Date: 2010-06-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hello. This is a trail journal for Bradley Johnson, trail name Arion. Alright, now that we have that settled, here's the deal. I am currently planning a Sobo thruhike on the Appalachian Trail, class of 2010. For those of you not in the know, Sobo means southbound. The word on the street is that only ten percent of all AT thruhikers rock sobo, I'm sure I'll find out why that statistic is in the first 10 hours of my walk.So, I depart my comfortable little society filled lifestyle in a little less than two weeks. I have been doing nothing but reading about the AT for hours on end each night... I'M READY TO JUST HIKE ALREADY!! I guess I can't leave without the rest of my gear. The last of it is in the mail as I speak. Oh, and I just need to compile a first aid kit. I spent a little more than I wanted on my gear, but then again I didn't account for the weather in Nov and Dec at first. Hey, I thought the south was supposed to be warm dammit. I'm gonna spare everyone the time and choose not to share the precise details of my gear with you in this article (if you need to, ask Ian- he can tell you about it all). But, let's just say that I hope my sewing skills are as good as I think they are... . Alright, enough foreplay- lets get down to biness! So I'm sure you all are wondering, "why would anyone in their right mind want to walk 2,178.3 consecutive miles for fun?" Well, I'll tell ya. Because I for one am not in a "right mind." ;p No, but seriously... I ask myself every time I'm out for a hike and I've come up with a few answers. I ask you, have you ever stood atop a mountain and looked out and wondered about how people of previous centuries transported themselves (without horses) to the land of far far away? Oft times I think of this and realize that I too would like to experience that sort of slow paced naturalistic lifestyle. Although romantic, it does not take the cake of reasons. And the number one reason why Bradley Johnson would like to hike the AT... I am in love with nature. Its infinite lifestyle, which naturally evolves itself, soothes my spirit to the core. It makes me feel small and unimportant, which I find most humbling. I just want to experience the absolute solitude of nature, without any of man's distractions. Now don't get me wrong, I love everything about being anywhere close to nature, but, I'm excited to be in the wilderness where the sounds of technology come nowhere near to entering the realm of nature's serenity. Of course there are other minute unimportant reasons for thruhiking the AT, such as gaining self-esteem, losing weight, meeting other cool arss people, and testing my threshold for tolerating pain. I figure, why not do it? I don't have a career or family yet, so now's the perfect time.So, that's that. On to my trail name. I won't get into why I decided to name myself yet, but I'm sure I'll write about it on the trail. If you want to know more information about Arion, you can wicki it.Getting into shape, hmmm. It's difficult to get into Maine, New Hampshire shape having a time demanding job and doing all the research that I have been doing. But... here's what I figure. I figure I'm in good enough shape to shove off, and I'm a fast get-into-shaper, so I'll be fine. Now before you go making judgments, here's my reasoning. I've been doing some hiking around here when I get time. What I do is return to the steepest inclines that I have found, then walk up and down them numerous times. The only problem is that I'm not doing it every day, so I don't know how my body is going to react over the long run. So far I've been alright except for a serious chafing from the wrong pair of board shorts. My ass cheeks were actually chafed that's how bad it was. Yes, my whole ass cheeks.I told my 2 year old nephew that I was going to be leaving for long time today. I said I was going to walk in the woods and he told me he was going to come. Looks like I have a future hiking partner My younger sister is about to have her first child any day now. It does really suck having to leave my family. They are what I'm going to miss the most. They are my best friends, which is cool because you can't pick your family but you can pick your friends. My older sister Janelle is a sweetheart. She's so worried about my safety on the trail. I keep telling her that it's safer there than it is in the city... not to mention that I pity the fool who decides to mess with this BAMF! Alright, back to dehydrating everything possible and counting down the minutes until the Greyhound rolls out. Maybe I'll write again before I go, maybe nrt. If not, Ian will be receiving my journals via snail mail and magically turning them into letters that can be read anywhere in the world, so I will try to keep you posted every week or two.Peace