Date: 2007-02-06
To: Prep #1
Miles today: 0.0

So, April 1st it is! This will be the day I begin this grand adventure. The day I have thought about, read about, and I-surfed about for more than 30 years but somehow never quite got made happen, until now. It will be more than just April Fools Day. For me, April Fools Day seems the perfect day to start such a grand and foolish adventure! This day will be the beginning of a trip that first entered my mind in 1975 and has refused to go away, though it has remained tucked away in the far recesses for many a year. At first I was going to do it before I turned 21, then it became "before I turn 30", and now it has become "before I turn 50". And now, I have finally decided that a dream never attempted is really no dream at all it is simply a distraction, so off I go!My attempt to thru-hike the AT will actually begin on March 31 when I fly to Atlanta and overnight at the Hiker Hostel with Josh and Leigh Saint in their home near Dahlonega, GA. Then, on the morning of April 1st, I'll take the quick trip to Amicalola Falls State Park and turn my feet north along the famous Approach Trail. North towards Maine and Mt Katahdin on a 6-month odessy of trails, views, people, sights, sounds, trees, rocks, birds and wildlife, rain, wind, and occasional pain and suffering!Hopefully I have prepared well and chosen my gear wisely. I am confident that the gear I have will serve me well because I have tested nearly all of it over the past many summers of multi-week backpacking trips with my cousin Mark as we have terrorized trout with our fly rods in many a wilderness creek here in Colorado. My gear has served me well on these wilderness fly fishing trips, and I have no doubts that it will serve me well on the AT. I have made a number of gear changes in an attempt to reduce my pack weight but overall am confident that I have made mostly good choices. I am equally confident that I will quickly learn new ways of doing things from other hikers on the trail, and pick up new tips as I drool over pieces of gear I wish I had thought of sooner. But, gear won't get me to Maine so I hope to not waste time worrying too much about what I do or do not have.I will definitely not have the lightest pack on the trail, but such was not a critical goal for me on this trip. I will definitely not be the fastest person on the trail, but this was not a critical goal for me either. My gear choices were designed to allow me to travel the distances and speed on a daily basis that are required to complete a 2,100 mile journey in the 6-months I have available to complete the walk. I wanted my pack to be light enough to allow me to enjoy the walking while also comfortably carrying the things I want to help me enjoy the journey and experiences along the way, things like binoculars and camera, a bird book and warm jacket, and enough food to last me to the next resupply.The primary goals of my trip are to enjoy the views, trails and forests of the southern mountains, all of which will be new to me. I want to walk north with spring as it proceeds north along the Trail, and as it proceeds up the mountain slopes from the valleys below. I want to walk north with flocks of migrating birds as they return to their breeding grounds and fill the forests with their songs and activity. I want to walk the Smoky Mountains, see laurel and azalea in bloom, experience the southern Balds, the ridges of Virginia and the Shenandoah, all of which will also be new to me. I also want to finish my hike in my native New England in late September when the air is crisp, the sky is deep blue, a hint of snow soon to be falling is in the air, and fall foliage lights up every mountainside. I can see no better way to complete an AT journey than to travel the wilderness peaks and lakes of Maine in autumn. Such are the goals of my upcoming journey on the AT, and the people, birds, views and experiences along the way will make every step worth while (all 5-million of them!).