Date: 2010-03-07
To: Entering the Twilight Zone
Miles today: 0.0

Exactly one week from today, I can tell you very precisely what I expect to be doing. I will have gotten up early in my room at the Lodge in Amicalola Falls State Park, taken my last shower for the next three days, and pulled on the same hiking clothes I wore on the plane from Dulles Airport into Atlanta the day before. I will have taken special care in putting on my two pairs of socks, my boots, and my gaiters, walking around the room a bit to be absolutely sure that every last square inch of my feet is comfortable in its surroundings. We don't want any problems with the feet this year. Following a light breakfast at the Lodge, I will carry my pack out to the car, and my son will drive us up to the parking lot at Forest Road 42 - the trailhead to Springer Mountain. Having already done the Summit thing the day before (signing the register, collecting a small rock or two, taking pictures, and visiting the shelter to see who else from the Tenners Group may have shown up), I will head due north on the AT. Within an hour or so, I'll be standing on the little bridge over Stover Creek, once again taking a photo of the sparkling waters as they rush out of sight around a curve. A few hours after that, I'll arrive at Hawk Mountain Shelter where I'll greet old and new friends, set up my tent, pump water for the next day, eat dinner, sit around the campfire (weather permitting), and marvel at the total sense of deja vue. Eventually, I'll retire to my tent, zip the door closed, get out of my hiking clothes and snuggle into my sleeping bag, pull the Pocketmail Composer out of my pack, and record whatever thoughts I'm having at that point in time. Baring unforeseen disasters, I can pretty much predict what those thoughts will be. They will include a mixture of joy and relief that the journey has finally begun, unbounded gratitude to my wife and family for their support in getting me to where I am that night, and prayerful anticipation of what I may face in the days and weeks ahead. This morning, of course, I am sitting here in my pajamas at my same old desk in the basement, typing up a journal entry just as I do most mornings these days (as fast as I can so as not to delay the morning rituals of my most ardent fans), and Springer Mountain seems almost as far away as it did 38 weeks ago when I had my toe amputated and I started the count-down to this time next Sunday morning.You can see why I'm feeling kind of like I've entered the Twilight Zone, eh? It's almost surreal how I can be physically in one place, and yet mentally I'm in a totally different place, almost 1,00 miles south of here. It's really weird. Which is the greater reality? Here and now? Seven days from now? Neither? Both? Equally real, however, are my memories of pulling into Fontana Dam with so much pain in my right knee and leg that I could hardly walk, and arriving into Damascus with a toe infection that just wouldn't heal, in both cases having that awful sense of destiny that my hike was about to be declared over. Come to think of it, I don't really have a memory of getting beyond Kincora Hostel in one piece! So, I guess this time out, we need to extend the boundaries of the Twilight Zone. We're going to be very, very careful, and we're going to pay very close attention to our body, and we are GOING to push the frontiers of the journey. This time, it's going to be different. Seriously. I'm sitting here at my desk in the basement, and I can feel it. I can see it. It's going to be different this time. Tune in tomorrow when I will be discussing the phenomenon of cults, true believers, and the AT experience!