One Week

There's no denying it... Georgia is just around the corner now! Tomorrow I am hanging sheetrock for the first half of the day, then skedaddling to Boston to see my buddy Tobin perform the hell out of Beantown as Tony in West Side Story. After the commensurate merrymaking, it's back home, and SIX DAYS to get myself all squared away, and PSYCHED for the actual trip.

It seems like just moments ago that I was commemorating the one year mark: Just 365 days until my thru-hike began. Now, 358 of those days have fallen off the calender, and here I am, in the same chair, just one week away from the great unknown.

My excitement has been pretty much at odds with apprehension for the past week or so... I have prepared myself as thoroughly as I think I can, and now find myself worrying about the unpredictable nature of the trip. How will I react to (semi) solitude in the woods? Will my food and provisioning arrangements work out? Will all my gear hold up? Will my legs and knees and back stand up to my heavy load?

Just as these worries were piling up on me this evening, I stumbled upon a picture of two happy hikers standing under the stone arch that marks the beginning of the Springer Mountain Appalachian Trail Approach - "Springer Mountain: 8.5 miles," the sign reads, "Mount Katahdin, Maine: 2185 miles"

Looking at that picture, I realized that it would be me walking under that arch in just a few days time. I would be walking up that verdant mountain path into the great swath of forest, that thin green line that winds its way from north to south. A tiny sliver of the grandeur that used to comprise our entire nation, the untamed beauty that Fitzgerald said was the only thing on earth "commensurate with [our] capacity for wonder"...

This thought has pretty much silenced the nagging voice of concern in my head, and replaced it with pure and intense excitement. Whatever is out there waiting for me, I will deal with when I reach it. As my friend and roommate Dan Hart says: I can burn that bridge when I get there.

UNRELATED BUT IMPORTANT:
Last week, my mom took me into UCONN to introduce me to a friend of hers, a ridiculously energetic and informative nutrition expert named Amy. To be honest, I was not quite sure what I would ask Amy about this important element of my hike (I am a skinny guy to start, I can't afford to drop 15 pounds on this walk!). Luckily for me, she came incredibly well prepared, and with a lot of first hand experience in both endurance athletics and nutrition. I walked out with a clipboard full of information and a newfound confidence that I won't waste away and perish from malnutrition.

This is just another example of how so many people, from old friends and family members to practical strangers, have been ridiculously helpful in helping me towards my goal.

Sleep now. Coming up, it's sheetrock, then Boston, then some more sheetrock, EMS one more time, then Georgia...