Date: 2009-01-25
To: Who?
Miles today: 0.0

Nevena. Nev-n-a, not Nev-eeeeee-na. That'd be my name. No, no...that's not my trail name. And no, that's not my last name. That would be my first name. In Croatian/Serbian it means marigold. You know, the flower. Real nice to look at, smells like poop though. I figure that'll be a fitting description about 3 days in. My thru-hike start date is March 14th. I have been really nervous, but lately that nervousness is being replaced with excitement at the thought of actually accomplishing my goal of walking 2,176 or whatever miles to Maine, but who's counting? And since I already have a unique name, I'm also excited to see what my trail names ends up being--no, I'm not gonna pre-name myself "Starry Night" or something silly. I'm gonna wait till somebody catches me in the act of doing something ridiculously stupid. I'm guessin that might be about 4 hours in.Back in '07 I hiked from Springer to Fontana Dam. I had the summer off and figured it'd be pretty cool. The thing is, I was a novice at the time. Granted, I'm an outdoorsy kinda lady and had been on weekend, guided backing trips before. I hadn't ever rolled by myself. Yeah, so I started out with a 5,000+ cc (I have no idea what that stands for but I think cubic something or other) backpack filled up with 55 lbs of junk. Ok, we're gonna round down a little since I'm a newlywed and I hear that helps you add a few pounds--I weigh about 125 lbs. So, basically, I sauntered off into the woods, totally unaware of what hiking on the AT meant, with nearly half of my body weight strapped to my back and a happy puppy bounding along, dodging timber rattlers (that's a true story that I'll recount some other time). A few days later I somehow made it to Mountain Crossing and they pared my weight down to about 45 lbs. Along the way I met a father and daughter who were section hiking together, and they definitely gave me some much needed pointers and emotional support. The whole point of this reminisence is to mention that, thankfully, I have a basic idea of what thru-hiking might entail, and that now I'm better-prepared gear-wise.So I have some nifty gear. I may or may not ever complete my "gear list" on this site to prove it to you, but just go ahead and take my word for it. I puruse the "ultra light hikers" (or UL for those more letter-thrify) forum on whiteblaze. I admire some aspects of the ultra light hikestyle. But I also read with a pinch of salt. To me, reading the ulta-light forums is like flipping through an issue of "Shape." Sounds good in theory, and with a little air brushing everything seems perfect, but I'm a multi-faceted individual who cannot devote that much time and energy to one thing. Yeah, did I mention I'm gonna hike from Georgia to Maine...ha.To make this the longest post in the history of trailjournals and to make sure no one reads my journal again, I'm gonna go on for just a few more lines. Here are some basic Nevena-facts. I grew up in north Georgia, I have a sister who has unofficially just received the trail name "Jellybean," mom, dad, stepmom (Melissa), 2 dogs (June and Cash. Omigaw, like totally cute I know), as of 3 months ago I got me a nice husband (James), and some really close friends who will individually come up in conversation at some point. I got my M.S. in Wildlife in December, and my B.S. in Forest Resources back in '05. Both of my degrees are from UGA-Go Dawgs!! I'll be turning 26 this year, rounding the curve toward 30. And before now, I don't believe I've ever attempted something I wasn't 100% sure I would be successful at. Except maybe a challenge course element. Crystal got me through it though. Weaver, not meth.