APR 2nd, 2012 - BRIAN'S THOUGHTS (Don't worry, there isn't much)
(82 days 'til the trail)

"Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground."  -Teddy Roosevelt

In the Heart of every Man and Woman are dreams and accomplishments they aspire to. Some of which you think will happen some day. Maybe when you have kids. Maybe when you retire. Certainly, you tell yourself, when you have the time. You have every intention of completing these lofty goals but just not yet. For about 10 years now, one of my dreams is hiking the Appalachian Trail - a path through the woods and mountains traveling 2184.2 miles (as of 2012 - changes yearly due to re-routings).

One day, not anticipating my wife would want to commit to months of camp food, uncertain showers, blisters, thunderstorms, and of course the threat of rabid foxes, bobcats and bears (oh, my!), I told her about my dream. Little did I know that she would go off and start buying the gear she needed, making this distant goal seem much more immediate. Did I have the guts to put my boots where my mouth was? I’m don’t know. Hiking boots are pretty big and I don’t think, physiologically, they can fit in my mouth.

Anyhow, Heather and I are lucky enough to have two months off each summer because we work in schools (Heather is a School Psychologist and I’m a Science Teacher). So rather than taking time off from work to hike all 5-6 months at once, we thought it would be best to complete the trail not as “thru-hikers” but as “section-hikers,” completing chunks of the trail over 2 or 3 summers (depending on our pace). We want to go fast enough to complete this journey before kids (YIKES!) but slow enough to enjoy the views, the crunch of gravel below our boots, the slow paced days that remind you of those endless summers of your youth - when you almost felt lost in a sea of time. You could do anything.

~Brian (Daddy Long Legs)