It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. The Plan…

I’m not sure I’ve gone over the plan yet – I get different reactions from people when I walk through it – everything from “that’s cool” to “you may want to rethink that.” The plan is to start heading SoBo the 1st week of September, take a break to finish up work, and then restart 1st week of November. Yes, this places me in the 100 Mile in November. This is my “isolation phase” of the hike – it will give me time to detach from work, from schedule, and from the noise of my current day to day life. I’m expecting that I’ll need to stop when the cold weather kicks in. I like cold…but also want to transition to a more social thru hike when the time is right. I’ll likely be in Georgia not long after the Holidays.

Planning:

Since I don’t start my hike until later in the year (September), what better time than now to work out logistics! Logistics for a SoBo start are a little different than going NoBo. SoBo hikers must secure entry and a camp site at Baxter State Park prior to arrival. There is a 4 month rolling window to make reservations. I’ve successfully made reservations for two nights in the park – the night before and the night after my start. I used the online system to reserve a site at Katahdin Stream Campground, right on the AT and called the office the day after to confirm that I did it correctly. This gives me some flexibility for weather and also allow me to rest prior to hiking out of the park. I’ve also got reservations at an Inn to break up the long ride up there.

We’ve been researching road access to various points along the trail in Maine – through the 100 mile wilderness – and purchased a paper road atlas that shows many of the roads in ME…including the gated roads.

My wife plans on supporting me along the hike and Maine is likely the most difficult area for access. On our most recent hike in VA, we utilized a pretty rough forest road to access the trail so my wife could  get used to rolling in the dirt.

It feels like it’s getting harder for me to wait my time as it gets closer and closer…

I drove down to Georgia to attend Appalachian Trail Gateways (formerly the AT Kickoff) and Recently attended trail days. It’s been good socializing with other hikers in my class and to share our experiences. It feels like it’s getting harder for me to wait my time as it gets closer and closer.

I’m continuing to hike on the AT to stay in shape and to also refine my gear. After a very wet Trail Days, I’ve decided that I’ll be taking my umbrella. I stayed reasonably dry with the umbrella for the whole weekend. I think the weight will likely be worth it.

We had a great hike this past weekend to Spy Rock and The Priest in VA.

The Mountain Laurels and Rhododendrons were blooming and there was ample water – to the extent that some of the trails were quite flooded.

On the way home, we ran across some hikers we followed on their 2020 hikes – ChitChat, DinnerBell, and Kamper. They had traveled to the area to provide Trail Magic for this year’s thru hiker class! It was great finally meeting them in person after following along virtually for so long.