Sheeps Gotta Sheep

Even before I started hiking the Appalachian Trail in March, I heard about this so called ‘bug.’ It is not the ticks, mosquitoes, or those biting insects that annoy the crap out of you while you’re cooking dinner outside your tent (or hammock). It is the bug that gets to you when you are off the trail – recovering, resting, eating a small 2-inch square brownie versus the entire 9″ pan. I did try to eat the entire pan but it was not successful.

Earlier this year, I completed a Long Ass Section Hike (LASH) from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Waynesboro, Virginia. I did not plan to summit Katahdin – nor did I plan to make it almost through Virginia. I was just simply hiking and meeting like-minded (yet weird) individuals along the way.

So I thank the following folks for trudging through rain, snow, and my Milky Way binges:

Tree Arm, Yellow, Translator, Apple Cider, Coco and Magnus , Bloomer, Sparky, Freebie, Ferris B. (for letting me jimmy a fig newton off of you before the storm hit), and the entire lot of others that I have encountered and shared stories with. I also want to thank Mars Inc. (I think) for providing at least 500-700 calories / week of deliciousness in the form of Milky Ways (even though Mars candy bars are better). Oh, and to Sullivan and Twiggy Ninja for making fun of my Minnesota accent and for letting me decorate your walking stick with paracord.

In the coming seven months until I get back to Georgia to hike, I will do my best to explain why the heck I am doing this again (and what I will -try- to do differently).

Dr. Feel Bread (in the voice of the Kool Aid man).