Date: 2008-03-05
To: Thought Process
Miles today: 0.0

The idea of hiking the A.T. has been in my mind since early 2004 when the IT service company that I work started a project to BEST-shore my job. I ordered my first round of hiking equipment that May/June thinking that September 2004 would be the end of this job.As the job cycled between probably-sure-maybe-this-year-eventually, my A.T. interest cycled between high, little, and no interest. And only last September did I begin to think that my turn was coming. That¢s a long time to be living in a ¢temporary¢ state. I managed to not be fired-let-go-laid-off-terminated this past November first and the new date is January 15. And it is with great certainly that my time has come that I have begun to prepare.Over the years, I have done some ruff outlining in my head and I have purchased a couple of known¢s like a tent, pack, water filter, and a light weight stove; and I had started guiding my 'wants' toward the 'outdoors'.I have worn out several of my favor outdoor shirts and three pairs of light-weight North Face Ultra XCR shoes. ¢How?¢ you ask? Walking. Walking. Walking. I live in the land of no-mass-transit and I don¢t own a car; but live near the work, the food, and the entertainment. It would be SEVEN years last September since the car was no more. My hobby is geocaching, a game where YOU are the search engine with a mix of high and low tech toys. It is played by all sorts of people in many parts of the world. The info on the sport(?) is at geocaching.com. Geocaching has aided in keeping me active and in getting me out of the house in poor weather. And I intend to geocache my way to Maine (and then some).My A.T. hike isn¢t so much about hiking to Maine; it is more about not being here. Not performing the unrewarding tasks measured in endless mouse clicks; not dressing in what the boss has determined to be ¢appropriate¢ attire; not deceiving myself that if only I continue down the ¢right¢ path that one day I will be wealthy; not looking to reach a ripe old age where I can quit work and do ¢stuff¢.Occasionally the conversation will come and someone will TELL ME that it will be fun. I have to point out that it will definitely not be fun. I associate ¢fun¢ with leisure ¢ and hiking trail is about as far from leisure as one can possibly get. Any person who starts the trail with the idea that it will be a ¢fun¢ experience is completely disillusioned; their romantic notions of the trail will be crushed in the first quarter of the trail ¢ and, for many, it happens earlier than that, as evidenced by the number of hikers waiting for the bus at Neil¢s Gap, just 30 miles north of Springer. One must remember that the trail, in its most reduced form, is a hike of 2168.8 miles in length ¢ hitting up trail-town bars, taking days off, hostelling it, and spending hours at scenic vistas are not rewarded with ¢bonus miles.¢ The only way to finish is by walking; any non-walking activities are distractions. However, this should be extremely rewarding and a great experience ¢ something that I will remember, will talk about, and will be affected by for the rest of my life. I learned something about me a long time ago; and, with my devotion(?)to Geocaching, get by-weekly refreshers:To me, the most rewarding activities are those towards which I put the most phyical energy. One advantage of my motivation is that Maine is not the authentic goal. Should I, somewhere along the east coast, decide to turn left and travel the American Discovery Trail to the west coast ¢ then that is okay. And if I turn up working in a big box store anywhere between the oceans then it is going to be a successful trip ¢ so long as I say it is.