With nothing but our packs and a few throw-away items, we left Vermont early on Sunday morning. We'd anticipated that moment of closing the apartment door and setting out to be one of giddy excitement. In reality, the fear of stepping into the unknown plus the exhaustion of moving resulted in it feeling a bit overwhelming and anticlimactic.
But never fear - by the time we hit Pennsylvania we had found our excitement again. We had a lovely drive down to GA, basically tracing the AT route south. It was fun, although incredibly intimidating, to see the mountains that we'll be hiking through on our way back north.
We arrived in Blue Ridge, GA on Monday evening and met up with my high school BFF, Sarah, who runs a chimp sanctuary there. It was great as always to reconnect with her, and so amazingly cool to see the infrastructure that she's created at Project Chimps (http://projectchimps.org/). We met the chimps on site and saw the plans for future arrivals. We also enjoyed a night on the town in Blue Ridge with friend and coworker Gabe.
Then on to Chris's friend Ed in Kennesaw, GA for a fantastic final home-cooked meal and a good night's rest. Ed and Ji drove us to the base of the AT approach trial at Amicalola Falls State Park, where we're spending our final night before heading out tomorrow morning. We're so grateful to Ed and Ji for their wonderful hospitality, delicious food, and for understanding our pre-trail jitters.
The closer we drove to Amicalola, the more nervous Shiz and I (mostly I) became. I absolutely can't believe that we're taking off tomorrow for a six month adventure. It feels insane! I recognize these feelings from the start of all the races I've ever run, but it doesn't stop me from looking at every other thru-hiker at the lodge and thinking that they look ten times more prepared than I do. I'm hoping that, like a race, getting to the starting line is the hardest part and that as soon as we start hiking tomorrow, my legs will know exactly what to do.
Sweet Pea