Why would I want to hike the Appalachian Trail?

It's been a long while now since the thought was put into my head to hike that long trail from Georgia to Maine.  My friend Tom mentioned it and would tell me about a group who are planning to begin the hike in April of 2014.  They would all be over sixty years old.  I thought it was intriguing, but not something that I could do.  I would be sixty by then. hmmm..

It's funny how something will stick in your head and come to mind from time to time.  Actually, this thought has been coming up much more often than from time to time.  I began to read books and look up the Appalachian Trail online to find pages and pages of information sites.  The desire and fire to hike this trail has set in deep!

Why am I going to hike this Appalachian Trail?

Because I want to do something awesome for myself.  Because I will be sixty years old and still able to do it!  Because I hope that the beauty of the mountains will bring me closer to nature and to God.  That I will better understand and appreciate my life I have lived so far and what life has yet to show me.   

I'm going to hike the AT and I am going to be the one in four who makes it all the way from Georgia to Maine!


                        

I have told people that I know, about this plan of mine.  I have had both positive and negative results. The two most positive and encouraging people I share my preparation plans with are my beautiful daughter Sharon Ann and my dear friend Annie Rose from far away in Australia.  Thank you both for believing in me. I love you both!

Rick, my love and companion, has been helping me to stay healthy and get in shape long before I seriously planned to hike the AT.  Our morning exercises and bicycle rides along the coastal path are great!  Though the hike isn't something Rick wants to do, he understands that it is something I need to do.  Thanks for sharing your research, your ideas and suggestions and learning just what the hike is all about!   Your support is important to me.  A valuable part of our relationship.

Others think it is crazy, strange or just something I will get over before the year is done.

Some may find they get caught up in the "spirit" of it as well.

I didn't know of Springer Mountain or Mount Katahdin, never mind the trail that extends between them.  What I did know of the AT as it is called, was that it ran through Berkshire County where my sisters and brothers and I grew up.  As a child no one talked much about it and it was many years later before I knew it wasn't a local trail exclusive to "us".

Appalachian Trail plaque at top of Springer Mountain.

 

Plaque at top of Mount Katadin

Now I have begun to prepare for this new journey.  My body, my mind, my budget and gear all need to come together.  I wasn't going to set up a "blog" but after changing my mind several times, here I am.  Writing down what I am going through during this year of preparation, will  help me keep track of what I need to learn and need to do to get ready.

Maybe it will one day help someone else who catches this dream to  hike the Appalachian Trail.

Already, I have hiked a twelve mile stretch in the woods.. The Temescal Canyon woods.  I didn't expect to do that for another month or so.  My shorter three mile hikes that I have been hiking several times a week this month, made me stronger than expected.   I climbed the three mile loop that rises a thousand feet in elevation and back down, four times.  It did take me seven hours to do that.  There were moments that I had to stop and rest a minute or two.  There were times when a "second wind" would take over and I would quickly hike up a steep stretch, surprising even myself!

In May, I will begin to carry my five pound loaded book bag around with me everywhere On hikes and off hikes. Anytime I am walking.  That will only be the first quarter of the weight I will carry for over 2000 miles.  I will not carry over twenty pounds.   I may have to write that down one hundred times to have it locked in my head.  

My gear collection is growing faster than expected.
GoLite Backpack.
GoLite Single person tent. 
Golite Sleeping bag.
Black Diamond trekking poles arrived today in the mail.

It's time to slow down and pace myself on buying the gear.   I would love to buy it all today and be ready.  That won't happen.  I will enjoy my treasures more if I get them one at a time.  I can write my list and rewrite it many times.  There is so much out there and so many opinions on everything needed.

I see that words flow easily here on these pages.  I'll need to pace myself here as well.  I do want to add pictures to breakup the rambling of my thoughts.  Heaven forbid I bore you!  Ha.
  
Hummingbird.. "Nesting and Resting"...