Date: 2013-01-15
To: Pre-AT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Hello friends and family!   Welcome to our AT trail journal. Since you all just received my email announcing our plans to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (AT), this journal entry is for you. We hope to start around March 10 however it may be as late as April 1. We will fly into Atlanta and then take a bus or shuttle up to Dahlonega, GA which is right near Amicalola Falls State Park. There, we will stay in a hostel the night prior to hiking to Springer Mountain. There are a lot of people who are starting this pilgrimage in March, in fact, through this trail journal web site, we have already been talking to some of them. For the first 4-6 weeks, we plan to go 8-10 miles per day. It seems that after six weeks, your body is better able to go a few more miles. We expect to stay or tent near the shelters which is about every 8-10 miles. We expect to visit nearby towns every 4-5 days to resupply. It is there where we will stay in a hostel, eat lots of food, do laundry, find a grocery store and take showers. Our goal is to go slow, minimize "zero" days and to enjoy the scenery but the reality is we are going to do whatever feels right and not take it too fast.I hope that you are interested in following us on our journey north. I know it is really going to help us knowing that we have friends and family that are home cheering us on. If you like, you can send us notes, questions, etc. via the guest book which is found on our trail journal site. I thought I would share with you some fun facts and terminology that I have taken from some excellent web sites such as www.appalachiantrail.org and www.whiteblaze.net and other great trail journals. Also you should read other hiker journals as they have great stories to tell from major hiking trails such as Pacific Crest Trail, AT, The Great Continental Divide, Florida Trail, Camino de Santiago, etc. FUN FACTSThe Trail is roughly 2,185.9 miles long, passing through 14 states.Thousands of volunteers contribute roughly 220,000 hours to the A.T. every year.More than 250 three-sided shelters exist along the Trail.Virginia is home to the most miles of the Trail (about 550), while West Virginia is home to the least (about 4).Maryland and West Virginia are the easiest states to hike; New Hampshire and Maine are the hardest.The total elevation gain of hiking the entire A.T. is equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest 16 times.The A.T. is home to an impressive diversity of plants and animals. Some animals you may see include black bears, moose, porcupines, snakes, woodpeckers, and salamanders. Some plants you may encounter include jack-in-the-pulpit, skunk cabbage, and flame azalea. HIKERSAbout 2 to 3 million visitors walk a portion of the A.T. each year.The A.T. has hundreds of access points and is within a few hours drive of millions of Americans, making it a popular destination for day-hikers.¢Thru-hikers¢ walk the entire Trail in a continuous journey. ¢Section-hikers¢ piece the entire Trail together over years. ¢Flip-floppers¢ thru-hike the entire Trail in discontinuous sections to avoid crowds, extremes in weather, or start on easier terrain.1 in 4 who attempt a thru-hike successfully completes the journeyMost thru-hikers walk north, starting in Georgia in spring and finishing in Maine in fall, taking an average of 6 months.Foods high in calories and low in water weight, such as Snickers bars and Ra men Noodles, are popular with backpackers, who can burn up to 6,000 calories a day.Hikers usually adopt ¢trail names¢ while hiking the Trail. They are often descriptive or humorous. Examples are ¢Eternal Optimist,¢ ¢Thunder Chicken,¢ and ¢Crumb-snatcher". HIKER TERMS::AT - The Appalachian Trail (AT) is 2185.9 miles long, running from the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia to the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine. A thru-hike is to hike the entire length of the trail in a single season. miles long, running from the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia, to the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine. Approximately 2500 backpackers attempt to become AT thru-hikers every year, typically taking about six months, starting in March or April and finishing in September or October. Only about 10-20% of the thru-hikers will finish.AT Guide - Small book that tells hiker about the trail such as elevation, miles, water resources, shelter, town maps, etc.Trail Name - An alias that nearly every hiker uses on the trail. If a hiker doesn't have one, he is sure to be given one by other hikers. The best one I've heard was "6 Feet" for a hiker who smelled so ripe someone told him to please stay six feet away.Northbounder (NOBO) ¢ Thru-hiker headed north from Georgia, the conventional way to go.Southbounder (SOBO) ¢ Thru-hiker starting in Maine and going south. Only about 300 hikers a year try it in this direction.Mail Drops - There are Post Offices along the trail where packages and letters are mailed to the hiker. Some hikers will send food or supplies to themselves to upcoming towns. Other reasons include receiving new hiking boots (thru-hikers will go through 3-4 pairs of hiking boots) or will receive summer gear/send home winter gear and then exchange again towards the end of the trail.Shelter ¢ A three-sided structure with a roof built along the AT for hikers to sleep in. They usually have room for 6 to 20 hikers and at least that many mice. They are irregularly spaced, but on average would be about 8 miles apart. Many thru-hikers prefer to sleep in their own small tents.White Blaze ¢ The trail is marked by white ¢blazes¢ on trees about head high. The blazes are 6¢ tall and 2¢ wide.White Blazer or Purist ¢ A thru-hiker who is devoted to walking every single step of the AT (passing every white-blaze). You would be surprised at how many definitions of a ¢Purist¢ exist among the hikers. It gets confusing and you probably don¢t care to know any more about it.Blue Blaze ¢ A similar paint stripe colored blue that marks most side trails that intersect the AT. A side trail may lead to a shelter or a spring, or could be a scenic path going many miles. Blue Blazer ¢ Sometimes a blue blaze trail will take a scenic course or short-cut and rejoin the AT further along. A Blue blazer may take some of these side trails and bypass the white blazed AT This is the most common faux paus a thru-hiker makes to get himself evicted from the ranks of the Purists. Yellow Blazer ¢ Similarly, a hiker can either walk or get a ride along a section of road to bypass a piece of the AT   The name comes from the yellow line in the road. This is a definite no-no. Hike Your Own Hike (HYOH) ¢ The only hard and fast rule of the trail. Do your hike the way you want and let others hike the way they wish. This is the standard Blue and Yellow Blazer retort.PUDs ¢ Pointless Ups and Downs. Hiker pejorative for the trail maker's habit of taking the trail up and down every peak in sight. Also known as FPUDs.Slackpacking - Hiking a day-long section of trail with vehicle support so you can carry minimal supplies or even no pack.Section Hiker ¢ Any overnight hiker on the AT that is not a thru-hiker. Some people do the entire length of the trail by piecing together sections over a number of years.Day Hiker ¢ Someone walking a little bit of the trail but not overnight.Trail Magic ¢ Unexpected good fortune on the trail. Examples might be finding a hiking stick or getting a hitch into town when you need a break.Trail Angel ¢ Friends of hikers or ex-hikers who meet hikers at road intersections and help them out, usually with food, drinks or rides. Some TAs set up a grill and cook for whatever hikers come along. This is called doing ¢Trail Magic¢.Yogi-ing ¢ The art of getting strangers to offer food or rides without directly asking. The typical victims are people naively picnicking close to the trail. The name comes from the master, Yogi Bear.AYCE ¢ All you can eat. By now you may have noticed an obsession with food. Thru-hikers are in perpetual calorie deficit; so all hiking guides will point out towns near the trail with AYCE restaurants.Zero Day ¢ Taking a day off, zero miles walked.Nero Day - Nearly a zero day.So off we go in about 6-8 weeks...oh my can't wait! Love you all, Cindi and Alex