May 1, 2009

I've bought all the food for my trip (it cost a lot) and placed it all into two, one-week piles. I've decided to carry a weeks worth of food in my pack and resupply only once, instead of two or three times to save weight. For that, I am borrowing a bigger backpack from a friend. It's a 4800 cu. in. North Face to replace my 2400 cu. in. Marmot. There was no way all that food was going to fit in my Marmot.

I tested the pack out with all the supplies in there and it's only 27 pounds. Not bad. It felt ridiculously light compared to the 45 pounds I was running up and down stairs with. When I pulled it onto my shoulders I felt a surge of confidence. I'm gonna rock this trail.

I've also finalized my itinerary. I'll arrive at my last shelter, Davenport Gap, on the 22nd. From there it is a 4 mile hike to Waterville, North Carolina where my dad will meet me that Saturday morning. There are a few waterfalls down a side trail I might go see while I'm waiting for him. It's a 4 and a half hour trip so I should be back home late afternoon the 23rd of May, earlier than I expected.

I'll post my itinerary so you can see the daily distance I'll hike and also so if anything happens my parents can check my blog to see where I am at.

Pretty excited...