stranger
04-02-2008, 01:45
Just wanted to say farewell to Whiteblaze for now as I will be heading out for my thru-hike in 6 days time!
In 1995 I attempted my first thru-hike after completing the Long Trail in 1994 and was unsuccessful, coming up short around Troutville and calling it quits at the 1/3 mark. To be honest that experience was devastating for me.
At that stage I had never "failed" at anything at my life, although I was only 19 haha, but still, it was difficult. Many years went by and I slowly made my way back to long distance hiking again, hiking 501 miles in 2001! This was also a difficult stage for me. I had rekindled the fire and it was running hot but the time and resources were scant, so I had to call it quits after runnng out of money. Although I knew I had limited time on the trail at best, leaving after walking 500 miles was not easy as anyone knows who has been out there. I longed for a time again to have both the fire and resources...
Now, I'm here again, I jump a train to Gainesville in 6 days time. I have a leave of absence from work, plenty of money in the bank, and everything is going well, 6 weeks of training has helped so much! I once again hope to thru-hike the AT from Georgia to Maine and this time I'm almost sure it will happen, but miles, pain, hardship and rain will tell, they always do.
I'm prepared, I'm fit and I'm so damn psyched it's almost crazy. I just wanted to thank all the good folks at Whiteblaze for their input, advice, ramblings and occaisional disagreements - it's all good. And if anyone of you meets me along the way I will shout you a beer, milkshake, hamburger or ice cream, these are the days...
Seriously man...thanks for so much you all!
Stranger (Jim Meyer)
In 1995 I attempted my first thru-hike after completing the Long Trail in 1994 and was unsuccessful, coming up short around Troutville and calling it quits at the 1/3 mark. To be honest that experience was devastating for me.
At that stage I had never "failed" at anything at my life, although I was only 19 haha, but still, it was difficult. Many years went by and I slowly made my way back to long distance hiking again, hiking 501 miles in 2001! This was also a difficult stage for me. I had rekindled the fire and it was running hot but the time and resources were scant, so I had to call it quits after runnng out of money. Although I knew I had limited time on the trail at best, leaving after walking 500 miles was not easy as anyone knows who has been out there. I longed for a time again to have both the fire and resources...
Now, I'm here again, I jump a train to Gainesville in 6 days time. I have a leave of absence from work, plenty of money in the bank, and everything is going well, 6 weeks of training has helped so much! I once again hope to thru-hike the AT from Georgia to Maine and this time I'm almost sure it will happen, but miles, pain, hardship and rain will tell, they always do.
I'm prepared, I'm fit and I'm so damn psyched it's almost crazy. I just wanted to thank all the good folks at Whiteblaze for their input, advice, ramblings and occaisional disagreements - it's all good. And if anyone of you meets me along the way I will shout you a beer, milkshake, hamburger or ice cream, these are the days...
Seriously man...thanks for so much you all!
Stranger (Jim Meyer)