Day one of my hike of the AT. I started out in Springer Mountain this morning. I had originally intended to hike to Hawks Mountain Shelter, but I got there at 1300, and couldn't see myself sitting around until it got dark and time to go to bed. So, I decided to hike to Gooch Mountain Shelter. It made for a 15 mile hike today, but that's okay. Tomorrow I won't hike as far, I want to make a stop in Neely Gap and stay overnight there to go to the outfitter and reorganize and nd maybe even purchase new gear. Want to get my packweight down a little. Which will make the uphills easier. And probably the downhills easier, too. As I pondered yesterday, I realized that there are certain things I need to do to help ensure success while hiking the trail:
1) Don't give myself too much down time, especially when I'm in a shelter by myself. This leads me to start thinking about everyone and everything back home, and that does me no good. That was part of the reason I decided to continue on from Hawks Mountain today.
2) Get into a routine with hiking. Get up early, eat, get water, pack, move. And move until it's close to sunset. Don't push it to sunset, push it where I have enough time to eat, get set up for the night, and write a blog entry.
3) Keep in touch with everyone when I get a chance. I have to figure out a charging schedule for the electronics. So far, the solar charger hasn't been effective. I have to rethink that (probably pack weight I can cut).
While I was walking today, I also started thinking about different things. Some things I thought about a lot. Which leads me to believe that things you think about while you're walking and not having anything to really think about are things that are important to you. Those things today were:
1) Sitting at Kim and Jeff's, eating Kim's garlic & rosemary chicken (which I still haven't been able to replicate), drinking Williamsburg Winery Governor's White, and just enjoying the evening.
2) Sitting on my couch with friends and the two cats, watching Netflix and drinking a glass of wine.
3) Believe it or not, going to Church. Sounds weird, but if you walked up some of the hills I did today, you, too would've been praying the Hail Mary.
So, day one is done, tomorrow starts day two.
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