Future Hiking Plans

Not me

A handful of years back, when I really started getting into hiking, I read a good article about the Appalachian Trail (aka the AT). It triggered an idea in my head that I might like to hike it - if not all, at least a part of it - one day. I mentioned it to my friend Amy, a naturalist with the Nature Conservancy, hoping that she might like to do it with me. She was game, just not for the whole thing, so we thought we could maybe do a week or two there after my youngest got a bit older. Well, earlier this year, she reminded me that next year (2022) is our year. I had honestly forgotten that we had even chosen a year!

This past weekend, then, we got together to figure out the details. Where on the AT were we going to hike? How many days? How many miles per day? When were we going, exactly? We spent a good part of Saturday figuring all of that out. We also discussed gear and I brought my backpacking tent to set up for the first time. This made me realize I'd have to get a whole new set of gear...well, for some it at least. I had gotten backpacking gear last year with the intention of taking my daughter out backpacking, so my tent is a two-person tent. Unfortunately, my daughter turned 14 last year and was a completely different person than the year before. Not in a bad way, mind you, just in a teenagery way. 

Now that we have our plans set, I am getting pretty excited. This will check off one of the boxes on my "Things to do before I die" list. Thank goodness, because that sucker is a mile long! Ha! 

The weekend is getting closer, and it's a long one to boot, so enjoy what's left of the week.