bgood360

If all had gone according to the original plan, I'd be enjoying a great dinner at Amicalola State Park and Lodge right now and later on probably fussing with my gear one last time, anticipating an early start in the morning, up the Approach Trail.

As it stands, I'm in my favorite chair by the fireplace, petting the dog, poking around on the 'Net, and congratulating myself on how well that bratwurst did on the grill, especially with the onions and tomatoes sizzling next to them.

And, occasionally, I'm still unceremoniously hacking up gunk.

I made the decision Monday night to push things out one week, mainly because I thought it was foolish risking bronchitis or walking pneumonia and possibly aborting the whole endeavor only a few weeks or even days into it. After so much planning and rearranging my life and, let's not forget, some gear purchases, it just made no sense to start out if things weren't at least ninety percent.

Naturally, I'm second guessing my choice -- the weather (at least here in North Carolina's Piedmont region) was spectacular and I can only imagine what the views may have been out on large parts of the trail. As it was, I knocked out a few errands I would have left undone and got to enjoy one more day in the little log cabin on the lake. The dog and I bopped around town, windows down in the car, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

I will say that the delay, while tormenting me, has got my mind going in overdrive and at two in the morning today, when the dog and his elderly bladder needed to go out, a thought came to me. I immediately returned inside, walked over to my pack, worked a little magic with my gear selection, and lopped a pound off my gear weight, thereby bringing my pack's total weight (minus food and water but including fuel) under 15 pounds.

Also, when I called Amicalola State Park and Lodge to move my reservation by one week, I discovered that they had my check-in date as the 27th rather than the 28th. I can only imagine my frustration and reaction had I arrived tonight and discovered that my reservation had come and gone (as I'm sure my money would have) and that they were fully booked.

So, rather than lamenting the lost week and agonizing delay of my hike, I'm going to chalk it up as fortuitous. And, once I'm underway and out on the trail a couple of weeks, I think no one will remember that I started with a one week delay -- I'm pretty sure I won't care. It's not like the Appalachians are going anywhere.

-- Hat, 2012 NOBO AT

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