Here is what I wrote down in my journal for May 11,2012:

What an awesome day! I’ve forgotten to mention that we have crossed the halfway point. Today we brought in the second half with The Eagles and Grateful Dead. Took some pics etc. By the way, the pics we take always turn out terrible. I look so goofy whether I’m trying to take a serious pic or photo bombing. O well. They are funny. So, at this state park a couple miles down they have this half gallon challenge where you eat a half gallon of ice cream. What’s really dumb though is that the store only opens on the weekends until June. We’ve been looking forward to this since the beginning of Virginia, only to have this epic letdown. After pouting for awhile we decided to stop in at the museum they had there for the trail. We get to talking with this anxious, do-gooder volunteer Catie. As we walk out we mention how bummed we are about the ice cream fiasco. Then she springs into action, and offers us to drive us to the local market to pick up a half gallon. Great lady, and it’s stuff like this that make the trail great. We did the challenge, but hanging with her ended up being the best part. Eating it turned out to be easier than I thought, and of course I was hungry again in an hour. Ahhhh the life of a thru-hiker. Good day.

Lord thank you for kindness.

So sort of along the same lines as the last post I thought it would be a good idea to share what I eat on a daily basis. I would definitely eat more, but I would have to carry it. This is a usual day, and there usually is some variety.
The goal when picking out food is to try and get the most calories per ounce that you have to carry. Overall we’ve found that anything Little Debbie has an amazing calorie to ounce ratio.

Breakfast
-a honey bun with extra crunchy peanut butter wrapped in a tortilla
- couple of mouthfuls of trail mix
- nutty bar

Mid morning snack
- snickers bar

Lunch
- crunchy oats and honey with peanut butter
- fruit snacks
- chips
- sweet and salty peanut bar
- couple mouthfuls of trail mix

Mid afternoon snack
- Pemmican bar

Dinner
- couple mouthfuls of trail mix
- rice side
- package of ramen
- package of easy Mac
- package of tuna

Thought a run down of what a normal day looks like would be a good post.

7-8 
We get up. The number of miles we are doing that day determines when we get up. We wake up later than most hikers.

Around 10
Mid morning break. This includes eating something and or having a wardrobe change depending on how much it has warmed up.

Noon
Lunch time. We try to make this stop at a notable view or landmark.

2-3 
Afternoon stop. This usually happens at a shelter where we can sit at a picnic table (a luxury). By this point we are also low on water and shelters usually have water close by.

4
If it’s a slow day some times around four we have a midday crisis where we stop and moan and groan about how tired/sore we feel. A pity party if you will.

Around 7
We arrive at our campsite for the night. With the longer days we can set up camp around seven with plenty of time to set up our tents, get water, cook, etc.

9-9:30
Bed. This gives us enough down time to just hang out after dinner and chat with fellow hikers yet still get enough sleep at night.

Hope this is somewhat informative and gives you an idea of what we do everyday. Yes it can get monotonous, but the majority of the time we love it out here. Thanks!

We have made it to Virginia just in time for Easter. I just want to say again how thankful we are for everyone back home.

I wish I could tie this in with some Holy Week reference but I can’t seem to do it maybe you guys will have better luck. And this could get really cheesy so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I just want to encourage you, the reader to always follow your dreams. Coming into Damascus I found myself thinking about this a lot, and today it really hit me as well. You need to pursue those dreams for yourself and to inspire others.
Everyday we set a goal of where we would like to set up camp, and the majority of the time we reach this goal. When you set then achieve a goal that changes you as a person for the better. Doing this is hard I know, but keep your eye on the prize. I hope that the dreamers keep on dreaming.
As we are out here pursuing ours I challenge you to set a goal, and work towards it. Make small goals to reach your bigger one or cherish meeting your goal no matter how small it is.

Because I’m too lazy to come up with more original content I’m just going to post what I wrote in my journal the 15th:

Wow, again just so much in one day. Everything happens but nothing happens all at the same time. Last out of the shelter as usual this morning. Then we headed to Fontana Dam to get here in time before the Post Office closed. On the way here there were some thunderstorms so that made it interesting. It ended up being gorgeous and sunny during the afternoon, and of course now it’s thundering again. I think that’s just how the weather is up here. At least that’s the impression I get from talking with natives. Once we picked up our food drop, doubling our pack weight we spent the afternoon at the bar/gas station. The lady there treated us to pizza, hot dogs and my first brew since starting. Really random beer selection, Abita, some local stuff, then the usual. She seemed like a great lady. Everyone we meet is just the best. Speaking of which Indy and Scooby (two guys we’ve come to be friends with along the trail) rolled in late tonight. Good to see them again. O and I’m writing this as lightning lights up the dam and lake. Score! So beautiful.

Lord thank you for the small things.

Since I’ve last posted we have:

- hiked 164.4 miles

- thrown rocks at Black Bears

- hiked across the second tallest dam in the east

- hiked on a road with 318 turns in 11 miles, Tail of the Dragon

- hiked through the Smokies

- summited the highest point along the AT, Clingman’s Dome

- met the family of this blog: http://switchinggears.us

- met a more committed Springsteen fan than myself (Tuna)

- met a sailor who intends to sail around the world after he finishes the AT

- been rained on four consecutive days

- visited Gatilinburg, TN the most soul sucking town ever

- been treated to some Trail Magic tacos

Hello friends! Greetings from North Carolina! We have taken our first zero day in an attempt to let our knees heal. So far so good though. No injuries per se just aches and pains from our bodies getting use to life on the trail.
The Georgia part of the trail is known for being full of PUDs so it’s nice for that to be behind us. The pointless up and downs though did make for some breathtaking views. Our favorite probably being from Albert mountain just on this side of the GA/NC state line.
We’ve met some crazy goofballs already, especially at this outfitter in Neels gap. Most of the stories we heard involved some sort of bear so we got that going for us. All of the employees had thru hiked it at least once, and were full of advice.
Thanks for all the prayers and support! We think about you guys all the time!

Many things have inspired to hike through fourteen states. This post will just focus on two literary inspirations.

I first heard about The Appalachian Trail from the book A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Bryson brought out the romantic parts of the trail. The parts of the trail that make one wonder if there is anything more beautiful on this planet. A Walk in the Woods is a great introductory book to the trail as well. It touches on equipment, history and tracks what the day to day life is like while hiking The AT. I recommend it for anyone wanting to get an overview of how we are spending the next five months of our lives. If we have half the laughs that Bryson had on his time hiking then I will be most definitely satisfied. 

Although not dealing directly with The AT A Million Miles in a Thousand Years has everything to do with me wanting to hike. Don Miller writes another memoir about how a previous memoir of his is being turned into a movie. To make a good movie there must be plenty of conflict, a climax and resolution. Miller argues that to have a meaningful life one should apply these same narrative traits. When I tell people Im hiking The AT they get excited because “it will be so hard, but you will have such a good time!” This can be said of most good things in life. A hiking trip, getting a degree, and forming relationships. A boring story has no conflict. The AT is me trying to avoid being a boring story.

There are many other things making me want to hike, but I just wanted to highlight these two.

Tuna

(I will be writing most of these, but when I sign I’ll be speaking for myself only. The same will go for BoJangles. In the case of no signature I’ll be speaking for both of us.)

Hey everyone!

Again this is where we will try and keep you updated while we hike. Today we planned the first two weeks or so, and it looks like we will be able to update twice at the most in that time period. I think this will probably be the norm. 

A lot of people have been asking about how to send stuff to us. Thinking about it, the easiest would be to let us know that you want to send something (via facebook message preferably) then we can supply you with an address to a place we know we will stop at. I know it rules out the surprise factor, but it seems to be the safest bet. 

So I leave to hike The Appalachian Trail in about a week. The goal is for this to update you while I hike. Hopefully these posts will be useful/entertaining, and have some sort of variety. To get things going I thought I would just list the different gear that I will be helping me along the way. So here it is:

• REI Arete ASL 2 Tent
• Osprey Aether 85 Pack
• REI Radiant Down +20 Sleeping Bag
• Patagonia Men’s Capilene 3 Midweight Bottoms
• Patagonia Men’s Capilene 3 Midweight Crew
• Patagonia Men’s Down Sweater
• Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Pad
• Asolo TPS 520 GV Hiking Boots
• Gamma LT Pant Arc’teryx
• Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Filter