Sarabelle Doing The AT??? You Gotta Be.. .

“... but I will be going the other way. Heading up North in June and starting July 1st Southbound. Doing a similar endeavor - working with our Knoxville area rescue ministries to raise money for the women shelters. Been wanting to do the AT since 2001 and I don't care how trendy it is. Yeah! Gonna shoot you an email!”

“Wow. Where'd all y'all come from?

I figure to start with the gear I have. I will need boots and raingear, tho. Other than that, I'm pretty good to go. I don't anticipate mail drops - advancedly, at least. I anticipate resupplying along the way. From what I've read, numerous outfitters occur throughout the route... no doubt. I know for sure of NOC at Wesser, NC. That's only mebbe two-three weeks into the trek. If I have a major gear malfunction early on, I could replace there.

I'm not a big planner - never been. I'll do it like a roadtrip, and play it by ear. Heck, I might land a new career as a cook in Hiawasee, GA, for all I know - lol!


OMG! Earlier this month, I left my freaking Black Jack backpack on top of my black truck, Jack. Drove off the next day with it still up there, I did. I'll have to use my Wind River instead. It's just as well, it's bigger. Their both Camp Trails , btw - lol! Top of the liners!

Sooooo. Mebbe a new, lightweight pack.

So... that's the list:
Boots
Raingear
Pack

Oh, and a Whisperlight (or equivilent) stove. Multi-fuel, don'cha know?

Revised list:
Boots
Raingear
Pack
Stove

D'oh! Sleeping pad. I'm afraid my 3/4 length Thermarest ain't gonna cut it.

Last revision:
Boots
Raingear
Pack
Stove
Pad

Dag nabbit! Sleeping bag! My TNF Snowshoe is prolly a bit too much - zero degree, and my Slumberjack 20 degree is older than Sarabelle.

One last time:
Boots
Raingear
Pack
Stove
Pad
Bag

Fack! TITANIUM POT AND SPORK!!!

*Sigh*
Boots
Raingear
Pack
Stove
Pad
Bag
Titanium cookware

Hmmmmmm.... wonder if I shou - AUTOSMACK!”

“Hike on, Jojo!!”

“Don't forget the ultralite pooper scooper for the dogs.”

“Hey Jo - check your email next chance ya get. (er, git, i meant to say)”

“Hey Gojo I've got you covered on the rain gear, I have 2 stoves you are welcome to use an MSR or a Trangia Westwind alcohol. I have a 3/4 duofoam density pad or a closed cell 3/8 full length pad. Just let me know if you need them. Email me or I'll check this posting in the next couple of days.”

“Joe, I just got a new 3/4-length Insultmat. Have the old (like two years and in perfect shape) one around yet. Could lend it. Ya gotta be able to blow it up at night though. LOL!

3" of great comfort (who knew a person could do so much with such little inchage! LOL)”

“OO, babe, how ya doin'? Still Mohawk man?”

“"3/4-length Insultmat."
~lizs

No ma'am. If I were to insult Matt, it would be all the way - a whole thread! lol!

Again - wow.
The offers keep a'comin'!
Offers that only a fool would turn down. I will get to Yahoo mail directly, but I got some Insult Matts, Westwinds, Tiogas, etc, to Google first.”

“BTW -
I've met Bret? When, yet?
<:o/”

“gojo you have mail.”

“Yeah, ya met OO BRETT!!!

Shawnee.”

“Oh! The Illinoisian (I don't know how to spell "Illini") with the Southern accent? Seems like he had a trailname he copped from chemistry website? lol!

Well guess what - he's got mail too!”

“Oh, duh.
Lizs, you have mail btw.
I did REMOVETHIS.”

“Eureka!
If I get a late start (but I WON'T, dagnabbit!), I'll just start farther north, and finish the trail as a southbounder come fallish.

I'm a gardarn geenyis!”

“let's hope you get a start in march/april.”

““let's hope you get a start in march/april.”

~oo bret

You too - lol!

I ran into a former college teacher here in the library last week. Her sons did a thruhike in the mid-nineties, and she wrote about them weekly in her local newspaper column. I intermittently followed their trek.

Anyhoo, I told her about my pending hike, and she says "Oh! Go talk to Jeremy (with whom I shared many of my college classes, btw) - he works at Dauset Trails (Nature Center)."

So today I went out to Dauset and had a chat with the boy. He and his brother had never hiked before their journey. Jeremy hasn't hiked since - to speak of. He hasn't stayed in touch with any of his fellow thruhikers, and has never been to Trail Days, etc.

He bought gear, hiked 2100 miles, then hung up his boots. Who knows - I might would swear-off bp'ing after doing the same...
kinda doubt it, though.”

“That could be the scary part about doing the AT- after that you may feel like,well whats left to do?”

“That could be the scary part about doing the AT- after that you may feel like,well whats left to do?

well, there are a couple of other long trails out west . . . lol

Hey Joe . . . haven't seen you since the famous evacuation on the last day in montannypaloooooza. It would be great to see you again on this one. I should be starting on April 3rd or 4th from Springer . . . . hope you pull everything together so I can see you and the kiddies out there.”