Date: 2011-03-07
To: Two and a half weeks!
Miles today: 0.0

        I can¢t believe that I will be starting to hike in two and a half weeks (if all goes as planned)!   I am feeling lots of pressure to get everything done in such short time. I have two To Do lists¢¦one with regular stuff and one with AT stuff. Both are pretty long. I wish someone could tell me why To Do lists always get longer instead of shorter. I¢m positive it should be the other way around.        Not only are there 7 plastic tubs and a cardboard box of AT food and resupplies upstairs lining the bridge to my room (my room is a loft), there are boxes, tubs, and stuff scattered everywhere through the house.   Welcome to the disaster. I will be leaving one house and coming home to a completely different house in a completely different area. After 22 years, my parents decided that now was the time to move.   They have great reasons, but it certainly has made things hectic. We have been moving things in stages and it has been weird to see your entire life measured in boxes. While, I do not plan on staying at my parents¢ house for very long when I get back, I will need some time to save up money before heading out on my own.   I am very grateful that my parents will store my things while I am away and welcome me back when I return. I have struggled with accepting their move. Sometimes, I feel that the new house will never be ¢home.¢ Losing your childhood home is not something I was quite prepared to deal with. However, as our furniture and possessions are being slowly arranged in the new house, it is starting to grow on me. In fact, moving is mentally preparing me for the hike, by helping me to get rid of items I no longer need or use.   If I can carry everything I need on my back for six months, what more do I really need??I have decided to use Eureka as my trail name. This is in honor of my grandparents. More details on the trail name page. I had been planning on letting another thru-hiker name me and was really looking forward to that aspect of the journey. However, the name Eureka means a lot to me and is very fitting for this experience. Gear, gear, and more gear:   I feel like I have become somewhat of a gear head. Ya know, like one of those people who has ten fleeces, three backpacks, and two water filters, but still wants more. This, of course, is an exaggeration and if it did ever get to that point I hope someone would slap me. My friend Laura would probably be that someone. We did a fateful presentation together on the effects of over-consumption for our environmental issues class in grad school. I will always remember to check which black button I am pushing on a computer tower. We couldn¢t get the sound to work on a video, so someone said ¢push the black button.¢ Turns out the black button I chose turned off the whole system. Oops. Anyway, I have spent a lot of time and money on gear and clothing these past few months. Here is a random list of some of the new items I needed (maybe wanted) to buy: lighter weight sleeping pad, summer sleeping bag, fancy bowl and cup that squish down, waterproof map case, ipod, waterproof journals, collapsible trowel, four pairs of boots/sneakers, one pair of crocs and I could go on and on. It has felt a little ironic to be buying all of these things to go for a walk in the woods. Plus, I know that it is not necessarily the gear that will save your life, but common sense and knowing how to correctly use your gear. Hopefully my purchases have been wise decisions. I am sure my gear will change as the journey goes along. Surprisingly, I have spent the most money on clothing.   New long underwear, new quick dry underwear, smart wool socks, light weight jacket, etc. I have a hard time accepting that I may wear out an item on this hike that I have just purchased.Mail drops:        Tommy and I spent last weekend working on our itinerary and mail drop schedule. Boy, was that stressful. When one person is a planner and one person is a doer, it can often be a challenge to work together. Eventually, we managed and thankfully are still talking to each other! Anyway, we have 20 mail drops and various town resupplies scheduled. I think it is more than we might actually need, but we can modify as we go if necessary. I have an acquaintance who recently thru-hiked the trail. He ended up throwing out or giving away a lot of food as he had too many boxes sent. I hope we have taken his advice and curbed our desires for fresh-baked goodies from home a bit.   Plus, I am worried that we will add too many excess miles heading into towns. We will just have to see.         My parents have graciously offered to send food and other resupplies to us. They also plan on meeting us periodically throughout the trail. I am grateful that they are willing and available to help out. The trail magic has begun! Worries:        At this point, I¢m mainly worried about my physical strength; my knees often hurt when hiking. My physician assistant brother-in-law recently gave me some suggestions for strengthening them, but I should have spoken with him sooner.   I guess I will rely on Vitamin I and a whole lot of hope¢n and pray¢n. And will I mentally be able to get through? I was going to teach myself some meditation techniques before leaving, but alas that has not happened either.On a funny note, I was showing my parents the food and resupply inventory sheet I made for them, and accidently said dehydrated razors, when I meant disposable razors. They are the same thing, right?