Date: 2007-09-29
To: Appalachian Trail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, I suppose I need to start this thing sooner or later, although I do not fancy keeping journals, I decided to make and exception for this little adventure I am going to start in 5 months time. I am going to attempt to make this journal as interesting as possible, while still detailing my hike. I guess I should tell you a little about myself so you, the reader, can better understand the journey I am about to undertake, because if the reader is not happy, the world will crumble and I will be shunned from the hiking community at the ripe age of 16(wow I told you something about myself without even meaning to, I deserve a gold star for that one). Indeed, the newspapers are correct, I am going to hike the Entire Appalachian Trail, Springer To Katahdin for those of you in the know, Georgia to Maine for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, at the ripe age of 16, to give myself a little credit I will be 17 two weeks into the trip. So, I guess this is the part where you wonder how the hell does a 16 year drop everything, including school, and go backpacking for 6 months? Well, I am glad you asked(even if you did not, you are going to read the explanation I am about to give). Thanks to the fantastic High School I go to, Casco Bay High School in Portland, Maine, and to a even greater principal, Mr.Pierce, and a great former Superintendent, Mary J O'Connor, I have managed to make it work. I will be doing all missed work ahead of time, which I have already started. Any work that I do not manage to complete, which would not be that much, will be completed in the first few weeks of my trip. I will be reading six books along the trail, 3 of my choice, 3 of my school's choice, we came to these numbers after long negotiations in which I went on strike to receive concessions from the school. I will also be keeping a journal as part of the strike negotiations, which as you can see, has already started. Any more questions about this topic can be forwarded to my PR person at Kevin Kirby and Sons, which does not exist for those of you who would even consider trying to get more information.Now that the boring information is out of the way, I should tell you why the hell I want to bitch and moan my way 2,000 miles over mountains, through rain, sleet and even snow(and a little sunshine)from Georgia to Maine. You see, I could give the simple answer of 'because it is there', but I get the funny feeling that would not satisfy you, so below you will find my actual reasoning, I have marked the start and the end of the story with stars for those of you who wish to make this brief and move on.*I was on an Outward Bound Backpacking course in the summer of 2006, we had just left the summit of Old Speck(we got there VIA the Grafton Loop Trail), and left VIA this trail marked with these white rectangular things known as blazes. Being the person I am, I naturally asked my instructors what trail we were on, I should have seen this answer coming. Being the instructors they were they told me to take out our map and look at it for the name of the trail(bear in mind all of this happened in about 5 minutes). So, I asked the navigator for the day if I could look at the maps to find the trail. After a little bitching and moaning about how he/she did not want to take off her pack and look for the maps(it turned out to be in the top pocket, easily accessible). When we looked at the map, there was no trail name, just a symbol(the symbol for the Appalachian Trail for those of you who have any idea of what I am talking about). So, I kept walking down this unknown trail and eventually came to a tree that had a piece of metal on it(the old AT markers for those of you in the know) that had the symbol that I saw on the map. I looked at the maps again(after a little more bitching and moaning) and determined that this was the Appalachian Trail. I asked my instructors if this was true, being the instructors they were the said 'is that what the map says?', from that point on I never asked them anymore questions unless it was a matter of life and death. So, at that point I was fascinated with this trail that went from Georgia to Maine. When I got home, I looked into it further, and found out it was a popular trail. I then stumbled upon a section of the ATC's (Appalachian Trail Conservancy)website for these people known as "thru hikers". Apparently these people walk the whole trail, either northbound, NOBO(Georgia to Maine) or Southbound, SOBO(Maine to Georgia), a large portion of thru hikers go NOBO, and a vast majority of them will not complete the trail. SOBOing is becoming more popular by the year though. At first I thought these people were nuts, who the hell wants to walk 2,000 miles just for pure enjoyment, well it turns out, I do. After I did a little more research, I was determined to hike the whole trail someday. A couple of days later, I determined I was going to hike it before I was out of high school. First, I convinced my school and my superintendent I was serious and that I was, indeed, 100% sane. Then, I needed to convince my dad, I was prepared for war, but it remained relatively diplomatic. He said that if I wanted to go, I needed to hike with people. After talking to some friends, I thought I was done, that this was not going to happen. One day, when I was doing some random Google searches, I came upon this group known as Journey's To Inspire Inc. It turned out that in 2008 they were sponsoring a group hike of the Appalachian Trail, NOBO, to raise money for NAMI of Milwaukee(see www.journeystoinspire.org FMI). I had to pay money to hike with them(300 dollars well spent, which goes towards NAMI), and I could go with them. I am fairly confident they thought I was nuts at first, wondering why a 16 year old wants to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. But after many emails back and forth, and a 2 hour phone conversation with their Executive Director Kirsten, they allowed me to join them(they most likely still think I am nuts). And here I am, 13 months later, in the final stages of planning.*Welcome back for those of you who decided to skip the above section, and kudos to those of you who are with me through it all. I have no intentions of telling you what gear I am carrying, or what type of food I like, or anything like that. That is not what this journal is about. I want you to enjoy reading this journal. If you have any questions about anything not mentioned in my entries, please email me at kirbyinanutshell232@yahoo.com. and I will gladly answer any questions you have. Please note that I will eventually be on the trail, which means I can only check email once every few days. I will also do my best to mark off sections that I feel people may not enjoy reading, but I put in there because I want it there. I will post every now and then to let you all know how my planning is coming along, I will try not to put any vital information i nthese entries because I know people like to skip the prep entries and get right to the journal. Skip around if you please, I will do my best to keep the journal well maintained and updated. Please note that I will be passing along the transcribing duties to someone on the home front while I am away, when I am in towns I will check the journal to make sure it is being updated, but know that entries will come every 4-8 days depending on where I am on the trail, so be patient.Thanks to everyone who has made this possible,Kirby