The Appalachian Trail - Preparation

When I first came up with the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail I went web surfing in all directions. The ATC Website ATC.org, was useful in seeing where I could get on the Trail. They offered maps that I could not afford at the time and general pointers. But the web site did not even begin to give this 49-year-old man a sense of what the Trail would be like for someone who is out of shape and has Diabetes to boot.
Yet I did my best to prepare, as much as my budget would allow. I got a backpack, sleeping bag and tent. Later in the preparations I got a compass, water bag, matches, and food - lots of food. Too much food. I tried to pack my pack the night before I left and found space wanting. I left quite a bit behind. - wasted money - not for the last time.
And lifting that monstrosity to my back for the first time proved very difficult. But it was packed and ready to go, as was I, a beacon of hope, filled with the possibilities of losing weight and getting into shape.
The Trip There
I didn't get much sleep the night before, so excited was I, but after making my final packing changes, I slung the thing-that-weighed-a-ton on my back with a mighty heave, and stumbled out the door. I had not had time to work with a full pack before. I had done some hiking on the streets of Raleigh with a partially full pack and a sleeping bag attached, but never the full pack. Just making it to the bus stop was torture.
The weight was so burdensome that I frequently had to stop and rest, hands on knees, panting. The bus stop was less than a quarter of a mile away from my apartment, but it took what seemed like an eternity to get there. Yet I did get there and I relieved my burden by sitting, well closer to laying on the hill next to the bus stop.
I had already made up my mind to toss additional objects from the pack. I was wearing my jacket and also carrying my big winter coat, but I felt I would need that before it was over.
When the bus came, I stumbled up and was lucky that there were 2 seats up front. I hefted my pack on one seat, which really needed 2 seats by itself, and made my way to Downtown Raleigh. I repeated the process on another bus that would take me close to the Greyhound Bus Station.
I stumbled off the bus and made my way to the station. At the station I bought my ticket to Roanoke and they weighted my bag. Both the sleeping bag and tent hung off the scale, but it tipped the scales at 25 lbs. I figured add 10 lbs for the tent and the sleeping bag.
The rides themselves were uneventful, with two exceptions: The ride to Richmond included a very articulate 3-4 year-old girl who literally would not shut up the entire ride. If no one was talking to her, she simply carried on a conversation regardless. She was not on the bus to Roanoke, thankfully, but was replaced by a father who constantly drilled his 2-year-old son on his abc's and numbers. No sleep for me!
The bus to Roanoke also stopped in Charlottesville, but had to wait for another bus to come before it left, a wait of 45 minutes. Then in Lynchburg we had a 5 minute stop that turned into an additional 10 minutes when one person didn't heed the call to reboard, and had to be brought to where we were stopped.
We did finally arrive in Roanoke, however, and I tried to call the shuttle service that I had found on the ATC site for a ride to the Trail. I could not reach him, and since it was late and I did not want to stay in a hotel in downtown Roanoke, I took a taxi to a hotel where the was closest. Can you say ca-ching?
As it turned out, the guy who did the shuttle was waiting for me at Roanoke, but because the bus was an hour late, I just missed him.
The motel where I stayed, Motel 8 at 220 and I-81, was about 100 yards from where the Trail started. The motel had internet access and let me check Facebook and email, but I was too tired to put a blog entry at that time.
I spent the evening trying to determine what would be the best thing to leave behind, and after leaving more food behind, I decided to leave the big coat.
Then I went to bed and tried to suck what comfort I could from that last night of civilization.