Final Thoughts Before the Walk

This is Luke.

I would first like to apologize for being absent from the blog for so long. I have no good excuses, except I felt that my time was better spent doing other things. I will give you a quick update on my life since I last posted.

The Inauguration in D.C. was great. I saved up enough money to hike on the trail and got to wave at Barack Obama. We made eye contact, he read my thoughts, and he is executing my plans for the country. So it was a solid trip. I lived in Old Town for all of January and moved to Silver Spring, Maryland where I lived with my friend Johnny and his girlfriend (who I met in D.C. and were great) until February 20th. I could have started another blog for all of the people, scandals, and adventures that I was introduced to in D.C., but this blog is dedicated to the A.T., so that trip only gets a paragraph here.

Since I have returned home, there have been tons of questions about the trail from all sorts of people. It seems pretty common for people to focus their conversation on a certain part of your life when they are aware how big of a change that part is for you (i.e. going to college, retiring, getting married). In the past when this was the case, I would get really tired of the same conversation over and over again. For instance, when I was graduating high school the same questions seemed to follow me no matter where I went ("Where are you going to college?", "Where is that located?", "What made you choose E&H?", etc.). In many ways, leaving for the Appalachian Trail is the same. Recently, the Appalachian Trail is the main topic of any conversation I have with someone and the same questions are posed to me during these conversations ("When are you leaving?", "Are you bringing ______?", "How long will it take you?", etc.). The Appalachian Trail conversations are drastically different, however, because I get no where close to tired of these conversations. Each person I talk to has had a different perspective of what the Appalachian Trail is. Several people I have talked to have actually hiked the Appalachian Trail and given me great advice, others have wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail their whole life but have never been able to escape the obligations of their life, still more have never heard of the Appalachian Trail, some know it exists, but have no idea it spanned from Georgia to Maine, and many know exactly what it is, but have no clue why someone would want to walk it in its entirety. With all these perceptions of the Trail it has been fun witnessing the reactions of others as I explain my plans.

I have been home with my family from February 21st until today, and will remain here until Caleb and I leave for the trail on March 9th. During these last few days, I have been very appreciative of hot meals, hot showers, the thermostat, and a loving family. I have also been gathering and preparing all of my hiking supplies. With six days to go, I have nearly everything I need laying out on my pool table. Besides doing some laundry, visiting the grocery store for my first few days of food, and waiting for a silk sleeping bag liner to come in the mail, my 1.5 year task of collecting the gear I need for the hike is coming to a close. It has been difficult to sleep at night because my mind has been racing about what the trail has in store for me. I have never been more excited about something in my life.

Have to go now...dad got us tickets to go and see the Charlotte Bobcats!