On to Plan B

Due to some safety concerns in Pennsylvania (from humans, not bears), I've decided to go to Plan B. So far, Plan B consists of volunteering with an AT trail club in NC while doing some shorter backpacking trips between volunteer days, and then heading back up to Vermont in early June to pick right back up with my original itenerary. It's not quite what I had imagined, but if there's one thing I learned from working at NOAA, it's being prepared to work with alternative plans. For now, I'm glad to be safe, and I'm looking forward to seeing both southern and northern states in Spring.

Some beautiful/amazing things in WV/MD/PA:

1) wildflowers in almost every color of the rainbow
2) blooming dogwood trees
3) lots of ducks, 3 snakes, 3 deer, a rabbit, and an unidentifiable large rodent
4) a room that was part of the Underground Railroad

Trail name

No trail name yet. I guess I have something to think about on my hike tomorrow. Keeps the mind off bears.

...and I'm off to see the wizard

So, as most of you have heard by now, I'm hiking on the Appalachian Trail (AT) this summer, and I've set up this fancy blog at the request of my fans (and by fans, I mean those of you who worry easily and want to be reminded occasionally that I'm ok). I'll post an update as often as possible, but please take note that there are not many internet cafes in the wilderness, so it may, in fact, take several days/weeks/months for me to post. Also, for safety reasons, I will not be keeping my posts up to date with my exact location.

To answer your questions:

1) Yes, I will be safe. I have nunchuck skills like no other.
2) No, I will not be alone, forcing me to create an imaginary friend and thereby making intense re-socialization therapy a necessity upon my return. Several other people will also be hiking the trail or a portion of it. A special thanks to all those who asked.
3) Yes, I will take showers on occasion.
4) I will carry 35lbs, give or take.
5) I'm doing what's called a flip flop. The plan is to start in Harper's Ferry, WV and hike north to Maine. If I'm still having fun, then I'll go back to Harper's Ferry and hike south to Georgia.
6) I'll be taking pictures all along the way and will try to post a few when I stop in town.
7) Because I want to. No other reason than that. I'm not searching for a missing piece of my soul, or hoping to become one with nature, or hoping to become a lean mean mountain-climbing machine, or searching for true love with a bearded mountain man. Although some of these things may be an added bonus, they are not my reason. I just want to do it.

Thanks to all of you for all your support, from the good company on the training hikes to the gift cards to the advice on gear to the lightweight journals to the chair-and-a-half I've been sleeping on while I'm unemployed and planning the hike! And, super thanks for the knife! Thanks the most to my parents for smiling when I told them I'm going to live in the woods for 6 months.