Date: 2011-03-17
To: 1 Year To Go!
Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers and fellow thru-hikers to be:It is one year now until Ann & I leave home for our thru-hike. We step into the on-deck circle now as we watch the Class of 2011 step into the batters box. As we take our practice swings while we wait for our turn at the plate, there are many thoughts and emotions that run through our minds ¢ excitement, anticipation, and impatience just to name a few. We have wanted to thru-hike for such a long time and we can¢t believe that it¢s actually within sight now. Waiting is the hardest part.   We watch the days pass one after another and know that we are getting closer, but still it seems like we have so long to wait. It is like climbing up a steep trail towards a distant peak. You look up ahead and see a ridge line that you think may be the top of the mountain, but when you reach that ridge line, you discover that it is only a false summit, with the real peak still looming far off in the distance.In our efforts to mentally and physically prepare ourselves for next year¢s thru-hike, we plan to take a few extended backpacking trips this summer and next fall. Hikes we are considering are the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway in NH, the Grafton Notch Loop in ME, and possibly the Northville Lake Placid Trail in NY. These will be our final shakedown hikes to test all of our equipment and homemade food recipes. We have most of the equipment we need, but there are still a few more items to be purchased, compliments of our anticipated REI dividend.As spring starts to overtake winter here in Massachusetts, we look forward to the summer. I will retire early on July 1st and Ann will retire at the end of September. For the first time since I was in school, I will have my long lost summer back, free to do whatever I want with each day. What a liberating feeling! I¢ll be like a schoolboy bursting through the doors into the warm summer sunshine after the final bell rings on the last day of school! The world will be new and exciting again and the possibilities unlimited. The Appalachian Trail will become my new playground as I close the door of my office once and for all.-BobHi, My turn to say a few words. I expect that Bob will be making most of the entries but once in awhile I¢ll give it a shot. Most of what Bob says applies to me, too. We experience many of the same feelings about our big hike¢¦excitement, frustration with waiting etc. We are hoping for the same kind of experience, mostly to appreciate the beauty of the trail, obtaining the satisfaction of meeting challenges (weather, fatigue, blisters, pain, boredom¢¦whatever), immersion in nature, hopefully some personal growth, but being somewhat introverted, we are also hoping for some positive social aspects on the trail by meeting and connecting with a wide variety of people that share common interests. One difference between us is that Bob is mostly an easy-going sort. I can be more emotional about things so he keeps me pretty well grounded and he is so grateful I like to hike and want to go with him that he pampers me by doing many of the camp chores after a long day on the trail.In preparing for this hike over the years, I have had my moments of insecurity and doubts. Am I strong enough? Tough enough? Mice/Snakes? Will I miss our adult children too much? Thunderstorms? We have done a lot of day hikes and several four-day backpacking trips. What really helped me feel less anxious and confident though was when we took a couple of 10-16 day hikes through the MA and VT sections of the AT and Long Trail, and that on the last day of each hike I felt I was ready to do more. While planning these hikes we had scheduled a few long days of 14 plus miles and I would say to Bob, ¢Are you trying to kill me?¢ It didn¢t kill me; (we even spontaneously kept going one day to put in a 20 mile day) I survived and feel as ready as I will ever be.-Ann