Backpacking: Our First Steps On The Trails

Well, we're officially "backpackers" now.  Three days and three nights spent on The Benton Mackaye Trail in Georgia.  We had great company, perfect weather (for a day and a half), we learned so much...it was a fantastic weekend!  I meant to journal each day and use those journals to post about the weekend.  Between the wet and cold on Friday and Saturday nights, and the gorgeous sunshine and perfect campfire Sunday night, no journaling occurred.  Therefore, I'm going to tell you about the weekend to best of my memory.  Pictures will come later (sorry, I know that's the fun part).

Friday, March 28, 2014
We left the house a bit late and got on the road at about 8:10.  The weather reports looked completely accurate with rain and clouds all the way up to North Georgia.  The good news, though, was that it was a constant drizzling rain and not a washout.  Still, we (I) were a bit nervous with it being our first trip out.  My mindset was, "we have to learn how to hike in the rain sometime, right?"  After getting very lost, driving 30+ minutes out of the way, getting good directions, finding the right forest service road, hearing metal on metal sounds coming from my car that made us think it was entirely broken while driving (literally) up the forest service road, we finally came squealing/squeaking/thumping/grinding into the parking lot where we were to meet Sharon and Jonny, we very unceremoniously threw on our rain gear and packs, and started walking...

After a few minutes, something caught my eye.  I had to ask Erik if I was really seeing what I though I was seeing.  A small, unassuming, white, rectangular mark on a tree.  The AT!  We took our first steps on The Appalachian Trail!  I knew that The BMT crosses The AT, but it hadn't really occurred to me that we would take steps on THE AT.  It was very surreal!

A very quick few miles later, Sharon suggested that we camp at a spot down from the trail and next to a stream.  It was flat, and quiet, and perfect!  We agreed, half climbed/half slid down the hill, and began setting up camp.  The rain had slowed to almost nothing for us to put up tents and get everything set up for dinner.  We ate and chatted for a bit, and all went to bed.

We woke up to drips.  Everywhere.  The tent leaks!  Gahh!!  This made for a restless night.  An already cramped space (two-man backpacking tents should really be marketed as one-man tents, especially in wet weather).  On the flip side, our Mountain Hardware Ultra Lamina 32 sleeping bags performed superbly!  Stayed dry and warm inside, beaded water straight off outside!  Love Them!

Saturday, March 29, 2014
After a late wake-up to more wet weather, we made some breakfast and agreed that we'd stay at the same spot again so that we wouldn't pack up wet tents.  We cleaned up and started off to wander around and see what was to see.  We saw a nice waterfall and wandered a bit more, returned to camp, made some dinner, and got a fire started in the very wet weather!  A relaxing day, all in all.

The night was another wet one, and Cold!  Goodness did it get cold!  Our bags are rated to 32 degrees, and apparently it was at least that cold.  A night of shivering ensued, and more restlessness.

Sunday, March 30, 2014
Ahhh...We woke to the correct forecast of dry weather.  It was a beautiful sight!  Again, a late start, but after breakfast we all packed up, slung on our packs, and started walking.  What a difference some sunshine makes.  We felt energized and excited.  We saw blue skies and white puffy clouds.  Bare trees whistled like I've never heard in the wind.  There was a strong, cold breeze on the ridge that made for perfect hiking.  What a beautiful Spring day!

We came to a crossing and were getting the map out to decide which way to go, when along comes The AT Ridgerunner (Approach and Springer trails).  Well, you know I was just beside myself!  "Nachita," (Betsy), AT c/o 2011, was friendly and eager to guide us in the right direction.  She had weather info, water locations, and camp site knowledge.

A short trot down the the trail we came across a perfectly lovely campsite next to a creek.  A great end to a beautiful day with nice weather.  We collected some firewood, started a fire and made some dinner.  It was a very cool night and was quickly turning cold.  We played with some glow-sticks around the fire, had a few laughs, and called it a night.

Monday, March 31, 2014
Our last day for now.  The time has gone too fast.  We all woke and made breakfast.  Packing up was a done quickly.  We were all eager to get hiking.  We planned to finish the BMT loop to Springer Mountain, take a quick side trip to the Springer Shelter (where we read through some of the log book entries), and finish with a "quick" .9 miles to the parking lot and our cars...and the end of our first days as backpackers.

It was a great weekend.  We learned SO much, and here are some of those lessons:

1. Fun can be had anywhere, in any condition.  Even outside in the rain.
2. Always have a lighter handy!  The waterproof matches might be storm-proof, but the striker is useless!
3. Cook in the bag--it makes clean-up a cinch!  
• Step one, boil water.  
• Step two, pour water in ziploc and let cook.  
• Step three, eat.  
• Step four, turn ziploc into a trash bag.  
• Step five, Enjoy the rest of your evening!
4. It doesn't really matter how fast you walk, as long as you keep walking.  You'll get there.
5. Baby wipes are a necessity.  Really.

So, we're backpackers.  We are proud of ourselves, and so bummed that it's over.  Until the next adventure, anyhow....

First Trip on the Trail (Benton Mackaye)

Well, we leave for our first backpacking trip in the morning.  It's very surreal, and our planning process has been quite discombobulated, but here is our lesson thus far:

1.  We have NO idea what we're doing!!

Normally someone in our position would include weights of, well, everything.  We failed at that.

Many people would breakdown what they are wearing and what they're carrying.  We failed at that, too.

We are, however, excelling at being excited, and nervous, and excited!

It looks like rain tomorrow and Saturday, so It'll surely be a shock and a learn on the fly immersion into backpacking 101, but we're going for it!  Updates and photos to follow!

Messy, Uncontrollable...Life

When most of us sit and think about what we want to do with our lives, often we find ourselves saying, "well, I'd like to do X," or "I wish I could do Y."  Truth be told, even still in my early thirties I find myself unsure of my chosen path.  I suspect that this will continue for some time.

I'm working hard in school finally making my way toward my first bachelor's degree in Management with a professional interest in Entrepreneurship.  I have a good job that I enjoy and which allows me to pay the bills.  I have a husband whom I adore, and who is truly my very best friend in the world, and I have a family who loves and supports me.  One might think that a person with all of these positives in his/her life must know where he/she is headed, right?  Wrong.  I find myself wondering if I chose the right program?  "Where will it take me?" I ask myself.  "Will I like where I land?" 

When it comes down to it, though, I guess it doesn't really matter.  Erik and I know we want to own a business, we know we want to hike the AT after I graduate, we know we want to travel the world and meet people and cultures along the way, and ultimately, we think we want to have a family after all of that is complete.

I used to think there was a specific order in which my days should progress.  Easily, I should take the path that is "expected."  I should graduate from college, get a job, get married, have a family.  But my path got a bit scrambled along the way.  I went to college, met the man of my dreams, didn't graduate, held 2 to 4 jobs at a time to pay the bills, grew very big dreams, and am now back in college.

Certainly, when I was asked years ago where I saw myself in 15 years, it wasn't here.  I was going to be successful in all modern terms of the word.  I would have a big house that was perfectly clean, and a handsome husband.  We'd obviously have two beautiful, perfectly behaved children, and a pretty green lawn with some flowers that would be kept on the weekends.  I would live in storybook-land.  

From time to time, as most of us do, I find myself wishing that all had worked out just so.  And then I snap out of it and remember that all of those ideals come from...wait for it...a story book!  I remember that life is a living thing.  It's messy, and difficult, and sometimes a little gray.  We learn and grow and change every single day.  I have to remind myself that it's OK that my (admittedly very handsome) husband drives me bat shit crazy on a good day, that my little cottage of a house will likely always be a disaster.  My yard is effectively a mud pit, and I will likely start a family at nearly 40 instead of nearly 30.  I remind myself (when I remember) that I don't have to control everything:  It's a successful day, after all, when I remember to eat breakfast and grab all of my school books on my way out the door.  And I've had to convince myself to nearly completely give up on the notion of being a stereotypical "good" wife.

That journey continues day by day.  Rainbows appear now and again, along with a beautiful, blue sky which reminds me that good things are coming.  Very good things.  We began accomplishing some of our goals with our wedding a few years ago, a trip to Israel & Egypt a few months after that, a recent visit to the Dominican Republic was an interesting and different experience.  We will continue to cross items off of our list this spring and summer.  We will take our first multi-day hiking trip in a few short weeks, I will study in India for 3 weeks, and we will visit London and Paris for a handful of days each as well. 

I'm still unsure of my path.  I never know if a choice is the right one or the convenient one.  But this, these choices, seem right.  We are stepping off the beaten path, "[taking] the road less traveled by..."  We are excited, and nervous, and thrilled...and blessed.  Blessed beyond measure.  I don't know what we seek, but I know that it lives.  We will continue to ask and to wonder, and one day, G-d willing, we will be at peace knowing that we saw all that we were meant to see, that we tasted life as it was meant to be tasted, and that we lived this living thing called life.