Date: 2008-01-06
To: Trail Name
Miles today: 0.0

Most thru-hikers adopt a trail name. This is either one that is self-chosen or one that is given by fellow hikers. Some of these names reflect the person's job or interest and other names come from some quirk or characteristic others see in you. I had the pleasure of hiking with "Certain" back in June. Her name came from the self assurance she always had.I don't have a trail name. Today as I was doing my usual Sunday afternoon hike I began thinking of this. The name "concrete" came to mind since there has been a bag of the stuff in my backpack for all these Sunday hikes since July or August. I started out hating the bag, but now there is a familiarity of it on my back that doesn't scream "drop me, you fool!" with every step I take. Concrete sounds so... well, concrete. I imagine engineers and mathematicians who are concrete thinkers. I guess I am pretty concrete in my faith and beliefs, but if I were too concrete I wouldn't be thinking of a trail name at all- I would just use Ken. Of course, I might just do that anyway for lack of any other ideas. People hike the trail to get away from their life. Once hiking, they are no longer students, laborers, or professionals-they are thru hikers and that may be why a new name reflects that. I definitely don't want some name that has anything to do with medicine. I have a lot of various interests, but none lends itself to a new name.As I went up and down the mountain today carrying my bag of concrete I thought of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was a man in Greek mythology who was condemned by the gods to spend eternity pushing a large boulder up a hill every day only to have it roll down again each night. I don't feel like I am being punished by the gods though the parallel of taking something heavy up mountains every day could be made. I prefer Alber Camus' existentialistic interpretation of the story. He implies that Sisyphus would be happy by the absurdity of mindlessly pushing a boulder up a hill every day. That I could relate to: happy to be hiking and, yes, some might point out the absurdity of willingly walking 2100+ miles in all types of weather when there are perfectly good alternate modes of transportation available.As I was pondering all these things I heard a loud "snap". I felt it was something on my backpack that just gave out. I was afraid to take it off in case whatever broke would get worse, so I hiked on out. Once at my car I looked my pack over and didn't see any torn seams. It was after I got home I realized that one of the metal rods that support the backpack broke in half. This is my beloved Osprey Aether 70 pack. This week I will go to the outfitter I bought it from and try to exchange it. If they won't take it back, I'm sure Osprey will fix it though I am running out of time. I am a little bothered that that happened, but glad it broke now and not while out on my thru-hike.I have also decided to start my hike March 8th. This was my original date and I really want to get started ASAP. This week I started preparing some boxes of food and other stuff I will have mailed to me along the way. I am just sending 5 boxes, the other stuff I'll buy in stores as I go. Now, I need to find a ride down to Atlanta March 7th. If anyone reading this will be going down I-81 in Virginia and has room in their car let me know. I just sold my truck today to help finance the trip. If I can't get a ride, I can wait until March 20 when my family will be going to Atlanta, but (groan) I just can't wait to get started!