It begins anew

Since my last update there have a couple of changes in the plans. To make a long story short I quit the job I had. It was an agonizing decision but something I had to do for my mental and physical well being. The agonizing part is that it may put a cramp in the plans for this winter. There is a financial goal I want to reach before I head to New Zealand and I may not reach that goal before December. If I don’t reach it then I will work through the winter and start The PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) in late April and then head to New Zealand after that. It will still allow for the endless summer but in reverse. I want to make sure I have enough money saved to do both adventures without having to agonize over every penny spent.

I have discussed this with Ash and if she doesn’t reach her goal then she will do the same. If she does reach it then she may head over to NZ and then meet up for the PCT. Again all of this depends on timing, money, and health. I do know that I will be on the PCT next year no matter what. That trail and I have a little score to settle!

I will be returning to the White Mountains of New Hampshire for another season of caretaking this summer. There isn’t a lot of time before I would have to head up there and I do have a work ethic. I do not want to approach a new employer, get a job, and leave with 6 weeks or so. It isn’t fair to them and goes against my morals. So, what do I do in the meantime. I have enough money to live on till I head up north and some saved for the journey. If I stay in town it costs more to live and I do not want to dip into the trip fund. If I go hike I can live for way cheap so guess what .. I am going to go hike!

On the 26th of February I am going to head to Atlanta where my friend, known as the “Backcountry Bartender” is going to give me a ride to Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. From there I am going to hike north for awhile, meaning that I will hike till it is time to head to NH. When I find out my exact start date of work I will head back to Atlanta, grab my car, and head to NH. The normal season for the Whites job starts toward the end of May but I may have some work there before the actual start of the season so my start date may vary. I figure this gives me about at least 2 months on the AT.

For any new readers, I did hike the entire AT in 2005. That year I left in mid March and after 2 months I was in Atkins, Virginia, 538 miles into the trail. Things have changed a lot since then. I am more experienced, weigh a lot less and can do double digit miles without thinking about it. In 2005 it took us 3.5 days to get to Neels Gap, Ga. Now, if I wanted to I could probably hit it in 2 days. I was talking with Clearwater the other day, a friend I met in ‘05 and have hiked many miles with. He says, “Cuppa, you could be in Waynesboro before you finish.” Waynesboro is the town just before the start of the Shenandoah’s. 853 miles into the trail. I laughed and said it would be cool because there is some pretty hiking in Virginia. No matter where I end up I plan on having fun.

One thing that hit me just before I start typing this up. Here I am heading back to the AT for a pretty substantial hike albeit not a thru-hike and this year is the 5th anniversary of the complete hike of the AT in ‘05. That kinda slapped me with an “Oh wow!” because I had not even though of that before.

Anyway, I will be keeping a journal of my hike on this blog. Ash has kindly accepted to be my transcriber (Ash, I know how you can write so feel free to add snide and cutting comments anytime you like into the entries J ) and another friend, Caitlin has offered to be backup. I will write daily updates though I may not be able to send them each day. No matter what they will eventually be posted. I have kept my journals from previous years on “Trailjournals.com” but I am posting on the blog for this one. I want to use trail journals for thru-hikes and attempted thru-hikes. That means my attempt of the PCT again next year will be on Trailjournals. I do hope you all follow along and I hope to be able to tell you a good story along the way!