Date: 2011-03-09
To: A Package from a 5th Grade Class
Miles today: 0.0

In my last entry I stated I would not be posting in my journal again until Friday night when I'm at the Lodge before I begin my hike. I decided I would take the time to thank a 5th grade class in Maine who will be following my progress while I'm hiking. Angela Lake teaches a 5th grade class in Livermore Falls, Me. She told me her class would be following me via my journal as I hike from Georgia to Maine during my thru hike. I received a package in the mail from that class today, and it had a great amount of "good luck" letters in it from every student in her class. It was a great feeling to read these letters and see the questions 11-12 year old students had about hiking the Appalachian Trail. It was great to see how many of them had interest in someday getting on the trail, if only for a day hike. I encourage them to get on the trail as much as possible. A day on the trail, or six months on the trail is a great feeling. Every mile I hike on the AT feels like a sense of accomplishment and that I connect more with the world of the wilderness that so few know. In the package along with the letters I got from the students, there was the book Lost on a Mountain in Maine which they recently read. It is about a 11 year old boy who gets lost on Katahdin. The sent me a few things they wanted to give me that the boy in the book wished he could have had while he was lost. This included a pair of hiking socks, mosquito wrist bands, lip balm with sunscreen in it, hand warmers, and bandanas. It was great to receive these items since I can put all of them into use. Thank you very much class! It is great to have the support from all of you, and the good luck wishes definitely help!Here is the letter I sent back to the class answering some of their questions:Dear Miss Lake¢s Class,        I thank every one of you for the good luck wishes! The support is very much appreciated and will help me through the toughest of days while I¢m on the trail. I understand you as a class read Lost on a Mountain in Maine. That is great to hear! I also read this book while I was in the 5th grade along with the well know book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I began to read the book again when I received it in the mail from your class to refresh my memory of the incident. I believe reading and imagining stories like this sparks something inside us to seek adventure.         While I was reading your letters wishing me good luck on my trek from Georgia to Maine, I noticed a few of the same questions arising. Some of you asked how many miles or how long the hike is. The Appalachian Trail runs through fourteen states. It is 2,178 miles long and one takes around five million footsteps while completing a thru hike. My hike will take me between five and seven months depending on how things go. I got the question about how many animals I will see while hiking. I¢m hiking into nature, which is the animals land. My trek walks through their home, much like when a bear walks into a neighborhood; the bear is considered out of place. With that said, I will see more animals and things of the sort than I can list. Some of the most commonly seen are wilds horses in the highlands of Virginia, bears, deer, wild boars, game birds, moose, turkeys, hawks, eagles, snakes, coyotes, foxes, and many others. I will be sure to take pictures of as many as possible and periodically upload them to my journal so you can see them. I also got the question ¢do I think I can walk all the way to Maine?¢ My answer is absolutely. The only way I would get off the trail for good is if a life threatening illness fell upon me. There is currently an eighty-nine year old man hiking the trail who started February 25th of this year. He currently hikes three to seven miles a day, but has the mentality to complete the hike. The biggest part of making it the whole way is the mind set you have. If you think you won¢t make it, you¢ll never finish. If you think you can make it the whole way, you have a very good chance of making it all the way to Maine. The last question I got is ¢do I bring all my supplies with me?¢ Yes, everything you need to survive is on your back. The basics are food, tent (or some type of shelter), sleeping bag, clothes, and some sort of cooking device.         I thank you very much for the supplies you have sent me. I need three pairs of socks while hiking and I only had two, so the pair you gave me made my third. The mosquito wrist bands will be very much appreciated once I arrive in Maine, as it is the state with the worst black flies and mosquitoes. The lip balm with sunscreen in it will be very helpful when I start my hike as the sun is fairly strong right now in the South. When it snows early in my hike, the sun reflects off the snow and hikers end up getting sun burnt even though there is snow on the ground. To go with that, the hand warmers will work great for those very cold nights. The bandanas are great to have when hiking a long uphill trek and want to wipe off the stickiness. They are also great for cleaning a cooking device after a meal or to dip in a stream and wrap around my head to keep cool while hiking. Most of all, thank you for sharing with me the book you just read in class. It has been years since I have read this book, and cannot wait to refresh my memory.         I¢ll be in Maine for a month or so after I arrive in Maine. I got asked by a few of you if I would come to your school to meet you. Absolutely! I¢ll get in touch with Miss Lake when I get to Maine and see if I can take a trip to the school and meet some of you. I think it is great that almost all of you said you would be interested in spending some time on the trail in your future. Even if just spending a day hiking on the Appalachian Trail, it¢s a great feeling and a sense of accomplishment. You are a great class and I appreciate all the support from you! I¢ll be driving to Georgia on Friday the 11th with my mom and a few friends. I will then start hiking Saturday March 12th. I will be sure to update my journal as much as possible so you can see where I am on the trail, how many miles I¢ve hiked that day, and what type of things I encounter.                         Thank you,                        Chris Nadeau