Walking In Circles

Hi!

I have been walking, but not nearly as much and not keeping track.  I gave up the plan to finish the AT mileage in one year.  It was taking over my life- frankly I was getting a little depressed and socially isolated.  I cut back and started dating!  Much fun!!

I do plan to start tracking again in 2010.  The trail is still there and I still have those miles to do!

6.5 Miles to a Logging Road

Last night I was so excited to get my first day of walking on the trail that I could barely sleep.  You'll recall that I slept at the shelter just off the trail head, but according to the virtual walking rulebook section F, chapter III, sub-part b (I looked it up) if I walked past the sleeping place the day before, in the morning I can teleport to where I left off walking.  The trail in is 8.0 miles (okay, later books consulted said 8.8 miles but that is just too depressing- we're sticking with the 8.0 from source #1) and on Sunday I walked 8.4 miles.

Starting 0.4 miles down the trail before sunrise, I could just barely hear the birds singing over the roar of the... um... continuous Blue Angel fly-bys, which did not disturb the squirrels playing in the trees.  Walking through sunrise,  I crossed three rural roads and made it to mile 6.9, which is not quite at the Hawk Mountain Shelter.  I may have to camp near a logging road, with the possibility of logging trucks interfering with my birds tomorrow morning.  Camping within a mile of a road is not recommended for people traveling alone.  This area is also known for bears and Army Rangers on training exercises.  It is supposed to be 19 degrees F tonight, with the possibility of rain and snow through tomorrow.

Calling All Trail Buddies

My fabulous friend Anita (you can go look- she only lost 178 pounds and I'm going to be just like her when I grow up) wrote that she would walk with me some time when I got closer to her house.  She lives near-ish the trail in North Carolina.  But she made me realize that I definitely need some more trail buddies.

So, here's the deal: email me the number of miles you want to walk and a day that looks good to you.  If there is a road crossing or something on that day that makes it work, we'll set it up.  What I want from you is a picture from your walk that day for this blog.  What I will do is donate $1.00 per accompanied mile to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (this will generally be about half your miles, because you're going back to the road crossing).  If someone walked every mile of the trail with me, it would still cost less than The Koman Foundation requires to let me walk 60 miles.  In fact, you might consider donating your dollars to that particular project.

Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain

It will take approximately 6.5 miles a day from 02 February through 31 December to walk to the Appalachian Trail.  I'm getting an early start- most walkers start between 01 March and 15 April.

The trail starts in Georgia, at Springer Mountain.  My route has me going straight through to Mt. Katahdin.  There are other ways to do it, such as walking half-way up, and then flying to Maine and walking down.  This avoids the winter weather, which closes the trail in Maine at some point after October.

Tomorrow, I walk 8 miles from Amicalola Falls to the trail head.  Over the years people have found more interesting ways to get there.  One guy parachuted in.  But I'm going to walk.  The weather is 56 degrees and clear skies.

After that, for the next 75.4 miles, I'll be in Georgia.