February 19, 2018
**Note: This is the first in a series of journals about my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. During the hike I posted these journals on trailjournals.com and have since moved them over to my own site. Hence, references to my log book and comments refer to those left in that original post location.**
Tomorrow is my last day of work. I’ll be driving into the office for the last time, and before i know it, my fifteen year technology career will be wrapped up and behind me. That’s not to say that I won’t work in the tech world again, and certainly not to imply that it was “all for naught.” On the contrary, I struggled with the decision to leave precisely because I had a good thing going. It wasn’t my desire to thru hike the AT that made me quit; it was my desire to search for something that would make me feel more alive on a day to day basis. My job has become too “safe,” and I have reached a point where I know that to grow as a person and live the life of adventure that I crave, I have to look for something new.
Thru hiking the AT is a happy byproduct of that decision, and a big part of wiping the slate clean and starting anew. I have been wanting to attempt a thru hike for years. My wife and I have talked about it a lot. I have lived vicariously through others’ trail journals, and read the books that inspire hordes of hikers every year to reach for their dreams, such as Bill Bryson’s amusing tale “A Walk in the Woods,” and David Miller’s classic account of his own thru hike in “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail.” When I decided to change my career, I knew that this could very well be my one clear shot at making the trek myself. My time had somehow come about!
I will be doing the hike alone. I wish my wife could come, but it seems this journey is meant to happen the way it is playing out, and so that is the way it is going to be. I’m at peace with that, though I will miss her, my family and friends quite dearly. I’ll also miss Lucy, the cat in the photo. We adopted her over a year ago as a companion for our older cat, Hallie. Hallie passed away recently, which was hard on us but has also left Lucy getting used to being an only cat (for now). She has a special bond with me and follows me around like a little dog, so it is tough to leave her as I know she won’t understand why I am gone. That said, I am hopeful it will give her some good solid bonding time with Mom while I’m gone. I promised to bring back to her tales (she asked for tails) of mice crawling around the shelters i’ll be spending some time in. The trail calls on.
I’m getting this journal set up with some photos and gear videos that give a breakdown of the gear I will start the trail with. If you don’t see the videos yet, please check back for those links as I am working on them currently. I’m sure I will make a good many adjustments along the way as things prove to be unnecessary, not quite what I need, etc. I’m looking forward to that process! I do not intend to use mail drops for food. I’ll resupply along the way as I need to.
I will do my best to keep up with posts along the way to document my journey, though I doubt I will be able to daily. I will probably back post from time to time, partly because I’m quite sure i won’t have a cell phone signal much of the time, and partly because I just want to unplug – that’s part of the journey!
I have a lot to do before I leave, so I will end this post here. Tomorrow at the office will be bittersweet, for sure. I have no expectations of this journey. Some folks have asked me: “do you think you will make it to Maine?” I guess the honest answer is yes, I’d like to think I will make it. I think everyone who sets about a goal wants to think that he or she will achieve it. But making it to Katahdin is only a tiny part of this journey for me. Katahdin is but a symbol of my larger goal, which is to do the hike because it is there to do, to experience the unbridled beauty of nature, to enjoy an adventure in life and to learn from it, to be confident that I can indeed live life the way I want to live it, and hopefully to grow as a person along the way. Those are the real goals, and if I’m open to the experience, whether I make it to Maine is of little consequence. I view this opportunity as a gift, and I only want to try to be open to all of its lesson, to savor every moment, and to be grateful for the experiences I will have along the way.
But yes – I want to make it to Maine! 🙂 Join me for the journey?
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