Base camp

I caught the shuttle earlier this afternoon and am now outside of Atlanta at the hiker hostel. My pack is up to 36 lbs (mostly food and water. I plan to drink a litre in the morning as there is supposedly ample water along the way.

We stopped at Walmart along the way and I bought more food that I didn't need. I have the feeling now that I won't be cooking much especially for breakfast. I'm sending some stuff I don't need to a friend. I'll turn on my gps tomorrow morning so people can follow.

Happy trails.

In Atlanta

I touched down in Atlanta late last night. Not realizing how bad Apple maps is, I decided to use them to get to the hotel. Bad idea.

I went to REI to pick up a few things and will get the hiker hostel shuttle this afternoon to take me to springer mountain. I plan to start tomorrow.

Some people asked what I would be wearing. As a half Kiwi, I have a penchant for things made of wool. I should have asked Icebreaker to sponsor me. Anti-odor, anti-bacterial and quick dry, I hope this will help me. They are my only clothes for the trail until the weather gets warmer.

Up up and away...

After a bus ride from Kelowna to Vancouver yesterday, I spent the evening with my friend Miyuki. I have a brutal cold and am doing all that I can before I start in two days. Last night we sat down to big bowls of Pho.

I'm now on board a flight to LAX transferring to Georgia. The plane is full of hacking and sneezing people. I didn't realize passing customs would be so complicated with a one way ticket into the US. It took a while.

The total contents of my equipment, now including food is at 23 pounds. That leaves me with an extra 10 pounds for water.

I ordered a ULA (ultralight backpack) and had it shipped to the hostel. I am anxious about its fit and my final total weight before beginning. I'll find out the day before I start. I headed to MEC yesterday in the afternoon and bought a face guard for myself while sleeping along with some water purification tablets in case my platypus system fails. A lot of people on the trail apparently use bleach, but as I don't know anyone who has done this personally, I will stick to my system until I know better. I still need to pick up a Seattle sombrero, some fuel and a lighter. Apparently, there is now snow on Springer Mountain at present but the temperatures are around or below 0 Celsius (gotta work on my Fahrenheit conversion). I am nervousness about sleeping warm in my hammock but think I should be ok as I managed a night or two at -3 c. The major problem I had was my nose being cold.
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GPS spot tracker

This is the gps page of where I am on the Appalachian trail:

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1pnNkyMcWiIBPZtGHtEbn2hATobRXsrz5

Contact me if you want the password.

My pack contents

This is my current list of backpack items. I suspect I will send some of these things home along the way:

Lightweight Downe Parka
Lightweight downe pants
micro spikes
Emergency blanket
Hammock
Fly
Hammock insulator
Rain jacket
Camping pots and spork
Headlamp
Foot massager
GPS spot tracker
Platypus water purifier
Swiss Army knife
Hand sanitizer
Sleeping bag
Heat blanket
Crocs
Dinner
Blanket
Toiletries
Mitts socks and underwear
Gators
Polls
Breakfast
Electronics
Booties

The journey begins

I've left my job in Dubai and rammed what was left of my belongings into a 7x7 meter cube now sitting crudely forgotten somewhere in Jebel Ali Port.  Storage is a rip off in Dubai and the well-kept Kiwi who promised "the best price anywhere on Earth" worked on commission and ended up charging me for insurance (which he only added after they had boxed up all my stuff and taken it away) so that I am now paying 4 times the price that he promised.  I miss many things about Dubai but I won't miss the deviation of ethics.  I miss my running group the Dubai Creek Striders and my running buddy Janice. I miss my neighbors, students and colleages.  I miss my language gang and the close friends that I have had there over the years.... oh and I miss my carpet.

It's been wierd coming back to Canada this time around as I have realized how much I have adapted to the Gulf.  I am not used to men smiling at me and being polite.  I'm used to having men try to film me with their cell phones while I go on my morning jog down to Beach Road and making kissy faces and crude comments in some other language.  I thought I would like the new freedom, but the strange part is that I don't.  I know I should.  My western upbringing tells me I should, but I can't. Maybe I am numb. The whole thing just feels different.  It's different from returning from Japan or Germany or other places I have lived.  I can't explain it.  Perhaps it's the difference of having lived somewhere so long.... or perhaps it's just the Gulf.

I've spent the last half of the year studying for the GRE in my parent's basement in a last ditched attempt to get a PhD.  I'm done with the 4 hour long test and now I am prepping to do the Appalacian Trail.  The amount of hours I have spent gleaning the internet for tips on Whiteblaze.net and discount camping websites to find the best price on light weight camping gear has been a job in and of itself. I've made myself a lightweight camp stove out of a cat food can with use of a hole punch, and widdled the base weight of my back pack  down to roughly 12 pounds.  That leaves an additional 18 pounds for food and water. This is a far cry from the 60 pound bag I carried over the West Coast Trail with my buddy Amy several years ago, but it's not as light as I managed in my two treks accross Spain.

 I am paranoid about getting cold.  As the season changes to spring, I am hoping to shed the extra weight in my pack and exchange it for lighter clothing.

Being so far away from the trail head, I feel nervous.  I don't know the weather.  I don't know the people.  And it has been years since I have looked a bear in the face.