Date: 2006-01-25
To: Springer, here i come!
Miles today: 0.0

Well...I'll be there in about two months anyway. For those of you who know me by my Christian name, you may be wondering what in the hell "Mando" means, so I guess I'll start there. About four and a half years back when i first started school, i had been playing mandolin for about six months. During the warmer days that fall semester, I would take my mandolin and my entry-level playing skills to my dorm's smoking area where I would fill my lungs and play my heart out with Calvin College's other smoking musicians. It was at smoke pit # 8 where i first was given the name "Mando," which is short for mandolin. Skip to the present time.... I am now a graduated 22 year old, and will be 23 just shortly after my March 19-21st start date on Springer Mt., GA. I no longer smoke and rarely play the mandolin, but my nickname followed me (by my roomate who calls me by nothing else) to the White Mountains in September where i did a week long, fifty miles section of the AT. I have not designated "Mando" as a permanant trail name. It was in the Whites that i decided to attempt a 2006 thru-hike. I am allowing myself 6&1/2 months to complete the trail, which gives me until October 5th to finish, and hopefully some time for side-adventures along the way. My friend Bob Z. will be joining me for the first five days of my adventure. Other than that i will be hiking mostly with people i meet along the way. Exceptions are Maryland, which my friend Matt Ruiter will be hiking with me as well as two weeks in june when my friends Jill and possibly Kim will be comming out to wherever i happen to be. As far as preperation goes, i tested most my gear on the White MT. trip. The tests were all succesful. Unforunately i started with a full-pack wheight of close to 50lbs. I've decided that i might ditch some gear to get my base pack-weight down to 20lbs. Right now I am planning on ditching my Gerber Knife-tool as well as my two-person tent which i have replaced with an ultra-light one-man tent of about 2&1/2 lbs. I have also recently been experimenting with eating cold food, as I will probably be ditching my stove, pot, and fuel canister as well. In addition, i ditch my inflatable EMS sleeping pad in favor of a 14oz regular sleeping pad. Enough about gear and all that jazz. Why am I going to spend half a year in the woods? I've thought about this quite a bit and I'll number the reasons starting with the one of most importance, and ending with the least.1. I hate to work. No matter what job, I just can't enjoy getting up in the morning (or afternoon for my summer night-job at Sysco foods) and going to work for 8plus hours. So i got to thinking, if money didn't exist and we could do whatever we want, what would I choose to do?2. Adventure. If i could do anything I want, I would spend time in far of lands slaying terrible dragons and searching for buried treasure. When that get's old, I'll hike up to the top of a heady Mt and take a dip in a cool lake.3. I don't know where to find dragons, so I opted for the Mt. adventure. After all, as we all know, most dragons reside in Mt. caves, so this will be the best way to find them and enjoy scenery all at the same time.4. People. I've met some very interesting folk up in the Mts. and look forward to meeting more. Well, there you have it. Work sucks. Dragon's rule. Mountains kick ass. And people are all right. See you at Springer.