Date: 2010-02-19
To: 3 weeksÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¦
Miles today: 0.0

It¢s a strange feeling when you've been thinking of and waiting for something for such a long time and then all of a sudden it¢s finally about to arrive. Time seems to be slowly ticking and simultaneously flying by. Excitement is mounting, but nervousness is beginning to creep in too. You begin to second-guess gear decisions/clothing combinations, when there has already been so much thought put into them. Basically, a lot of conflicting emotions are starting to surface¢¦ But I¢d like to think it¢s mostly because of excitement and anticipation of the unknown! It¢s almost impossible to imagine that just 3 weeks from today I¢ll be in Georgia heading on an extended journey along the AT while today is just another ordinary day at work/home. I think one of the ¢Tenners¢ summed it up best a few days ago as a ¢holy crap, I¢m actually going do this?¢ kind of a feeling.As for updates, I arrived home from Florida Sunday night and have just dove headfirst into final preparations. Seam sealed my tent the other day, been firing up and testing my new stove, continuing to pack and repack in order to find the best way to fit everything in (still working on that one..). Starting to organize mail-drops/food. Got myself a sweet, cheap dehydrator I have been experimenting with fruit on all week. Next week- onto veggies and meat¢¦ There are different schools of thought on maildrops vs resupplying along the trail. I¢ve decided to go for a combination of the two. The maildrops will be useful for getting things like contact lenses, maps (I know maps aren¢t necessary, but I enjoy them) and other supplies I might need as well as hopefully spicing up my diet a bit if I have any luck with my dehydrator in the next couple of weeks. For some reason unknown to me, I¢ve been receiving Backpacker Magazine in the mail for the last year or so. I never ordered it, but I very much enjoy receiving it and reading it! On Tuesday, I had jury duty and brought along my latest copy of the magazine and realized- dang, they have some really good-looking recipe suggestions in there! So I¢m been trying to compile some tasty, easy-to-make-on-the-trail recipes to either prepare in advance or ideas for resupply along the way- if anyone has any favorites or suggestions, I¢d welcome them! As for my pack¢¦ I¢ll be taking the Osprey Exos 58. I¢m a big fan of the company and have had an Ariel 75 for a few years (great for winter backpacking but more pack than I probably need for this thru attempt) If I have extra space, I'd be inclined to use it (from my dad¢s boy scout school of thought to always be prepared and bring extra ¢just in case¢- which is great, but not if I have to carry it on my back up and down mountains all day) so I wanted to go with a smaller, lighter pack. I also really like the layout and the fact that it will only be comfortable up to a certain weight- therefore forcing me to keep my pack weight down and think about what I really want to take. I¢ve read some concerns people have regarding the long-term durability of this pack, but I¢m going to give it a shot and give Osprey the benefit of the doubt! Plus, they give a lifetime warranty of the pack, so how can I go wrong with that? Only snag, ordered a medium and was trying to convince myself it would be fine back in November, but realize now the frame is just too big and this torso aint gonna grow in the next few weeks. So have ordered the next size down and am hoping for a good fit. Fingers crossed!!Right now I feel like beginning the trail will be a little like jumping off the deep end into a pool. You know you¢ll be fine once you¢re in the water but you get that sort-of last minute hesitation just before you jump in. I know that I still have a lot to finish in my preparations over the next couple weeks, but I also know that if for some reason if I had to hit the trail today, I would be okay with what I¢ve got. Things seem to have a way of working themselves out so that gives me comfort. And I¢ve been thinking about this for so long, can¢t wait to actually get out there!Well, that¢s a lot of updating for now. Best of luck to those starting their hikes in the coming weeks, and to the hardy souls who have been out braving the snow the past couple weeks. Looking forward to meeting everyone in person!