2 Days Left

Thank you. It has been a little overwhelming at times; the amount of support that everyone has given. I could not have fathomed it in the two years I’ve had this plan. I’ve thought about being on the trail, what I’ll bring, how I’ll prepare, how I’ll save, but I couldn’t have planned for the support. To everyone who has donated before I’ve even stepped foot on the trail, double thank you.

It’s quite surreal to process at the moment. Your mind is there, but your body is not. Like any trip, you’ve thought about the destination; in a way, it feels like you’re already there. All the videos, blogs, books, articles, and outdoor store employees have been swimming around my brain, leaving little room for much else. It kind of spoils the moment sometimes. Like when you’re somewhere new for a few days, and on that second to last day, you’re thinking about how you have to leave; it has been that feeling for over two years. Not knowing when you’ll see that person again or see that place again. Once you leave your head, you soak it up like water in a desert.

The preparation stage is nearly done. The researching of gear pros and cons, saving money, predicting what I’ll want now versus in a few months. At some point, you just have to accept that you can’t predict everything and make your best decision. Once you get that settled away, you can spend as much time with the people you won’t see again for many moons. 

I finally laid out all the gear I’ll be using for the next 5-6 months (seen below). I feel that most people would find it unimaginable that we could live with so little… Yes, I’m bringing binoculars and solar eclipse glasses because I will watch my birds and see the solar eclipse on April 8th (you should too). 

I have been getting a lot of questions about how I’ll be doing things on trail If you have questions, feel free to comment or let me know, and I’ll try to cover them along my journey. I’ll be figuring out a bit as a go-along, too. By no means will this blog be a How-to on hiking the AT, but I’d be happy to answer questions.