Date: 2008-03-01
To: The plan and support
Miles today: 0.0

Coming home on the plane I took a look at my calendar and the reality of how little time I have left hit me. Tho my desk top counter says twenty-five days Lydia and I actually only have two weeks. Our plan is to drive Tracy¢s car from Colorado to Maryland the week of the 17th. Easter weekend is spring break for Lydia¢s friends and we¢d like to get there in time for her to have some girl time¢¦ before we get on the trail and she¢s stuck with three old women for six + months! The plan has come together beautifully. We¢ve got some great support along the way. Our first day out of Harper¢s Ferry we plan to slack pack thanks to Janet and Dave. Slack packing the first day might be considered cheating, but we¢ve done this section so many times already we¢ve decided it¢s okay.   We¢ve planned our first zero in Front Royal where Betsy will pick us up and shuttle us to town. Mary will meet us in SNP with some resupply and to hike awhile with us. In Waynesboro we will meet Tracy¢s new friends from Mercy Ships, the Montoyas. At the James River Footbridge Carolyn¢s niece will pick us up for some support. Then in Pearisburg Terri will drive over from VaTech. At that point we hope our timing will work out to walk into Trail Days. Erwin is our first and only unsupported drop/planned rest stop on the southern portion of our hike. I hope by that time we are seasoned enough to be able to figure out how to hitch a ride. From there we will meet my dad in Hot Springs. Dad is going to take River home with him to hang out with Bashful, his Great Pyrenees pup. I¢m not sure it will be much of a rest time for River. She and Bashful love each other, but the play is exhausting to watch. She will have two hundred acres of leash free play ground for two weeks. AND we¢ll be dog free when we hit the spa in Hot Springs. :0) She¢ll come back to us at NOC. After Hot Springs Greg¢s mom will meet us as we enter the Smokies and take us home with her to their camper nearby. We¢ll take the Smokies in two sections with great support for both. Kevin and his son Ethan may possibly join us for some hiking in the Smokies and we have a tentative plan to join the Nadars for some rafting at NOC. I¢m sure we¢ll nail down more details on that when they show up in a few days for their Colorado snowboarding trip. Our only planned stop after Dad returns River at NOC is a Neels Gap. Hopefully there, or somewhere nearby we will be able to meet up with Alison. It would be nice to have a chance to hike with her again. Hopefully her work schedule will work out. She is also our ride off Springer. We plan to have Tracy¢s car waiting for us at Alison¢s house in Atlanta. From there we will drive back to Maryland for a day of regrouping before heading to Maine.Second half¢¦ Maine to Harper¢s Ferry, is a very rough plan. Family and friends are all over the trail in the southern half¢¦. the northern half, not so much. Greg is planning to meet us in Maine. He¢ll watch River for us while we hike Katahdin and Baxter State Park, then meet to hike the 100 mile wilderness with us. At that point we will assess how River is doing before heading into the White Mountains with her. If it¢s necessary she will head home with Greg for a few weeks, then he¢ll return with her somewhere further down in New England. The plan is fluid. We feel incredibly blessed to have so many friends and family willing¢¦ wanting, to support us in our adventure. And this is just our planned in advance support. I can¢t wait to meet all the wonderful Trail Angels I¢ve heard so much about along the trail. ¢¦But, I guess I have to wait¢¦ another 25 days. *sigh*