It's hard to believe that in only 3 months (probably less-than half the time it will take to complete the AT itself ) I will be standing on Springer ready to walk the gazillion steps to Katahdin. I still haven't thought of an exact start date yet but it will be within the first week of March (leaning towards the 5th). In a few weeks my first semester of college will be done and I will start working full time to help fund the trip. Admittedly this is not the best dissension and if I were smart I would wait a few years until I finished college like a majority of those that hike the AT, but I cant. My obsession with the AT is too strong and if I were to put it on hold I could risk the possibly of never hiking it or just going insane. When I say I cant wait to get on the trail I'm beyond serious, I have had countless dreams where I would be chilling by campfire at a shelter, arriving at Amicalola Falls State Park, or just hiking through the seasons. (kind of sad...)
Since my last update I bought a new air mattress; the neoair xlite (which is awesome), a few stuff sacks which are probably not even the right size, and not a whole lot more. I'm hoping to get the majority of the rest of my gear for Christmas which include my quilt (Enlightend Equipment Revelation X 20*) and clothing.
Before I set foot at Amicalola Falls I need at least some physical training. As of now I would probably make it to Neels Gap and then most likely have my legs fall off. I'm planning to start using my unused gym membership more often and attempt a few practice hikes in February to at least be a little more prepared. The best training for hiking weeks on end is to hike weeks on end which can't exactly be done the weeks leading up to the A.T. I expect the first few weeks to be painful and then hopefully get my trail legs where I can crank out 20 plus miles a day and not feel a thing (yeah right). Can't wait to get on the trail...seriously!
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