Hi Family and Friends,
This is the first post to my backpacking journal. I plan to backpack (alone) on the Appalachian Trail from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Springer Mountain in Georgia. Harpers Ferry is considered the halfway point of the AT but not the geographic halfway point. The distance is over 1'000 miles. It is a huge undertaking but something I really want to do. Thankfully I have a loving and supportive husband whose most wonderful gift to me is to let me go and not try to fill me with guilt for leaving him for 3 months. Even though I am sure he would rather have me home with him, he loves me enough to give me the room to fulfill my desire for adventure. Thank you, Sweetheart. I love you dearly.
Even though I will be hiking alone, I will not be alone. There are hundreds of people hiking the trail at any given time. If I want to be alone, I can be. If I want to hike with someone, there will be people I meet along the way that I can hike with. So, do not worry about me. I will be fine.
I have been really busy making sure I have everything taken care of before I head to Harpers Ferry on Friday. I will be sending myself some mail drops with food and a few other needed supplies at stops along the way. Wayne will be kissing me goodbye at the trail head on Saturday. To say I am excited is putting it mildly. I can't hardly wait to get going.
I have decided to post to a blog instead of using email even though my sister was kind enough to offer to take care of it for me. She will still assist me by posting to this blog should I have a problem while I am on the trail. Thanks, Cindy.
Also, I hope this blog will be pretty much 'real time' as much as possible. However, for safety reasons, please do not post my exact whereabouts in a public forum, i.e. Facebook, etc. I am only giving this web address to family and close friends. If you have someone that would like to read this blog and you trust them then feel free to give them this link. I just don't need people trying to 'meet up' with me on the trail (and this does happen).
I plan to share as much about my hike as possible. I will share the highs and lows, the good and bad. I will use this blog to vent and gripe and laugh and cry. I expect this hike to be very hard and sometimes easy. I want to share the sunrises and sunsets, the rain and the cold but mostly I just want to share this part of my life with my family, whom I love so much and all of my friends that I love also.
Feel free to comment and ask questions. Tell me the types of photos you would like to see and things you are curious about.
Here is a link for information about the Appalachian Trail: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about-the-trail
you can also use the interactive map of the AT to see photos of the shelters and other features/views, etc. here: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/find-a-hike/interactive-map
and here is a map to help you see where I am when I give you my location:
http://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm
Hugs to all,
Glenda
