So yesterday was the big day. We started at 6:00 AM and were finally finished about midnight. Now the only things left in our house are the spider webs and dust bunnies that managed to hide behind our furniture. Today is cleaning day and we are officially out tomorrow morning. Below is a picture of our living accomodations for our last night in the house.

We’ve also posted our first video sharing a little bit of how we are feeling at this point. Thanks for following along on our journey.

Alternate link for the video: click here

Today was the first day that I have had my smartphone from Verizon. This is the first time that I am typing in it. I like the fact that the keyboard is very user friendly and I think that we will be able to use it very easily to journal with while we are hiking.

This will be a very boring and brief entry for this blog but I am trying to make sure that I know how to get everything synched up from my phone. I also spoke with the manager at Verizon about the possibilty of being corporately sponsored for our hike. They seemed intrigued about the idea and gave me a person to contact at the main office. I’ll keep everyone posted on the progress.

Alright, I know this hasn’t been all that exciting to read, but it is the first post I have ever done with my phone. Long live technology! I am also posting a pick of my ugly mug to test the pic capabilities of this phone.

So, it happened yesterday. We were relieved to get it over with, but when it actually happened, it was a little weird. Melissa and I have been making plans for this hike for several months, and part of those plans involved selling our house that we love. It is on 6 acres and has a beautiful deck off the back, overlooking a creek and field where we see deer, squirrels, rabbits, etc., all the time. Sadie (our crazy dog) loves to run around in the woods and it is the perfect place for entertaining, spending time with friends, or just getting away from the world. It has become both our castle and our refuge.

As of yesterday at 5:00 p.m. though, it is no longer our place to call home. We still own it, and will for a few more months, but we signed the papers that turn over the right of occupancy to someone else. Someone who didn’t get excited when they walked around on the concrete foundation for the first time. Someone who wasn’t overjoyed when they bought 6 acres in the middle of a cow pasture and could already visualize where the house would be. Someone who didn’t plow, disk, drag, plant, fertilize, and water the yard to make it grow. Someone who didn’t paint the walls, tile the floors, and build a deck on the back. Somone who hasn’t spent countless hours making this house into their home.

Don’t get me wrong, on March 1st, the family who is moving in will be great, and loves the house already. However, as of yesterday, for us it became just that, a house. We know that this is the opportunity of a lifetime, and we are truly anxious to get started with the hike, and to call our green Eureka Zeus Exo 2 tent (pictured below) “home” for the next 6 months. So, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just weird. It’s not tragic, just a little sad. A piece of our life together, one that has taken countless hours of exhausting work to get just how we want it, was forever changed with a few strokes of a pen.

I guess that’s why as Christians we can take comfort in the fact that this world is not our home. Yes, we set down our roots, build a house, and start a family, but in reality, nothing here is EVER “home” for us. That’s what Paul talks about in Philippians 3 when he is writing from a jail cell in Rome. He says in 3:20 that “our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” Someday, and someday soon, all that we have built for ourselves, and all that we now call home, will fade away and be replaced by something much greater, something far better than all we could ask or imagine. And that’s about as exciting as it gets!!

So, I’m sick. There’s no other way to say it. I have a cold…I have a fever…I feel like I’ve been attacked by ravenous wolves…I guess there are other ways to say it, but none so simply. I’m sick. I woke up on Friday morning with a fever and ever since have felt about 2 steps away from death. Alright, that’s an exaggeration. 3 steps is a little more like it. At any rate, it certainly isn’t the way that I’d like to spend one of my final 6 weeks before hitting the journey of a lifetime. My plan was to be hiking around 5-6 miles a day this week and increase by a mile or so each week until we leave. The last few days, walking from the bed to the couch has been a bit of a stretch. I think I can finally see the light at the end of the sinus drainage tunnel so I’m hoping that by Wednesday I’ll be back in the gym. But that takes us to the next part of the title of this post…twisted.

I’m twisted in all sorts of different directions at this point in our journey. We’re supposed to be packing our house, fixing our vehicles we’re selling, raising support, planning for the summer at camp, planning our hiking schedule, settling all of our debts, working out like crazy, seeing friends around Anderson, seeing friends around camp, visiting family, finding a home for our dog, cat, and 2 rabbits, figuring the technology piece of our hike, visiting churches and youth groups, and a myriad of other things, just off the top of my head. In light of all that, my brain and body are feeling twisted in a million different directions. So, if you’re a praying person, say one for Melissa and me! We could use it.

And speaking of praying, if you’re reading this, and going through something we could be praying for for you, feel free to pass it on. Cause in reality, we’re all always sitting on the verge of either sick or twisted. Have an awesome Monday!

Whenever I speak with anyone about our plans for a through hike of the A.T., there are always loads of questions and I love that! I could talk about it all day, because it is a dream of ours that Melissa and I are actually going to live. However, since I know that I can’t talk to everyone for a long time, I’d like to use this FAQ page as a means of connecting and answering questions. If you think of anything that you’d like to know about the Trail, or about our plans, feel free to post your question and I’ll try to answer it ASAP.

Also, if you’d like to do some reading up about the A.T. while you’re online, you should check out the following sites:

www.appalachiantrail.org - The official A.T. website

www.trailjournals.com - A site with thousands of journal entries from previous through hikers

www.whiteblaze.net - An extensive website dedicated to hikers and fans of the A.T.

Hope to hear from alot of your very soon. So c’mon, give me you’re best question!

Power hiker - A hiker who habitually chooses to cover very long distances each day, often hiking late into the evening.

Privy - Trailside outhouse for solid waste. You shouldn’t pee in the privy.

PUDS - Thru-hiker shorthand for “pointless ups and downs”, referring to the less interesting sections of mountains thru-hikers encounter from time to time; several PUDS in a row are MUDS, which is shorthand for “mindless ups and downs”.

Purist - 1. A hiker who wants to pass every white blaze. 2. A hiker who wants others to pass every white blaze.

Register - A log book normally found at a trail shelter or a trail head. The original intent was for hikers to sign in so a searcher needing to find a lost hiker could tell where they last were.

Relo - A section of trail recently relocated.

Ridge Runner - A person paid by a trail-maintaining club or governmental organization to hike back and forth along a certain section of trail to educate hikers, enforce regulations, monitor trail and campsite use, and sometimes perform trail maintenance or construction duties. Such persons are most often found in high-use areas of the trail.

Rime ice - White super-cooled water droplets that stick to surfaces and freeze into the direction of the wind.

Section hiker - A person who is attempting to become a 2,000-Miler by doing a series of section hikes over a period of time.

Shaffer, Earl - Earl Shaffer 1918-2002 “The Crazy One,” the first person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Poet, WW2 veteran, author of ‘Walking With Spring,’ and ‘The Appalachian Trail, Calling Me Back To The Hills,’ and three time thru-hiker, northbound in 1948, southbound in 1965, and northbound again at age 79, 50 years after his first hike. http://www.earlshaffer.com/

Shelter - A three sided wooden or stone building, spaced out a half day’s hike apart, near a water source, and with a privy. The AT has many kinds of shelters, from barns to cabins.Shuttle - A ride from town to trailhead, usually for a fee.

Skunked - Failing to get a car to stop when hitch hiking.

Slabbing - A hiking term that refers to going around a mountain on a moderately graded footpath, as opposed to going straight up and over the mountain.

Slackpacking - A hiking term coined in 1980 to describe an unhurried and non-goal-oriented manner of long-distance hiking (i.e., slack: “not taut or tense, loose”), but in recent years has been used to refer simply to thru-hiking without a backpack.

Spruce Trap - When snow is deep enough that it cover the top of a spruce tree, beware. Since there will be voids in the snow pack, you can fall into those voids and get caught. When you appear to be above timberline, but you know that the trees are 8 feet high at this place in summer, then beware. Since you can’t see where the trail is, you cannot stay on it, and you cannot avoid the spruce traps.

Springer Mountain – The southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Springer fever - The almost uncontrollable urge to be back on the Trail that hits thru-hikers of past years each spring.

Stealth - A manner of camping where there is no indication that you are there, and no trace of your being there is left when you’ve left. Sometimes used as a term for camping illegally on public or private land.

Stile - Steps constructed over a fence to allow people, but not livestock, to pass.

Swag - The lowest connecting point between two ridges in the South.

Switch Back - A turn that takes the hiker 180 degrees in the opposite direction. This trail construction technique is primarily used south of New England on the AT.

Tarp - A simple tent with no floor or door.

“Ten essentials” - Short lists of 10 or 12 items thought necessary to be carried by backpackers. An example of one list: Map, Compass, Water and a way to purify it, Extra food, Rain gear/extra clothing, Fire starter and matches, First aid kit, Army Knife/multi purpose tool, flashlight with extra batteries/bulbs, sun screen/sun glasses.

Tent Pad/Platform - At some camping sites, tenting is restricted to built up earthen ‘pads’ or wooden ‘platforms’ to ease impact on the area.Thru-hiker - Traditionally a person who is attempting to become a 2,000-Miler in a single, continuous journey; leaving from one terminus of the Trail, and backpacking to the other terminus. Trail Angel - Someone who provides unexpected help or food to a hiker. Trailhead - Where the trail leaves a road crossing or parking lot. Trail Magic - Unexpected, but welcome, help or food.Trail Name - A nickname adopted by or given to a hiker.

Trail Runners - Light weight sneaker style hiking shoes.

Treadway - The trail beneath a hiker’s boots, constructed for that purpose.

Treeline - The point of elevation on a mountain above whice the climate will no longer support tree growth.

Shenandoha National Park - About 100 miles of the AT runs through the Blue Ridge Mountains this Park in Virginia.

Ultra light - A style of gear or hiking that focuses on using the lightest gear possible.

USFS - The abbreviation for United States Forest Service.

Vitamin I - Ibuprofen an over the counter anti-inflammatory drug that many hikers use while backpacking. Work for stay - Some hostels, the AMC Huts in the Whites, and a few other places along the AT allow some hikers to work instead of paying the fee for lodging. Yogi-ing - The good-natured art of “letting” food be offered cheerfully by strangers without actually asking them directly (If you ask, it’s begging!). YMMV - ‘Your Mileage May Vary’, hiker jargon for ‘this worked for me, but your results/opinions might not be the same.’Yo-yo-ing - The act of completing one A.T. thru-hike, then immediately turning around to begin another in the opposite direction.

Yurt - A round semi-permanent structure, tent like in form.

Z Rest - A closed cell sleeping pad that folds into a rectangular block, rather than rolling up.

Zero Day - A day in which no miles are hiked, usually because the hiker is stopping in a town to resupply and/or rest.

Okay, so once we hit the Trail, we’ll be trying to update this blog using only a cell phone with a small QWERTY keyboard. As such, I thought it worthwhile to include some common terms and definitions that most hikers use, so as not to have to explain once we’re out on the Trail. This is a farily extensive list, so I will post in two separate entries.

2000 Miler - A person who has hiked the entire distance between termini of the official (white-blazed) A.T., either by thru-hiking or section hiking.Alpine Zone - The area consisting of all the land above tree line in New England. The alpine zone is best defined by its plant life. Conifers such as spruce and balsam grow as Krumholz near the tree line, giving way to tundra-type lichens, moss, and shrubs above.

A.M.C. - The Appalachian Mountain Club, maintaining the AT in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to Grafton Notch in Maine. www.outdoors.org

AMC Huts - In New Hampshire’s White Mountains, in heavy use areas and above tree line, the AMC provides buildings called Huts for backpackers to stay overnight. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/whites/huts.html

A.T.C. - The Appalachian Trail Conservancy The Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) is a volunteer-based, private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation, management, and promotion of the Appalachian Trail as a primitive setting for outdoor recreation (on foot) and for learning. ATC is both a confederation of Trail-maintaining clubs and an individual-membership organization. www.appalachiantrail.org

AYCE - ‘All You Can Eat’ Restaurants that offer all you can eat buffets are very popular with hungry hikers.

AYH - is the abbreviation for American Youth Hostels.

Bald - A low elevation mountain surrounded by forest yet devoid of trees on the crown. Typically covered with meadows, balds can offer great views and are a good place to find wild berries, they also attract much wildlife. A southern term.

Baseball Bat Shelter (Floors) - An old style of shelter construction in Maine where the floor would be constructed out of parallel logs each with diameters not much greater than that of a baseball bat.

Baxter - Baxter State Park, where Katahdin is, and the AT’s Northern terminus on Baxter Peak. www.baxterstateparkauthority.com

Bear Bag - The bag used by hikers to hang their food out of reach of bears and other critters, see ‘Food Bag.’

Bear Cable - A permanent cable rigged high between two tree specifically for hanging bear bags.

Blackflies - There are about 40 species of these tiny biting insects that breed in running water and flourish in late May and June in Maine.

Blazes - Painted, 2-inch by 6-inch, vertical white rectangles that are placed at eye height on trees and other objects, in both directions, to mark the official route of the Trail. Side trails are marked with blue blazes. You see horizontal, diagonal, arrows, and other blazes along the Trail. Blue blaze - Spur trails off the AT to bad-weather routes, views, shelters, water sources etc are often marked by AT style blazes painted Blue.

Blue-blazer - A long-distance hiker who substitutes a section of blue-blazed trail for a white-blazed section between two points on the Trail.

Bog bridge - Narrow wooden walkway placed to protect sensitive wetlands.

Bounce box - A mail-drop type box containing seldom used necessities that is ‘bounced’ ahead to a town where you think you might need the contents.

Cache (pronounced cash) - A supply of food and/or supplies hidden for later retrieval.

Cairn - An obviously manmade pile of rocks erected as a trail marker. They are chiefly used above timberline, and should be close enough to see the next one in heavy fog, and high enough to see above fallen snow.

Cannister Stove - The type of small backpacking stove that uses metal cans of fuel. See: http://www.whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=content&t=8311

Cat Hole - A small hole dug by a hiker for the deposit of human waste.

Col and Sag - Typically dips in the ridge without a road, while Gap and Notch are typically larger dips that have a road going through. Sag is a typically southern term, as is Gap, while Col and Notch are typically northern terms. Water Gap, is of course, a Gap with a river.

Companion - The ALDHA Thru-hikers’ Companion is an AT guidebook compiled by AHLDA volunteers for the ATC. www.aldha.org

Cove - A Southern Appalachian word meaning a high, flat valley surrounded by mountains. Cades Cove in the Smokies is the one most people know about.
http://www.cadescove.net/

Corridor - The Appalachian Trail is a long and narrow Park, sometimes less than 100 feet wide. The Area set aside for the AT to pass within is called the Trail Corridor.

Data Book - Published for over 25 years by the ATC the Data Book is a consolidation of the most basic guidebook information into a lightweight table of distances between major Appalachian Trail shelters, road-crossings, and features–divided according to the guidebook volumes and updated each December to account for Trail relocations, new (or removed) shelters, and other changes. Now keyed to both guidebook sections and maps. http://www.atctrailstore.org/

Dead Fall - A maintainer’s term for a fallen dead trees across the trail.

Flip-flop - A term used to signify a hiker that starts hiking in one direction then at some point decides to jump ahead and hike back in the opposite direction. Some hikers on the AT will start hiking northbound from Springer Mt. and usually at Harpers Ferry they may decide to go to Katahdin and hike back down to Harpers Ferry, thus completing their thru-hike. This is a good way for someone to still get their hike completed if they are behind and their time is limited due to the oncoming winter.

Gear head - A hiker whose main focus is backpacking and outdoors gear.

Giardia – An affliction more properly known as giardiasis, an infection of the lower intestines cause by the amoebic cyst, Giardia lamblia. Giardia resides in water so it is wise to always chemically treat or filter your water before drinking. Symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhea, bloating, loss of appetite and vomiting. Also know as a backpacker’s worst nightmare.

GORP - good ole raisins & peanuts, or some other variation thereof. Harpers Ferry - The ATC’s National Headquarters and Information Center is located in Harpers Ferry WV, about 1000 AT miles north of Springer Mountain. A short blue blazed trail leads to HQ, where AT hikers traditionally sign the register and have their photo taken.

Headlamp - A small flashlight attached to a band or strap and worn on the head.

Hiker Box - A cabinet or box at hostels where hikers donate unwanted food for the hikers coming behind them.

HYOH - Hike your own hike, and not imitate someone else’s.

Katahdin - The AT’s northern terminus is at Baxter Peak on Maine’s Katahdin. Katahdin is a Penobscot Indian word meaning Greatest Mountain.

Knob - A prominent rounded hill or mountain. A southern term.

Krumholtz - Literally “crippled wood”, the stunted and gnarled trees found near tree line, especially in the White Mountains.

Lean-to - Another word for a three sided open shelter, used primarily in New England.

Mail Drop - Mail drops are a method of re-supply while hiking. A mail drop is usually made ahead of time, before the hike starts, and a person not hiking (usually a spouse or relative, but it can be a friend) mails the package according to a pre-arranged schedule so that it arrives on time for the hiker to receive it at the post office.

Nero – A very short mileage day, close to a Zero Day.

NoBo - Northbound thru-hiker, also a GAMEr (Georgia > Maine)

NOC - The Nantahala Outdoor Center. A lot of folks make the mistake of referring to Wesser, NC as “NOC.”

Pot Cozy - A foam or cloth wrap to keep a cooking pot warm while it finishes cooking.

Posthole - To hike in deep snow without snowshoes or skis, leaving large holes in the trail. Postholing is considered bad form and makes subsequent snowshoeing or skiing unpleasant and hazardous.