I leave tomorrow morning.
I'm about to take a very long walk in the woods, with hopes of making it to Maine.
I've gotten every reaction possible about my upcoming trip... The consensus seems to be that most people wish they could, but never will, and that i'm crazy (which i'm in no position to deny). I know that the journey I'm about to take is a road less traveled, one that will shape the rest of my life. I am equal parts excited & nervous! Id like to thank everyone who is following my journey!
I've triple checked all of my gear. I can boil a cup of water in under 5 minutes. Heet seems to be the best fuel for my homemade alcohol stove. My pack is lined with a trash compactor bag in hopes of keeping most of our belonging dry when the sky decides to open up on top of us. And we have enough thermals to keep us warm throughout the horrid flip flopping weather through georgia & the smokies. My pack is packed to the brim, I know some of it will be sent home, it'll be interesting to see what I don't actually end up needing. I'm afraid my cooking pot is to small, but luckily I can remedy that in 4 days at mountain crossing if that's the case.
Dear family & friends
Over the next six months I will meet some amazing characters, I will see and experience things that i'll remember for the rest of my life, and ill have one heck of an adventure. But there will be days or weeks that will be extremely taxing and rough, mentally and physically. So if you get a phone call in a few weeks and i'm homesick or discouraged that is normal. give me a few words of encouragement, tell me to pick my chin up and keep walking!
The First Big Change
I chopped off a good portion of my hair in an attempt to make it more manageable during the next six months in the woods. It'll help prevent a billion knots and hopefully detour some ticks! I loved my long hippie mane, but having short hair is actually really refreshing & will be a godsend on the trail!
Dental Hell
Three fillings.
One root canal.
And apparently penicillin makes me projectile vomit.
All I need is one more Novocain filled doctor visit to put on the permanent crown for my root canal (Start date should still be march 1st, maybe pushed back a day or two so that I can leave in good health and well rested with no dental pain). Being stuck in dental hell sucks, not only have I gone through dozens of emotions on the pain scale. But a week was wasted in my bed instead of saying my goodbyes & eating all of Atlanta.
All I need is one more Novocain filled doctor visit to put on the permanent crown for my root canal (Start date should still be march 1st, maybe pushed back a day or two so that I can leave in good health and well rested with no dental pain). Being stuck in dental hell sucks, not only have I gone through dozens of emotions on the pain scale. But a week was wasted in my bed instead of saying my goodbyes & eating all of Atlanta.
Two Weeks.
I've been dreaming of hiking the Appalachian Trail for the better part of the past year. In two weeks my dreams will become my reality. I will abandon everything I own, my bed, house & kitchen will be stuffed into a green & black backpack that i'll carry for the next six months. I am bubbling with a mixture of nervousness, excitement, fear & wanderlust. I have been engorging myself with the fruits of babylon.
I am nervous about ticks, and my picky eating habits, that blisters will happen and that at some point it will rain for a week straight. Some nights a fire and hot food will be impossible. That there will be days where the sun doesn't come out and I won't want to leave the tent I now call home. I know that my hair will turn into one giant knot when I am a weeks distance from a shower. That some days i'll slip, fall, fumble down a mountain more than not. That life back in babylon will carry on without me. My sister will be noticeably taller the next time I see her and I will eventually run out of instant coffee.
I am excited to not have cell service, to physically connect with the people I am surrounded by, to get lost in the woods, and to problem solve without google. To get a trail name that i'll carry with me on future adventures. About becoming more self aware, learning more about flora and fauna, and making memories that will last a life time. I will meet some of the craziest, most beautiful souls. Detours will be taken to spend time in a hot springs, or to have my breath stolen from imaginable views. Some days will be rough, but the good ones will be unforgettable.
I'll post my first update as soon as I have cell service, Cheers!
Other ways of following my thruhike:
Instagram: @madelineire
