Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best

Today we leave Naples to begin our trip to Amicalola Falls State Park. From there, we'll hike the access trail to Springer Mountain -- the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail. It is a 12 hour drive to Amicalola Falls so we'll be splitting the drive into 2 days.

Apparently this stuff can withstand a full-blown
Apocalypse.

Outside of a few minor freak-outs regarding bear canisters, pack weight, and back-country permits, we seem to be in good shape and good spirits with just a few days standing between us and the AT. We picked up a loaf of bread, some PB&J, beef jerky, a big turkey sausage and "Cabot's Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese", which should last us through our first week without going bad. Now our backpacks are at capacity, likely between 30 and 35 lbs, before filling our hydration bladders. Any more weight and I may just topple over backwards down the mountain...

It is difficult to wrap my head around the reality of what we are about to experience. I keep reminding myself to focus on one day at a time. Trying to imagine what 153 days and 2,176 miles will feel like is as hard for me to do as quantifying the number one trillion. While the highest point on the trail is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 ft, the elevation gain is roughly equivalent to climbing Mount Everest 16 times. That is crazy!

Thanks a lot, Elsa....way to plunge Georgia into an eternal winter....

At any rate, we've been keeping an eye on the weather near Springer Mountain over the last few days. Turns out the snow is melting much slower than it does most years and there was more snowfall last week. Some of the hikers that are a few weeks ahead of us have been hit by some pretty rough weather and a few got stranded after a significant snowfall. Robb and I are hoping that our April 2nd start date will give us an advantage. If things look rough, we have about 3 weeks of flexibility in our hiking schedule and can take a few "Zero Days" (days where you don't hike) until conditions clear. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, right?

I plan to post one more time before we hit the trail and then I'll be updating the blog every 5 to 10 days when we stop in town or reach an area with internet access. I will be journaling and recording footage along the way so things should start to get pretty exciting. Check back in on Tuesday night for my final armchair post!

Baby Steps to Springer Mountain...

So I was hoping to get the SPOT map up and running on my blog this week but I've run into some issues embedding it. You can still track us via this link Em & Robb's GPS tracking, so that'll have to do until I can get it here.  In the meantime, I am excited to share that I now have a twitter account and that it is linked to my SPOT. That means, when we click a button to send our check in/OK message daily it will automatically post to my twitter account. If you tweet or are interested in staying updated on the trail in 160 characters or less, you can follow me @elayman.

Before leaving for Springfield, Robb and I headed to REI to buy our hiking clothes and pick up a few last minute items. When we got home, we did a practice-pack of our backpacks. We were shooting for our bags to weigh less than 25 lbs without food or water. Robb's weighed in at 23.4 lbs and mine was at 22.8 lbs -- Success! Hiking with a partner contributed a lot to the weight of our packs. There are a lot of items that we share so distributing the weight was easier.

Springfield, Missouri is the headquarters for Bass Pro Shops, one of the biggest outdoor supply centers in the US. So we figured we should stop in and check it out while we're in town. The place was spectacular! Robb got his knife sharpened for $1 while we watched, we picked up some additional pairs of socks, a mirror, 2 compasses, emergency blankets, basically all of the little things we'd forgotten to buy or were waiting to buy.

We decided to bring our backpacks down to Springfield with us and do a couple of day hikes on the rocky hills out here for practice. Here we are, testing out the gear and taking selfies with the GoPro.

The Fence

When I was in 4th grade, I hated going to school. My sister and I had just moved from Texas to California and we were filled with preteen angst. We devised a plan to hop the chain-link fence, go into town and eat hot dogs and buy Barbies with the allowance we'd been saving. Everyday at recess, we'd find each other and scout out the perimeter of the school yard. We'd watch the teachers and recess monitor to track their patterns, preparing for the perfect moment when we'd sneak behind the tallest shrubberies and make the leap into freedom.

My sister, Amanda, and I circa 1997, in all of our awkward glory. Little did our
poor mother know that we were only a year away from full-blown preteen rebellion,
well, at least attempted rebellion....

The day finally came when we were ready to do it -- everything was in place. We'd each filled our backpacks with money and planned to rendez-vous in the far corner of the schoolyard at noon. The bell rang and we met at the fence, hearts and backpacks full of the promise of future Barbies and hot dogs. Our first opportunity arose when the recess monitor turned her back to break up a fight around the tether-ball poles. My sister looked hesitant, so in a flurry of panic and excitement I threw myself onto the fence, clambering over and onto the other side. I was free! I beckoned for my sister to join me, but in seeing me actually do it she, being the older and wiser sibling, suddenly realized that this was all a terrible idea.

So there I was, standing on the precipice of freedom-- just an open field of brush standing between me and a brand new barbie---and what did I do? I climbed back over the fence, back into the school yard I was so desperately trying to escape.

With only a few days standing between me and the AT, I've gone through the full spectrum of emotions (excitement, fear, panic, joy, worry that I've completely lost my mind and that Robb and I are insane for doing this...). But remembering that moment in 4th grade helps keep me calm. Like hopping the fence, hiking the AT is a crazy undertaking. While we arguably made the more responsible decision to stay at school, I've always felt the urge to break away. In the last few years, I've built my own fence. I created a school yard for myself filled with comforts and routines that make me feel safe and stable. But like that school yard, stability did not bring me happiness.

Pondering Existence in the Porcupine Mountains, Michigan 2011

When I start to feel discouraged or question whether or not I have what it takes to complete the trail, I think of that moment. I remember how scared I was just before I took the leap, how free I felt on the other side, and the disappointment of climbing back into the school yard.

In April, Robb and I will rendez-vous at Springer Mountain with hearts and backpacks full; and this time, we're not going to look back, we will keep walking through the brush.

♪ ♫ Mail drops in boxes and whiskers on kittens... ♫ ♪

Shopping was a success! Saturday we went to Sam's Club to collect bulk goods for our mail drops. We came home with an obscene amount of food, which we then had to lug up to our 3rd floor apartment. Oh

So this is what 6 months of food looks like...

well, at least we got some good training out of it! At Sam's, we were the envy of every child in the checkout line with our massive boxes of Snickers, Twix and Pop Tarts. We did our best to purchase healthier options, but I'm not ashamed to say that candy bars and chocolate made their way into the mix -- but sugar is just instant energy, right?

This food will provide us with the majority of our calories on the trail. We are only planning about 14 mail drops along the way, which means we will be buying fresh foods such as fruit, vegetables, bread and cheese in towns whenever possible. One benefit of being stuck with dried food for days on end is that when we do reach town and get to enjoy a cheeseburger, pizza or salad (seriously, I'm going to miss fresh greens), we'll savor every bite as a rare treat.

The length of time between mail drops varies, but here is an example of what goes into a mail drop meant to sustain us for 5 days. We decided to pack each day's supply into a gallon bag in order to help us ration the food. We bought a variety of items for each meal category so hopefully we don't get too bored of eating the same exact thing every day.

This is one of our 5 day mail drops, each gallon bag
has 1 day's supply of food

Sample Day:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Chocolate breakfast shake
Lunch: Canned Tuna, Crackers
Snacks: Whole Almonds, Peanut butter filled Pretzels, Raisins
Dinner: Quinoa, Dehydrated Vegetables
Dessert: Cocoa almonds, Snickers bars
Beverages (other than water): Tea, Coffee, Gatorade

Our mail drops will include essential non-food supplies as well, e.g. batteries for headlamps, water purification tablets, and toilet paper. When we receive our mail drops, we'll also have the opportunity to mail items home or forward them to another address further down the trail. For instance, by the time we reach Virginia, the weather will be quite warm and we'll likely forward our cold weather gear to Massachusetts, where we'll need it again for the rest of the hike.

Ophelia trying to stowaway in one of our mail drop boxes.
Nice try, Kitty...

This week Robb and I will be writing inventory lists for each our backpacks and preparing to mail our gear to Florida. We're visiting both of our families before we hit the trail so after a pit-stop in Springfield, MO and Naples, FL we'll grab our gear and hit the trail.

Well that's about it for now, more exciting updates to come --
we purchased our Spot GPS Messenger which should arrive by the end of this week. As soon as we register our device, you'll be able to track our progress on the "In-Tents Map" tab. The map will show all active and participating AT hikers along the trail. When Robb and I click a button to check in each day, our icon will appear on the map to show where we are. The map will offer a variety of features including a satellite view option and current weather, radar and snow depths. Super cool, right?

~

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"Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles..."

We now have less than a month left until our first day on the trail! Many thru-hikers have already begun their journey, starting in February and early March. This year the snow in Georgia near Springer Mountain is still quite thick -- melting at an unseasonably slow rate. I had my doubts about a later start date, but I'm feeling pretty grateful for it now.

Over the weekend, Robb and I worked through the list of shelters along the way to plan out our daily mileage, resupply points and overnight camp grounds. It was surreal going down the list of shelters and imagining what it will feel like to sleep in a new place every night for 6 months. 

We've collected most of the gear we need for the trail, now it's time to buy the food. This weekend we'll be taking a trip to Sam's Club to buy outrageously large quantities of freeze-dried food and power bars. I feel like one of those "Doomsday Preppers" from the National Geographic Channel--you'd be surprised by the overlap on our shopping lists.

If we don't complete our thru-hike, atleast we'll be
prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse

In order to thru-hike the Appalachian trail, it is suggested that you need to double if not triple your normal calorie intake. That is a TON of food to carry. Even if you resupply every few days, it's tough to keep your pack weight down. That is why calorie-dense food options are so crucial. We'll be eating mostly dehydrated foods, nuts, seeds, granola and GORP.

Fun fact: GORP is actually an acronym for "Good Old Raisins and Peanuts"; Any trail mix that has Raisins and Peanuts in it qualifies as GORP.

About a year ago, I purchased a dehydrator with the lofty goal of dehydrating most of our meals myself. I did not take into account that my tiny dehydrator would only hold a small amount of food at any given time and that each batch would take hours if not days to dry. When I finally had the time to start the process, it was too close to our departure date to dehydrate enough food. Now we'll be primarily purchasing our supplies, with just a few homemade dehydrated fruits and veggies.

Accurate representation of Robb and I during our first
few days of the trail

What we purchase this weekend will be packed into boxes for our family and friends to send to resupply points along the trail. We will not be picking up mail drops at every resupply point as Post Offices and other businesses can sometimes be quite far off trail and difficult to get to during business hours. Instead, we will alternate between mail drops and buying goods along the way.

This time next month we will be 3 nights into our thru-hike. I imagine we'll look something like Samwise and Frodo when they first set off on their journey to Mordor-- fairly inept and quite frightened of the world outside of the Shire. Now if only we could get our hands on some lembas bread, we could seriously reduce our pack weight...