Day: September 5, 2020

The first day is never the first day. The first day is normally the day before. So today is finishing up work, finishing up packing, and driving to Atlanta.

The morning started with trying to get the WordPress app hooked up to the site. I have been fighting with that for two years now. Instead of fighting it any more, I’ll just have to start posting online. I will probably do the content creation in gmail, then transfer when I have signal. We will see how much of a pain that becomes. I wish I had someone I could assign admin rites to back home who has a full computer for editing and fixing things. Any takers?

I am only sending three boxes, so packing up boxes did not take too long. We packaged the various dried goods into individual ziplocks and filled the boxes. The one to Fontana is stuffed to the gills. The others less so. I am probably packing too much into each box, but then that is usually my classic mistake on each hike.

I had a few more things to take care of around the house so we got a late start, but traffic was not bad and we got to the hotel exactly when we had planned to arrive. A quick stop at the local brewery to pick up some beer, then the pizza parlor for a pie and it’s time to hold up in the hotel.

Now the long wait for morning to arrive….

As fate would have it, I have the opportunity To be able to take a break from a stressful job and take a seven week sabbatical to go hike in the woods again. The timing is both good and bad. On the work front, most projects are complete or well on their way to completion. September is a good month to hike at higher elevations, out west, or up north, but not that great in Georgia. But I have decided to go back to Springer Mountain again and begin there and head northward.

The primary goal of this hike is to regain The fitness that has dwindled away after being stuck behind a desk for so long now. It will afford a mental break from technology, too, and cannot come soon enough after dealing with burnout for the better part of a year.

so I will start at Springer Mountain and head north. How far north? As far as I can get. My normal pace says I should be able to get to Shenandoah National Park, but only 100 miles further is Harpers Ferry. I will start out slow, try not to worry about the daylight shrinking quickly each day, and just make steady progress northward.

2020 is the year of the Covid-19 virus outbreak, and probably not the best year to hike, but I don’t have much choice. The trail is not closed, all agencies have the trail and trailheads open, most services along the trail are still open, and most importantly… the Smoky Mountain National Park is still issuing thru hiker permits. I have mine in hand and will see how the park has changed in the last thirty years since I have been there. The only adjustments I have made for Covid are not registering for a start date (they are not issuing them), bringing a larger bottle of hand sanitizer, and bringing a face mask for towns. I will not be staying in shelters and probably no hostels because I am bringing the hammock on this trip and can camp pretty much anywhere. My interactions in town will be limited to food, laundry, and showers, with very few overnight stays.

The gear I am bringing on this trip is pretty similar to past trips, but I am going a bit lighter this time. I am bringing a 35 liter pack instead of 62L which is one pound lighter, bringing a 30 degree down bag instead of 10 degree down or 40 degree synthetic, not bringing a water filter, and not bringing a full stove but will have my tiny alcohol stove. Fully loaded with 4 days of food but no water, the pack weighs 23 lbs instead of 30 or so, so I am digging that.