Hi to all!
I recently joined and just wanted to introduce myself. First, though, thanks to those who run this great site and all of you who contribute your knowledge to thru-hiking newbies like myself.
I thought I’d be doing my thru-hike a few years from now when I retired. But I thought I’d ask my employer for a leave of absence on the theory that sooner is better than later. I thought the chance of getting a “yes” was somewhere between slim and none but, wonder of wonders, I got it and will be in the class of 2009.
The AT has been on my “to do” list for nearly ever but I’ve only day hiked miniscule portions of it. For much of the last 25 years I’ve lived in Southern California and most of my recent experience has been in the desert and the Sierra Nevada. I do a fair amount of car camping and short backpacks – about 20 days so far this year but I’ve never backpacked more than a week so this should be a great adventure.
I have a ton of questions, but, so far, searching through past posts has worked fine. And I know if a search fails to produce an answer, I have access to a lot of stored wisdom.
Thanks to all of you,
Mister Bow Willow