Greetings and Salutations
by
, 09-11-2013 at 11:15 (2104 Views)
I would like to take this moment to say hello to everybody and tell you a little about me and my plans. As of November 1, 2013 I will be retired. I am retiring after over 25 years in law enforcement. Prior to that I had 11 years as a firefighter. Needless to say I have spent the better part of my life helping those around me. The one person I have neglected for most all of this time was me. This and other reasons are why I decided to join the class of 2015. I would like to go earlier but in my excitement I forgot I have a family vacation planned for 2014. I don't mind the wait. I have some pounds to loose and plenty of prep hikes to break in new gear. My gear list is almost complete and I only have a few rough edges that need to be smoothed out. Physically, I know it will be demanding, I am up to that challenge. Mentally, I think this trip will be very hard. I have been a family man all my life, never being away from family for more than a few days. I will miss them greatly. That being said, I am excited for the challenge.
The beginning of my trip I will be starting at Harper's Ferry, WV and heading SOBO. I decided to do this since I live in Maryland and have several friends and family that would like to start with me. If and when I reach Georgia I will jump back up to Harper's Ferry and head NOBO. The reason for this is the psychological finish line of Maine. Plus it would be nice to see the family again at the mid point.
At this point the only things I have not made decisions on is stove or no stove; I don't mind eating cold for a few days, but a hot meal would be nice during the cold months. I have not purchased my cold weather layers yet. I’m still studying that. Last but not least; mail drops or town shopping? I think I might get a few things together for my wife to mail drop, but for the most part I don't mind resupply in towns. I also wonder what the cell reception would be during some of the hike. I have found Amazon Prime to be very handy for ordering supplies. I wonder if it would be just as easy to make orders from Amazon and have them delivered to the mail drop locations.
Plenty of food for thought for the time being. Several prep hikes are already in the bag, and I have already learned much by reading your posts. Several more prep hikes are in the future, and I look forward to seeing some of you out there.
Cheers.