Twas The Night Before Thru Hike

Twas the night before thru hike and all through the land… whatever.
I’ve landed in Georgia, and I’m being pleasantly greeted by a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I had been mentally preparing to immediately start melting once feeling the southern air, but fortunately for me, Georgia is relatively cool for the next couple of days. Had I arrived two days prior I would have been met with 80+ degree weather. I don’t do well in the heat, so I’m banking it stays cool like this for a while. Luckily, the mountains tend to be 5-10 degrees cooler than the cities, so there’s that.

Nitty Gritty Stuff You Might Care About

I am staying with my dad’s best friend’s family who are being just the best hosts. We ran to the local Walmart to pick up food for the next four days, and I was astonished to see that my receipt didn’t hit triple digits. I guess I’m so accustomed to shopping at Whole Foods back in DC. I’m opting to have four different food bags, each holding one days worth of food. I’ve put at least 2500 calories in each food bag with some supplemental snacks in reserves that could get me to 3000 calories if I’m feeling like I need an extra boost. Additionally, I bought a small plastic bottle of olive oil that will boost the calories in my hot dinner meals (ramen).

I’ve taken a chance and skimped on rain gear. I do not have a rain jacket, but instead I have a poncho, an umbrella, and a rain kilt. I’m hoping this system works. Taking a risk.

This is what all my gear looks like. I had to take the ceremonial photo of the pre hike gear list.

And this is what it looks like with everything in it

The plan is to treat this hike like a section hike. I will just try to finish the states in a timely manner. Georgia is 76 miles plus the 8 mile approach, so around 84 miles. I’m hoping to be out of Georgia by the 13th of May. Unfortunately I cannot walk fast enough to get to Trail Days Damascus. Muy sad. I also intend to be at Fontana Gap (mile marker 165, southern terminus of the Smokies by the 16th +\- 1 of May).

I am sending out bounce boxes courtesy of my hosts. My mother, bless her heart, sent me a package to my hosts house. I told her to send me some allergy pills and melatonin. She decided to send 30 packets of electrolytes additionally. Luckily my hosts were willing to send boxes with these plus a little extra to strategic locations on the trail. I’m thinking Fontana Gap (because the smokies outfitter can be expensive), Bland Virginia, Harpers Ferry, and Caratunk. Maybe I can find somewhere in between, but I guess I got a look a little deeper. Plus I got a time until then.

I’m finishing the day with a hot plate of lasagna and some berry pie. Also here is a really cool lightsaber I got to nerd out on. I’ll see you all next time.

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oh shoot, yeah I put ? tape (joke haha lol funny) around my poles.

This was chaos.