Date: 2015-04-16
To: The Itinerary
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So, the last few nights I've been sorting through all the resources noted in my previous post. I like to start at a high level and work my way down into the details as the plan unfolds. In summary then, I have selected the next 202.3 miles of the trail for this year's hike. Waynesboro, VA to Waynesboro, PA. It can potentially be longer or shorter than this so my scope wanders as far north as Fayetteville, PA for an extra 18.2 miles or essentially an additional day's hike. Trial and error has taught me that no matter how the trip has gone, after 15-17 days I've pretty much cleansed myself and am ready to return to the real world and I can't walk any farther than this in 15-17 days.So with that firmed up, I next step into my mental game. Am I going to push for miles this year or take it a bit slower and enjoy the journey? Last year, we did an awesome job on miles! We were cranking out miles as hard as we could because we were in rhythm with Squirrel who was thru-hiking. We pulled some really long days. It was awesome. The year before that Bandit got sick on the trail so we just enjoyed the journey. This year, 1/2 of our hike is in the gorgeous Shenandoah National Park (SNP). We reach the 1000 mile mark, a huge milestone. We walk through historic Harper's Ferry, WV where we get our coveted picture taken on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's front port. And then there are the half-dozen "half way" markers scattered north of Harper's Ferry. Each year the AT mileage changes due to re-routing of the trail so every year there is a new "half-way" point. This year it is Mile 1094.6 which is another 12.4 miles past Fayetteville, PA. Oh, that would be cool to push that hard to say we made the 1/2 way point. But I think we will set our mental game on enjoying the journey this year instead of pushing for the exact 1/2 way point. My buddy Bandit will be turning 9 right before our hike, big mileage won't be in his best interest. Besides I'm really looking forward to "seeing" the SNP, not running through it.With that decided, I next like to take and break the mileage apart into several blocks of mileage using towns or hostels as my endpoints. The endpoints provide opportunities to park my van long term, enlist transport, sleep in a bed, shower, get a maildrop containing mainly dog food, WiFi, and the likes. This year has an abundance of such Trail Towns / Hostels to the point where the trail almost doesn't feel as wild or remote through this section as previous sections I've encountered. Some of the Lodges and Resorts in the SNP are amazing but at $200+ / night for a stay vs. $15 for a campground, I doubt we'll be staying in any of the Lodges/Resorts.Here is my current rough blocking of the mileage. Given this blocking, I will now begin to research each block for potential daily mileage and overnight plans. Once I have that roughed out, it will be time to contact some transporters and hotels/Hostels for reservations. The calls tend to tweak the entire plan into place because the transporters usually have a pretty efficient rhythm to their madness.Waynesboro, VA to Luray, VA - 6 days, 80.0 milesLuray, VA to Bear's Den Hostel, VA - 4 days, 61.2 milesBear's Den Hostel to Harper's Ferry, WV - 2 days, 20.5 milesHarper's Ferry, WV to Waynesboro, PA - 3 days, 40.6 miles