So I have looked through the rest of the data book and my estimated finish date is February 15th or there about. So I have decided to skip Maine and finish it next season. That trims about 15-17 days off. It is also possible that I may also do New Hampshire in the next season depending on how I feel at the end of Vermont. It’s a bit like saving the hardest part for last but it might be wise considering New England is a bit more accessible than Georgia.
I have been conservative in terms of planning how many miles a day I will be walking. I am trying to keep it around 16 a day for the second leg of the trip but I may be doing even higher mileage days in Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and even through Shenandoah. I have read several blogs, trail journals, and books and it seems like once you hit your stride a 20 mile day isn’t so unusual. Now though, with my swollen feet finally out of the boots for the day and propped up on the couch, 20 miles seems like a lot; 2 miles seems like a lot.
Next step is ordering bulk dehydrated food. (I did warn you all that this could get boring) My mom is on the lookout at BJ’s and Sams club for Nido dehydrated whole milk, and instant espresso and coffee. I am putting together a list of essentials that includes coconut milk, cheese, whole eggs, lentils, chickpeas, broccoli, and vegetarian broth, in dehydrated form. I think I may end up eating more TVP and couscous then I ever thought possible.
It’s funny, for the last few days something about all this planning and visualization of the trail has been reminding me of something. In looking through the data book and examining maps I had this feeling like I had done it all before. It was different than the feeling of planning my Italy trip or any of my road trips. I couldn’t quite place it until today. This trip is very similar to the one I planned when I was going t to ride my horse from Nova Scotia to Montreal. Now most of you will be confused thinking Jessie never mentioned having a horse. You are correct. I didn’t have a horse but I did enter an essay contest to win a horse. The theme of the essay was “if I could ride my Arabian horse anywhere in the world ….” And I chose Canada. Which is kind of a boring and a bit of a Canadian thing to do. But in my defense I had very practical reasons for choosing such a trip. 1. I had been to Montreal for a few hours 2. I had seen Ann of Green Gables enough times to feel I had a good idea of the terrain between the two points. Using little more than a set of world book encyclopedias and a couple of horse books, I planned the route. I had a day by day plan with estimated mileage based on what I thought were reasonable expectations for a horses pace. I even had a few meals planned which in included stopping for Lunner a combo of lunch and dinner I believed I invented. The essay was about 1,000 words long and seeing as how I wrote it in the dark ages (Maine gets every century/decade a little late) I wrote it out long hand, counting and re counting the words. When I finished I didn’t have enough time to type it on the type writer and begged my mother to do it for me, which she did. I was glad she didn’t use it as some sort of misguided learning opportunity to teach me the value of not waiting till the last minute.
As I said before I didn’t get my Arabian horse; but now I wonder if they didn’t chose me because of the quality of my essay or because they thought I would have taken my horse into the wilds of Canada unchaperoned and under prepared. The jury didn’t want to be responsible for the little girl who after receiving her horse rode off north and was never heard from again. Think of the headlines. I guess judging by the tone of my essay I acted as though I wouldn’t tell anyone where I was going; a reasonable assumption on their part since it was the dark ages, before it was common to have a cell phone much less facebook, twitter, and a blog that allows one to comment on both future plans and fond childhood memories.
