The time for departure draws near. I guess I’m as ready now as I’m going to get. The beginning of the Appalachian Trail is at Springer Mountain, Georgia. It is high at 3782 ft and surprisingly cold. There is currently at this writing a storm warning with rain, sleet, and 2-4 inches of snow predicted. Last week there were temperatures down to -16*C or 3*F.
My new ultra expensive lighter than air sleeping bag is good to -12*C. So, I shouldn’t freeze at night.
My pack is just over 40 pounds or 18 Kilograms to start off with. I do not have two of anything you can’t call socks. Plus, there’s grub for 6-7 days, tent, rain gear (that’s oil skins to us Herringchokers), down parka, and myriad essential bits a man requires in the bush. I plan to jettison everything possible as I run North as weight is the all critical factor in distance hiking.
I fly to Atlanta March 1and make my way to the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega. I spend the next day fighting and enduring great angst trying to get a new provider SIM card for my iPhone. Then begin hiking home at Mile 0.0 at Springer Mountain on March 3, 2015.
A metaphor for the avant-garde retired gentleman:
“Ah for just one time I would take the North West Passage, to find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea, tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage, and make a North West Passage to the sea.”
Chorus to “North West Passage” by Stan Rogers, voted best song ever written in Canada.
In other words: “Do it now! You will be a long time dead.”