Building Excitement and Making Decisions

The dream is taking shape! Last week, we each read How to Hike the Appalachian Trail: A Comprehensive Guide to Plan and Prepare for a Successful Thru-Hike. This book was written in a conversational tone, so it was fun and easy to read. But, at the same time, packed full of useful information, tips, and gear reviews. This book, more than anything, helped give us confidence that we can do this, together or solo.


John, Mickey, and Donald trying out the tent!

I ordered a few more planning books to get ready for overnighters, weekenders, and some section hikes for this summer. Last night, my husband and I roughed out where we plan to hike for our 10-14 day trek. The dogs will come with us, too! We used the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers' Companion 2021 and the Appalachian Trail Poster Map to decide where we would start and finish. The plan for this section hike is to drive down to SW Virginia, drop one vehicle in Damascus and then drive to our starting point about a hundred miles up the trail. We have two stops in town for quick overnights to resupply, do laundry, shower, etc. 




Solo setup was about 5 minutes!

One day this weekend, we plan to drive down to REI and get good hiking shoes, as well as peruse backpacks and other gear. The hiking shoes will be tested out on a day hike another day this weekend. I'm not quite ready to purchase the packs, yet. I feel like I need to do more research on what features we want, fits each of us best, and fits our budget. I feel like it's a balance: find what works best for each of us, is light enough, and fits our budget.



Gear checklist so far:






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