“I’m like a kid at Christmas.” “I’m like a kid in a candystore.” “It’s like getting to go to Disney World.” Why is it that we relate all exciting things as adults to childhood experiences? The excitement I feel when I think of hitting the trail again definitely makes me think of how my sisters and I use to count down the days to Christmas and how we vowed to stay awake all night (which never seemed to happen), or how it totally made our day to get to ride our bikes down the sidewalk to the gas station owned by Mr. Wilkes to buy Squirrel Nuts and Mary Janes.

While I dread leaving my family, at the same time I feel great excitement bubbling up about continuing this adventure and especially about the possibility of reaching my goal of summitting Mt. Katadhin this year.

Not that I’m counting or anything, but as of today I have 4 weeks and 3 days before heading up to Massachusetts to pick up where I left off last year. I feel like I’m going to Disney World.

I’m planning to send myself 4-5 resupply boxes along the way with things like food, vitamins, toilet paper, ibuprofen, toothpaste, wet wipes, etc. It won’t be the end of the world if I miss one of these packages, because most of these items can be purchased along the way, but it will help if all I have to do is retrieve my box as opposed to having to carry so much at once or get to the appropriate place to make the purchases.

Even though I still have a month, my pack is packed. I’ve treated all my clothes, shoes, tent, quilt and pack with Permethrin (a tick repellant, which by the way is my biggest concern. I’m more afraid of a tick than a bear.) I’ve also begun to pack my resupply boxes. I’ve made my flight reservation, my arrival night’s hotel reservation, arrival day rental car reservation, arranged for said car to be picked up at the hotel, and arranged for a shuttle back to the trail where I stopped last year.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to “section-hiking”. One of the disadvantages is the logistics of getting me and all my gear to and from the trail using public transportation and shuttles. There are things you can’t carry on an airplane, nor can you check them in your luggage (which I won’t even have), i.e. stove fuel, matches, lighter, bear spray. So–once I get to my destination, I have to get to an outfitter before hitting the trail to re-purchase these necessary items. I can’t even mail them to myself ahead of time. Luckily, this time, because of the location, I am able to rent a one-way car and I can drive myself to the outfitter before turning the car in. Otherwise, I would have to hire someone to take me there.

I used the term “section-hiking”. This is when you hike the 2,189.2 miles of the trail in sections as opposed to “thru-hiking” which is to hit the trail at some point and not leave until you’ve completed the entire 2,189.2 miles within a 12-month period. On average, most thru-hikers complete the trail in about 6 months starting at one end and hiking straight thru to the other end. If thru-hiking, there are no flights other than getting to the start and getting home from the finish.

At some point before the hike resumes, I’ll do a post with nothing but AT lingo. If you’ve been on the trail you know the language, but if you haven’t, the terminology can be confusing and I’m sure I will be using AT lingo in my future posts, so I’ll give you definitions you can refer back to.

In the meantime, I’m going to continue preparing my “stuff”, as well as my body, hoping for a comfortable hike on the Appalachian Trail.

(By the way, I know these posts are boring, but I’m mainly doing them in an attempt to learn this site and how to make the posts using my phone. Hopefully, once I’m on the trail, you’ll at least enjoy the photos.)