Am I really thru-hiking the AT in a few days?

I awoke in an instant, fully alert, adrenaline pumping, eyes wide open, and my mind, racing like an Olympic sprinter!  I have a plane ticket to Georgia scheduled for tomorrow, O – M – G!  My old sacrificial suitcase, my backpack, and my gear are strewn about in our downstairs family room . . . decision time!  Last-minute adding and deleting of items feel like I am shuffling a pound with each ounce, lol.  I am pretty sure I am driving myself nuts by deliberating on too many little things BUT, I did end up with a tiny little screw-on-top container for a wee little bit of location for those cracks on dry fingertips – score!

Ready or not, I am leaving tomorrow!

Holy cow!  I just checked in on the airline app, guess I am going down the slide now!  Aye, yih, YIH this is happening fast!  After a mad scramble, I was able to get all my gear into my pack and walk around one last time as I made a mental note of everything I have, where it will be, and how it feels on my hips and back.  Feels a tad heavier than I had hoped, 21 pounds, but it will decrease each day and with any luck, a little cold, wind, and rain will justify moving more weight from the pack to the body!  I have found that once I get down to 10% of my body weight as pack weight, I can go much further, faster, and without blisters.  Strange to be so close and yet so far . . . just 3 pounds away!  When I think of it this way, I can see it playing out that by actually eating my food and layering for hopefully bad weather, I can be at cruising weight by day 2 or 3 and day 4 for sure, and then repeat!

Logistics are relentless . . .

I am finding it hard to feel excited about my dream hike because I have been in a whirlwind of chores, last-minute follow-ups, frantic last-minute reading, and desperate attempts to organize logistical information on my phone, sigh. At long last I get my gear into the old suitcase I will be donating to my 1st night’s hotel in Atlanta – they said they could give it to another hiker needing one on their way home!  I love that and hope it gets to help a fellow hiker!  SOBOs, may it find you :).   It hit me, I am going to look interesting to fellow airline passengers tomorrow since I will be decked out in thru-hiking garb on the plane!

Brace for impact!

As the sun set glow emerges in the sky, an awareness of the magnitude, uncertainties, and scale of this adventure is beginning to feel real within me!  But wait, this is part of why I wanted to go in the first place!  My breathing slows, my heart rate slows, my muscles relax . . . I am about to enter my dream, feel alive, and awaken my inner child.  As I start to anticipate the curiosity, the playfulness, the being in the present moment, and sharing the trail with other hikers, I feel . . . tranquil. The trail transformation I have yearned for has just begun!  So, good night.   See you on the trail really soon :).