CDT Planning: May 18, 2013

Delorme Maps and Beacon's Data Book 

One month countdown has arrived. I've been trying to dedicate my weekends to CDT planning since I just don't have the energy during the work week to do much. I have been trying to get out and hike in the evenings if I get home from work on time, and so far I feel pretty good about that. Today I purchased some last minute gear. I've been trying to avoid any frivolous purchases lately, knowing that whatever I waste money on now is going to bite me in the ass in the fall when this trip is over. Today I couldn't help myself and ended up buying a few items that I initially was going to pass on, mainly a new rain jacket and new hiking poles. My current rain jacket is toast, and my hiking poles are just about useless right now. They've been trail-beaten so hard that I couldn't even unscrew the plastic tops to attempt to put on new tips. Not only that, the inside suspension in one of the poles broke and I had to jam duct tape into the sliding part of the pole to keep it from collapsing whenever I put weight on it. If I'm going to attempt this King of Trails, I'm going to have decent gear dammit. I also bought Aqua Mira for treating my water, as well as a bottle of bear spray, that I hope I never have to use. I also managed to get a hike in today and have started organizing all my paper data. I hope to have everything prepped by June 1st. That would be a miracle to actually have everything prepared before departure rather than running around at the last minute. All the little chores really start adding up time wise when doing something like this.

It's hard to believe that some Northbounders are already wrapping up New Mexico as I type this. For me, everything is starting to look different now. Nervousness and excitement comes and goes throughout the day. Whenever I read and look at pictures of the blogs of the northbounders, I get a little nervous. I feel closure beginning to set in on some of the relationships with people I have made friends with while living here in Northern California. Summer seems to be settling in around here. The days are longer, the sun rising earlier each morning. I'm ready to get hiking but it is not quite time yet. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for Glacier. It has been described as walking into the Sierra on your first week. Blam! You are in THE mountains right at the get go.  I haven't been having any dreams of the trail. It's strange, I don't think I've ever had a trail dream in my entire life, despite spending so much time on them...