Hooray for Mediocrity!

It’s early January and I realize it is time to decide. My kids have been telling me I should do it; my wife says I should go for it. And I’m convinced that waiting until retirement to do a thru hike of the Appalachian trail isn’t a good idea for me.

Too many times I find myself thinking “that’s something I should do someday.” But I’m learning that “someday” may never come or I may miss its arrival. I may miss the knock of opportunity. Sometimes you have to create your opportunities. So I decide to ……defer the decision until I figure out if I can still backpack or still like it.

To give this a fair shot I’ll need to update my gear to keep the total pack weight less than 30 lbs.

That was a year ago. My wallet is now a lot lighter, my frame a little bit so. My pace is slower than Kaytlin’s, but due to many hikes and walks I’ve been able to elevate my fitness level up to the mediocre level. Mediocrity is enough to get me started on the trail. As long as I exercise restraint and not hike more than 10 miles per day for the first couple of weeks of my hike, my physical conditioning will slowly improve.

This past summer I learned that I indeed can still carry a backpack and the new ones are more comfortable than my old ones. The decision is made.

The biggest challenge I now face in preparation for the trail? Learning how to use a smart phone. Audio and e-books, music, pod casts, camera, 2 different AT guide apps with maps, blog notes, and journal are all hiding somewhere in my phone. All I have to do is figure out where they are and how use them.