Hi folks! I am officially on my way to the trail! I am presently on a shuttle to MSP, where I’ll be flying out tomorrow morning. I’ll be staying tonight with my best friend in the cities, so major shout out to Wyat for hosting me tonight!

Since there may be those of y’all that are unfamiliar with the Appalachian trail, I’ll provide a cliff notes synopsis of it. The Appalachian trail (AT for short) is a trail that runs approximately 2,200 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Kathahdin in Maine, meandering its way through 14 states along the way. Those of us that endeavor to hike the entire length of the trail in a single season are referred to as “thru hikers”. With a little bit of determination, in 5-6 months I’ll be able to count myself amongst those who have successfully completed an AT thru. Many start, and many fail. Estimates vary, but the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) ventures a guess of a 20% success rate for the hike attempts. Any number of things ranging to injury, loss of interest, lack of funds, or unexpected emergencies can lead one to tap out of their trip.

I’m starting my adventure with confidence. I’m sure a lot of people do. I am not nervous, and I’m looking forward to encountering the unexpected. I have never done this before. Save for some week-long trips, my back country experience is limited. Despite this, I believe my preparations have been adequate in preparing me for whatever rolls my way. I’ve had an eye on hiking the AT for years, and have been obsessively researching and preparing for what probably amounts to way too much time. Go ahead and ask any would-be backpacker how much time they’ve spent researching gear choices alone, and I’m sure you’d be disturbed by the figure. I’m looking forward to finally putting foot to trail after all these years.

I will not be starting the trail until April 10th. I’m headed to Arkansas first to visit my parents and check out the total solar eclipse on the 8th. More on that later. For today, I’m excited to have left home behind to start my adventure!