Date: 2015-02-28
To: 1 Month!!!
Miles today: 0.0

I¢ll have 2 brothers and 2 sisters out on the AT this summer at the same time I¢ll be doing the AT. Cotton and Spyder will be section hiking in the Whites in July, No Spring Chicken (NSC) will be thru-hiking (but starting earlier than me) and will be joined by brother Chuck (no trail name yet) in the GSMNP. Could this be a record of some sort ¢ 5 adult sibs on the trail in the same year? I¢ve wondered about how the trail pulls some to it, but not others who are equally capable in terms of opportunity, physical ability, and awareness of the AT. For those of you old enough to remember the 1977 movie ¢Close Encounters of the Third Kind¢, it reminds me of how the Dreyfuss character is drawn to Devils Tower in Wyoming. Like his wife (Terri Garr) in that movie, those who don¢t feel the pull think that those who do are suffering from some sort of mental illness. Yet compared to other famous expeditions (I¢m thinking here of Lewis and Clark¢s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase or maybe Dr. Livingston¢s journeys into Africa in the mid-1800s, or even the tens of thousands of Americans who populated the wagon trains headed west), our expedition is short, safe, comfortable, and predictable. With the cold winter we¢re having that extends down to Georgia and North Carolina, it seems likely that many of those planning an early March start might re-think their plans and move their start date back. Some may not have that option, but it seems as though most might. I¢m not planning on starting until April 7th and I thought that this date might result in a less crowded trail when I start. That might not be the case now, which is fine with me. I didn¢t delay my start because of a fear of a crowded trail ¢ it was more of a desire to miss the worst of the cold temperatures. This desire stems from my section hikes in August in the GSMNP where even in the middle of summer the evenings and nights got quite cool, sometimes even cold at the higher elevation where we were hiking. Even during the days when it was a humid 90 degrees in the cities east and west of the trail, it was just in the comfortable 70s up above 5000 feet and in the 40s or lower at night. I¢m sure I have adequately prepared for April and May in the GSMNP, but if necessary I will wear all my clothes at night to keep warm. I do not sleep well when cold.My wife gave me a Fitbit Charge for Christmas. It keeps track of how many steps (and miles) I walk each day - a high-tech pedometer. What makes it unique is that it logs all this on the computer at home even when I¢m 1000+ miles away so that anyone can see how far I¢ve walked on any given day. It has helped me keep track of the training I¢ve done in prep for my upcoming adventure and I think it will be very interesting to see how many steps I take each day while on the trail and if it really takes 5,000,000 to reach Maine. It works by monitoring arm motion ¢ I haven¢t verified that it will continue to work while I¢m using trekking poles, but I believe it will. It should be a big help in estimating how far ahead the next shelter is. If it turns out to be too much of a distraction, I¢ll just send it back to home base at the same time I send back my cold weather clothes.