Date: 2010-06-25
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Miles today: 0.0

I am sitting on Aubreys couch looking at my gear thrown all over the living room floor. I am doing the tedious tasks like neatly ripping off toilet paper into small rolls and trying to estimate in my head how many hand turns of toilet paper to.....well you know. I am moving slower than I would like, but every time I start packing I begin missing Aubrey in advance and I get sick to my stomach. My food items are taking every bit of counter space in the kitchen as I pack and unpack my food bag trying to envision how much food I will need on the first leg of the trip. The first section of the trail (after I climb Mt. Katadin) is deemed the "100 mile wilderness". It is the most remote part of the trail and you are supposed to pack 10-15 days worth of food. A day of food is about 2 pounds so that amounts to a minimum of 20 pounds!! However, a few years ago a couple bought a cabin on a lake about halfway thru that 100 miles and now cater to hikers offering a bunk house and food resupply. So we are planning on stopping there to ease the weight of our initial load.We are driving to Maine Monday. On Tuesday morning at 6AM, Aubreys father will drop us off at Baxter State park at the base of Mt Katadin. We will make the round trip (10 miles of the hardest climb on the trail) and be picked up by Aubrey and her father that after noon. We will spend one more night in a hotel, have a good dinner, and the next morning we will be dropped off and begin our thru hike on beaten, hurting, feel like I hiked 10 miles up a 6000 foot mountain yesterday legs. Brilliant.I made of last crazy gear purchase today....I couldnt help myself. I bought a hammock at REI. I had been debating it for quite some time. Some people choose to use hammocks as tents. There are really nice fancy ones that are made to sleep in and have netting and tarps ect. ect. This is not one of them. I am bringing my tent and a hammock. Any ultralight gear junkie who is reading this has probally just had an massive stroke at the thought of bringing both. Well its my hike. I bought a light weight ENO hammock. i may sleep in it some nights, I may send it home at the first chance I get, but I'm gonna try it. I envision stopping in the hot afternoon for a break and being able to set that puppy up for a nice lounging nap. Or having a comfy place to lounge at the shelters as opposed to sitting around on a hard wood floor or old tree stumps. It is 30 ounces of absolute creature comfort, but when you spend the amount of time and money I have cutting pounds and pounds from your pack wieght you get a few ounces to play with. Best case scenario...its worth its weight in gold a hundred times over and I carry that bad boy to Maine. Worst case scenario....I hate it, yell obscenties at its mother and either throw it away or ship it home in Monsoon maine. Hoping for option one.One last thing. If anyone, especially my friends are following this journal yet....please sign the guest book. I would love to know you are with me. I'm gonna need all the love and prayers and support I can get. I dont know if I have told you this but.....long distance hiking.....gets really lonely.