post offices are only required to hold boxes for 30 days. I went from an attitude of relief to full-on damage control within 24 hours, calling the post offices I mailed to seeing if they would cut this poor thru-hiker some slack. In my defense, I had almost no experience shipping packages, but I am grateful for the fact that all of the post offices but one are willing to hold my packages for an extended period of time until I get there. Through this, I was reminded of an important lesson: make sure you know how the post offices work. Haha, but seriously, being a thru-hiker means being a constant visitor, being conscious not to mooch or expect a reward for all of the tedious miles you've just put in. I'm thankful for all of the trail angels that supply food to thru-hikers, but I realize that the wilderness may shape and inspire you, but you ultimately define the wilderness. Probably my biggest take away from my environmental studies classes is that wilderness is a place of harmony among all of God's creation and all of the elements must contribute. Because we are called to be good stewards, humans lead the way, and I believe it is the duty of those who are closest to it to set an example.

In conclusion, I leave in about 2 weeks and I am mostly excited but a little nervous. I can't wait to visit with my uncle Bob and cousin Stephen outside of Atlanta, and when I get there, I'll keep you posted.