A couple of years ago while we were on holiday in San Antonio, Matthew read Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. He really enjoyed it, so Stephanie and I read it and then Matthew and I half-heartedly made plans to "do that some day". It was the kind of statement you make while lying on a beach chair in the sun reading, while wistfully thinking about how cool that would be. Hmmmm... Amazingly, that day will arrive on March 27, 2013. Now, I realize that this is the kind of "some day" that most people will never have the luxury to find. I am (we are) incredibly lucky to have a chance to do this. Our benefactor - my generous wife Stephanie, is supporting us on this journey. She's staying home with Samantha and working, while Matthew and I wander in the woods for half a year. I am the luckiest guy alive and am continually amazed that she puts up with me. Her only condition: If we start it, we have to finish it - all 2160-ish miles of it. I owe her the world.


We're committed. We have been buying equipment, walked some short (10-12 mile) segments of the AT in New York to see what it looks like, and we have our one-way airline tickets to Atlanta. Stephanie and Samantha will be flying down with us to drop us off at the starting point on Springer Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia and they plan to meet up with us a couple of times on the journey when we are near civilization - once again, supporting us all the way. Have I told you how lucky we are?


I am planning to keep track of where we are on this blog using BlogPress and GPS Location. Between these two apps, I'll be able to save drafts of posts with photos and our position even when we're off the cell network. This will allow anyone to see where we are and what we're doing (at least after I get back near enough to civilization and cell service to post the drafts). Ideally these updates will be daily; it will probably be more like weekly. I guess I'll find out how connected one can be from the wilderness. As I write this in February, it's less than six weeks until we're out there.


The first two posts are just a couple of tests from the AT in early January to try out the software. While doing this, I discovered that BlogPress fails to find your location when you are not on the cell network, so I'll be using the GPS Location app to add coordinates to the posts.


Here's a link to the current weather all along the trail.




Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A Wet Day

April 17

We had some rain last night and then were awoken by a tremendous thunderclap in the middle of the night. It was very loud. Amazing how much louder it seems when you only have a few mils of sil-nylon between you and the weather. It rained until about 7:30 so we had a slightly late start but we packed up our tents and were off to a good start by about 8:30. After our breakfast stop we were walking again and it started raining. Slowly as first for about an hour then harder and harder until we were drenched. The air was reasonably warm so as we walked we weren't cold. We stopped in a shelter to get out of the rain for about 15 min and it slowed again so we walked some more. Finally the sun came out and dried us out.
It wasn't bad. We have pack covers to keep the contents dry and dry jackets in the packs in case we got too cold. Our first real rain (other than the freezing rain debacle) in three weeks on the trail. The weather gods have been smiling on us.
We've heard that three years ago on another hikers thru hike, it rained 30 out of the first 40 days. That certainly puts today in perspective and we are feeling very lucky.



Location:36.09003, -82.78945
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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Guys,
Really enjoy your blog, looks like your having a great adventure, feel very jealous so much so that I've start ready bill bryson , just to feel part of your journey .
Jac's tried to comment from her Pad but doesn't seem to appear on the blog.
Have you meet your Mary ellen yet ???
Good luck & eyes on the horizon.
Best Mark, Jacqui & Liberty

April 18, 2013 at 3:49 PM
Unknown said...

started reading, you muppet
best
Mark, I should read my comments before publishing, Jacqui check this

April 18, 2013 at 3:59 PM
Neil Fitch said...

Mark
when you've finished that one, try his 'Notes from a small island' about the first time he moved to Britain to work - it's hilarious.
Cheers
Neil

April 24, 2013 at 9:48 PM

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