Date: 2013-01-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hi, I am Joe Estes and my trail name will be Pilgrim. I am 66 years old, and ready and anxious to get on the trail. I have a little hiking experience from back in my forties when I hiked with my son Mark and friend Dave above Lone Pine and in Yosemite and Mammoth areas. So I have already gone thru the experience of over packing and taking a heavy pack. Lately, I have been hiking the Grand Canyon with my friend John. There I learned about dehydration the hard way. It was also after one of my Grand Canyon hikes that John mentioned we should create a bucket list, and that's when I first heard of hiking the Appalachian trail. When I retired from work in June 2012, I thought I was going to die of boredom. I was exercising in the early morning hours by running 6 miles a day or mountain bike riding on 4 hour trips. Then because it was 100+ degree days, I would sit out the rest of the day on my couch. In September, I finally decided I had to do something, and so made the commitment (after my wife's consent) to thru hike the Appalachian Trail. So I sent out emails to all my friends telling them of my decision. About a week later an old work friend called and asked if he could join me. And so now hitting the trail on March 7, 2013 will be Fred McFarland from work, John Wooten my hiking buddy, and my self. John wants to make sure I get off to a good start, so he is only doing about the first hundred miles or so. I hope to be sending these journal entries the whole way to Maine, thank you for reading them and I hope I can give you all a flavor of the trail through them. Here are some internet excerpts about the hike:Hazards:Severe weather,American Black Bear,Tick-borne diseases,Mosquitos,Yellowjackets,Biting flies,Chiggers,Steep grades,Limited water,Diarrhea from water,Poison ivy,Venomous snakes.The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine.[1] The precise length of the trail changes over time as trails are modified or added. The total length is approximately 2,200 miles (3,500 km)[a] long. The trail passes through the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The path is maintained by 30 trail clubs and multiple partnerships,[2] and managed by the National Park Service and the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy.[3][4] The majority of the trail is in wilderness, although some portions traverse towns, roads and cross rivers.The Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail form what is known as the Triple Crown of long distance hiking in the United States.Thru Hiking: A thru-hiker is a hiker or backpacker who has completed or is attempting to walk the entire Appalachian Trail in one uninterrupted journey. Completing the entire estimated 2,180 miles of the Appalachian Trail in one trip is a mammoth undertaking. Each year, thousands of hikers attempt a thru-hike; only about one in four make it all the way.Joe aka Pilgrim