My performance at the climbing gym over the holidays was an embarrassment. My only defense is that I hadn't climbed since the trip in May. Perhaps all the running I've done since then has led my body to the erroneous conclusion that it is ok to reabsorb that upper-body muscle tissue and refocus efforts on ridiculous calves.
Luckily, the climb itself wasn't the real point of the afternoon. It was more about getting to see a couple friends I hadn't seen since the same trip in May, when they put me up for the night after returning to Cleveland, and then carted me to the airport the next morning. After we collectively decided that a better use of the remainder of our evening would be the immediate consumption of wings and beer, we left the gym for the nearest Winking Lizard.
I've tried and failed to remember how we got on the topic, but somehow we came to my desire to through-hike the Appalachian Trail. My REI dividend this year should be enough to get a nice one-man backpacking tent, and I had joked about how I might have to use it to reduce the cost of my next transcontinental migration. Maybe that's how we got to the AT. The Girl knows that I want to hike it, and knows my secret reason. I got the sense from our friends' "oh, yeah!" response that they also knew my reason, but the topic never strayed that far.
I know I can handle the hiking; I regularly get up in the morning and hike ten or twelve miles before lunch. Granted, I never have to cook over a pocket rocket stove, roll up a tent, or carry a forty to fifty pound pack on those treks, but it can be done. I have the gear (besides a stove and water filter--I have Mom's stuff, but I may upgrade to something smaller, lighter, made for a single person, and designed with this decade's technology), including a small, compact sleeping bag and pad, and a cookset I got months ago and am still itching to use. Mom got me a framepack for Christmas when I was in high school, and it has only been used for Boy Scout trips, moving, and one or two weekend backpacking trips since. I'm a bit ashamed of that. I asked for and received a cookbook called "Lipsmackin' Backpackin'" from The Girl for Christmas to expand my trailside culinary range. To put it simply, the details of day-to-day backpacking do not concern me, though I plan to do extensive training and testing before making my way to Springer Mountain.
Nor did such details enter our conversation at the Wink. People who have recommended I try out for American Ninja Warrior wouldn't question whether I can hoof it 15-20 miles a day through muddy, rainy, mosquito-swarmed mountains. They wanted to know if there would be pictures. That's when I started outlining the portion of the plan I'd never told anyone else, but which consumes much of my thinking about the trip.
I have a small, compact digital camera which I love. It has shortcomings, and doesn't do a couple things as well as I would like, but it was a very thoughtful gift from my Dad after my last camera died on me during one of his visits West. I have two memory cards, one of which I've never used because I've never filled the first on a single trip. If I hike the AT, I'd take that camera, and both memory cards. I would take a spare battery, and either conserve it very well until the next mail drop delivers another, or find some super-lightweight and possibly solar method of charging it. I would also take a journal, and fill in as much as I could during my trip. Each time I receive a mail drop with fresh supplies, I'd send out a smaller package with journal entries and a memory card full of photos. This was the part I revealed at the Wink: that I'd like someone to be kind enough to post those entries and pictures where they could be shared. I didn't tell anyone that night, but I had already started this blog for just such a task. I also didn't tell them that, battery willing, I might shoot some video along the way as well.
I recently received a Spot satellite messenger from another friend; this was my answer to whether I'd take a cell phone with me. It will allow me to send my location and an "I'm ok" message to my support team and other concerned parties. It's also more durable and water-resistant than a cell. A quick peek at my current location would let my support team know how soon they need to ship my next resupply package, and whether anything more urgent may be necessary (there is also a non-emergency "I need help" function).
Someday I'll post a more thorough explanation of why I started this blog, but for now rest with this: I want to share my adventures. I am Fond of getting Lost. And I was thrilled to discover that my friends were eager to transcribe a future AT trip, though they warned me that they may add some editorial comments of their own. Of course, now that they know about my plan, I suppose I'm locked in to doing it.
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