171 days til Tax Day 2020

Now that I have my data parsed from PDF to 6 columns in an Excel spreadsheet, I can begin my adventure planning structure.
It is 171 days till kick off.
Fall sales are beginning to appear in my email for gear purchases.
I'm trying to keep my self mentally motivated for change.
Change is the only constant in my life. ;)  Pain is the other constant.

(btw: I started with Open Office Calc and after the umteenth time of it crashing, even with 2 updates, I switched to Excel 2007 - old but it works for what I needed).  Frustration for me leads to anger.
Anger is why I desire to hike .... to lose it with the added weight I carry.

*******

Moving forward:  I've decided to spend the next 140 days learning 140 powerful words to assist me with losing, letting go and dissolving my anger.
In this quest so far, I've spent a few years digging deep to find the seeds to some of the core beliefs I've held on to for too long.
Beliefs can, and in many cases "should", change.
Should being the optimum word.

I should understand this but for some reason, I've not gotten the memo.

A while back, I've done a 22 day meditation about my beliefs.
I'll revisit that series soon to work on the next set of key seeds.
(if interested in the Belief Study, the link "should" work)
Information on this from the site......

• Become the person you’re meant to be
• Uncover your core beliefs and how they shape your identity
• Embrace your positive beliefs to take control of the direction your life is moving
• Dissolve the unconscious beliefs that are holding you back

If unfamiliar with changing a belief, allow me to share just one of many I've had the joy of finding and fixing.

October 14th, 1962.  My 716th day on this earth.
JFK parade in Buffalo, NY.  (the same day he got the news of the Cuban Missle Crisis)

I looked him in the eyes.  Twice that day. Blue.  My favorite color.
My aunt Irene had on a pair of cat eye glasses with sparkles, blue.
The water cooler was the first I had ever witnessed and the bubbles fascinated me. Water and jug: Blue.  Bubbles were just cool!
I was not allowed to let the water run to see more bubbles appear.

How can I remember?  I'm not sure, but I was there and I witnessed much.  Just never needed to know that I knew I knew .... until I searched for a seed of a belief I held.  A fear of heights.

I was told many times that day as I was getting dressed and before the meeting that it was a big day.  All my aunts and uncles (that were not working) were in the Democratic Party office where my Mom was the office manager.   I was almost 2 years old.

During the parade, my uncle held me out the 2 or 3 story window to watch the President pass by under us down Main Street.
JFK looked at me with concern in his eyes.

I found my seed of "Fear of Heights".  An event triggered it and I held it as a belief for all my years.  Has that fear stopped me from changing out aircraft warning lamps on the moving mast of a US Naval ship at anchor?  No.  Nor did the fear stop me from inspecting gantry cranes wires, motors and controls nor fixing stack monitoring equipment or changing lamps in theaters stage lights on catwalks or parking lot and highway entry lamps.  That was my profession.  It was part of my vocations.  I had to change the bulbs and do the inspections at extreme heights or be fired.
One learns how to manage fear when needed. 
Money was a good reason to manage it.

I was on a quest to eliminate the fear by finding it's seed and it uncovered the fact that on my 716th day in area code 716 (a telephone reference as I was a phone fixer for a bit too), I found the exact reason I was afraid of heights.  Un-control.

If I am in control of being up on any height, I can perform.
If someone else is holding me over a height .... well I WAS a toddler.  I can forgive and let go now.

False Evidence Appearing Real.

As I've learned: you can show me a chair but you cannot show me a fear.  It's in my head and no where else.  I have the control or should I say, should have the control.  lol

********

So, with that, I now know I can seek out my fears and quell them.
With power and not force.

Power for me is defined as: Source Energy.

The next 140 days will give me an opportunity before I hike to really work on my words.  Words that hold "Power" in my life.

I'll also be kind and share the "Force" words that are the counter to the Power words. 
(my opinion here: Power is God style and Force is Trump style)

Where did the 140 Power and 140 Force words come from?
The Book entitled: Power vs. Force : The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior.  by David R. Hawkins, M.D.
A copy can be cheaply found on eBay or Amazon.
A brief description will be at the end of this post.

******

Starting tomorrow, I will pick a word I will work on in no particular order from a list found on pages 146 and 147.
I'll define it for my life and move forward to Tax Day 2020.

This is the first year in a few that I will need to file before I hike.
After this hike, I trust I will become a Happy Tax Payer again.
I've not had to file taxes the past few years.  If one does not produce an income, one should not have to file income tax.  I've tested it by reading the rules and then caused a tax gap in filing.


Today though I'll spend the day relaxing, watching football (GO BILLS!) and work out my hike beginning.  8 miles a day starting for about a few weeks and then ramping up the mileage to see if I can fit in my Triple Leap Frog A.T. hike from Tax Day to Election Day 2020.

Sobo_Nobo_Sobo_Hobo_2 ..... Sobo_Nobo_Sobo_Hobo_2
There: I've satisfied my agreement .... again. lol 
42 is my answer. :)

I've got to come up with a better question.  lol

In closing, I'm placing my words into action.
Shit or get off the pot, I've known it to be said.
Taking Knowledge and Applying it.
Going from Static to Dynamic.
One step at a time.   Kindle style.   Spark to a Flame.  :)

Keep it simple (cuz, I'm complex), Keep it Positive (Cuz I'm Cynical right now), and keep moving forward always forward (cuz, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm an adopted Robinson).

~ Kindle
Putting better tools in my tool box
(as I point to my head)

The Power vs. Force book cover description: 

Building on the accumulated wisdom of applied kinesiology (diagnostic muscle-testing to determine the causes of allergies and ailments) and behavioral kinesiology (muscle-testing to determine emotional responses to stimuli), David R. Hawkins, M.D. has taken muscle-testing to the next level, in an effort to determine what makes people and systems strong, healthy, effective, and spiritually sound. He has uncovered several important patterns in human consciousness and behavior that would suggest that all living things, on closer inspection, are connected. The more we choose connection and empathy over competition and destruction, the more we increase our power. It is this titular power that wins out over mere force (violence generated from self-interest) every time. Hawkins explains his complex theories and then provides living examples of political systems, self-help organizations, even store chains that seem to have succeeded through their use of power, not force. 300 pages. 

And last but not least: the Happy Taxpayer concept as described in this blog by Jonathan Vieker.
I don't know Jonathan but he nails it when explaining that advice from a dead man is still great advice.

As for Jim Rohn, he is a dead mentor of mine.  I respect much of what he has to say as I do with ALL of my mentors.  I trust their knowledge and experience as "Guidelines" and then I create my personal philosophy and my rules for my life from that.

(Spoiler Alert: the Hour Long Jim Rohn seminar he links to has been taken down because of copyright infringement.  The full seminar can be purchased from Nightingale Conant and it's official title is: How to have YOUR best year by Jim Rohn)
I've owned the VHS and then DVD and will watch it again this week.

How to Have Your Best Year Ever

1. Keep your priorities straight.
2. Release yourself from the crowd of followers.
3. Reverse failure by uncovering the essence of it.
4. Make yourself more valuable.
5. Discover the four “seasons” of opportunity and make them work for you.
6. Ignite your ambition and launch yourself to the highest heights.
7. And much more!   Get Ready to Have Your Best Year EVER!

(more from the Nightingale Conant site)
Imagine yourself as the person you've always wanted to be.
How far are you from that vision?
Regardless of whether you're a short step or a long journey away from achieving that goal, this energizing and highly motivating seminar delivers dozens of proven ways to transform YOUR life fast, giving you the tools and confidence you need to get to the level of your vision and then go miles beyond it!
Experience a year unlike any you've known before.

Yep, that's what I'm doing this year from Birthday 59 to 60.
Start to Finish with a dream accomplished! 
Today is my last day of being 58...... Whoop!
LEEEEROY     JENKIIIINS!  lol (still cracks me up)

~ Kindle McGuinness

Sobo Nobo Sobo Hobo2 :)

The last few days have been filled with emotional Ups and Downs.
I'm near the end of parsing the data from the:
2019 Southbound A.T. Guide by David "Awol" Miller
for my personal use and for my "Sobo Nobo Sobo Hobo2" hike. 
(and for the geeks that are following, here's a fact:  by stating "Sobo Nobo Sobo Hobo2" - twice, I've satisfied my agreement.)
 

42 is the meaning of everything.
Yep: the answer to life, the universe, to everything.

It's not an answer I was looking for and not what I was expecting.  It appeared.
I guess I need to have a better question then to receive a meaningful answer next time.  lol  :)

Anyone that works with data can appreciate ALL the work that goes into keeping those "trons" in a row.  Thank you Awol.  It may have taken over a dozen years since I first asked you for this at Trail Days when Lion King was visiting you that year, but I now have what I asked for.  Thank you,  YOU ROCK!!!

******

I was inspired today during my 3 mile walk before breakfast.
"Be whom you seek to be, one moment, one breath, one step at a time"  (found on page 166 of Living a Dream by Paralee Dawson)
Thank you friend.
I needed the best information I could find concerning the hazards of Pennsylvania's rocks and your book has explained it the best.
Daily entries of the pain.  I have daily pain without hiking and can relate.  My daily pain has been around for over 25 years now, I'm thinking that hiking the A.T. is not going to be a cure for it, BUT, I have a better "tool box" now (as I point to my head) that can fix some issues I can expect to encounter.

Seems the reviewers on A-Z missed her opening statement: "I don't claim to be a writer, just a dreamer who is living her dreams."

I too am just a Dreamer, learning to put my head in my hands.
(to create my dreams - thank you Roger Hodgson)

Having shared some time with "Trapper Lee" in conversation, I continue to enjoy her writing.  She is helping me immensely with my planning of starting just outside of Rocksillvania and also with separation from spouse by using Jedi mind tricks.  

As I plan to HMOH and I can now better respect that others can HYOH .... & reviews are like farts.  Some stink and others don't.
We all have to Bitch, Belch or Fart or else we will explode. I get it.

*******

Moving forward, always forward:
Psychological wellness and feeding the body with correct nutrients (trons) that supports the mind, muscles and motion forward.

That's where I needed to start.  

Begin at the beginning.  

What fuels my quest, journey and adventure.  

Thoughts and Beliefs.  Both needed to change.

So with that, I will begin a "To The Trail" countdown.

With that will be a 30 day or so "transition" from this blog and format to the Trail Journals I'll be sharing with the world which then will point back to these amusements in case others care to know what goes into the 6 months prior to.

Also, the last 30 or so days will be focused on the goal:
to be "On The Trail".

and I trust that at the end, I'll continue with "Off The Trail".
A triple set or Triad to form a forth idea I seek for my future.

(Triad: a Welsh form of literary composition with an arrangement of subjects or statements in groups of three.)

k ?  I'm cool with it and that is all that matters.

Monday, I begin with blood work and a full annual physical.
I'll see were I'm at in my 59 year old body on the day that matters, my birth day.  Not counting the leap days added to the Full Monty.

By the 60th, I trust I will have completed the tasks for my goal.

More on all that tomorrow as I formulate a format.

Keeping it simple, keeping it positive and still moving forward.
~ Kindle

P.S. Some info I sought appeared - Kindle was my name long before November 2007 when A-Z created their app. 
The Universe conspires to do me well and answers my requests. lol

Liberty: to hike .... like ...... "Leeroy Jenkins"!!! lol :)

Day 2401 - Wii Scale: 208.0#  Two weeks in a row. (I've been Yo-Yo'ing for a few years)

Seems October each Year is my Lower Points and March my Higher Points. I end the Yo-Yo-Yo this time.

I have increased my attention to muscle retention.  My workout/stretching routine is being formed as I try new movements before and after walking.  It is all OK'd by my Dr.  (at least one of them).

The other Dr. in my life will get my blood work and report soon.  I decided to have a Physical on my Birthday this year and it should then be scheduled for next year on my Birthday, which co-incidentally happens to be the day I'm guessing I will finish the A.T. in 2020.

By my calculations: I should be able to loose 50# before I start in April and if not, soon after I start .... lol.

If's I desire to carry only 25# of gear and at most, 40# total for long sections, I SHOULD never be this heavy again while walking.  That gives me hope to know that my body type and frame can do this even with my disabling limitations.
I have the liberty to hike.

*********

Doing it Leeroy Jenkins Style.
(Meaning to do something so bloody wild that you'll be talked about for months because it was bloody insane.)   I guess I've been disconnected since about 2005.

Being disconnected from main stream social media for so long, I've missed the reference or meme labeled Leeroy Jenkins.  It wasn't until I was introduced to a Robot by the name. 
It did what it wanted when it wanted..... a bit unsafe but in the scheme of things it was a controlled safe if that can be comprehended.   Anyway, it may become my cry to the woods each morning as I start out on my daily adventure.

If you don't know what that reference is:
I don't have time to explain a long elaborate plan so I'll start up the trail first and then use and intimidating SHOUT!
When my shouts done, I'll need "a moment" to hear if anyone else responds with a shout.
So I don't know, possibly I can get someone to give me a number crunch "real quick" of that possibility? ....

Gimme a sec, I've come up with a 32.33333 (repeating of course) ... 

Ok, that's a lot better than I usually do .... So lets .....

...  LEE ROY JENKINS!!!!

OMG - Stick to the plan... Let's go, let's go!  ;)

*******

yep, it's one of those mornings. 

All before my crunches & coffee today.

********

I've completed about 33% of my data collection for this trip.
I hope to have it complete by Halloween and start November/December with gear idea purchases. 
I'm looking for their end of year sales from ALL the vendors I've recently placed myself on their marketing lists.   Then in January, weed out the competitions to hold true to my purchases and the company mail blasts.

I'll also need to fund my Trail Journals page and begin the process of converting this blog to an actual hike blog.

"On the Trail: Adventure is out there!" 

or something silly like that.

*****

Last but not least: Dynamic and Static Stretching

I began stretching after my knees could not handle two days in a row of walking 10,000 steps each day.

I searched for stretching routines and much is to be said.
So, I gathered 40 pages of data, weeded it down to a few great sites and am building my personal pre and post 

routines.  Dynamic before and Static After.

I'll get my sports Dr. to refine it and have it OK'd before too long.

When complete, I'll add here what I've figgered out.

Just for the record: I'll continue to stretch as it made a HUGE difference.  Pain subsided so quickly without medicine or topical that I'll have is as part of my routine everyday.

Keep it simple, keep it positive and keep moving forward, always forward.

~ Kindle

Searching, Stretching, Sponsors and Sssssssssss .... Living the Dream for Pain relief success :)

Well, I knew the day would arrive when a stretching routine would become my daily friend.
We re-acquainted ourselves to each other this morning.

So, my morning has been filled with doing first what I could remember to do and then I began "the search".

A lot has changed since I've last looked at this subject called Stretching.   I'm thankful for that.  Much to try and consider these next 6 months.  I'll also be bringing with me my "Miracle Ball System" weighing in at 4.5 oz or 7.5 if's I bring the second ball.
Self-Spinal adjustments in the woods are hard to come by.  Being on the ball will allow gravity to assist me from time to time as required.

*********

My Son also let me know yesterday that he will sponsor my excursion.  He lived how long I've desired to do this Epic Shit Adventure.   A corporate idea he has will be the sponsor.
PACZ.ninja   
Oddly: PACZ is pronounced "Poonch" and means "LOOK",  but in all honesty, it is the first initial of each of our names in the family. 
Ninja just happens to be our web domain name.  
Not active ... yet. :)  Stealth ... lol 
LOOK >>>>>> Ninja!     Too late.   Ha!  :)

I understand I'll be tracked like a National Fuel Gas truck, locatable by satellite.   Ninja like.  lol

********

I owe this latest thought about stretching to Paralee Dawson.
She penned the book: "Living a Dream" Laughter, Pain and Life on the Appalachian Trail.

I met Trapper Lee at a Trail Daze event in Damascus, VA.
She was kind enough to sign my copy of her book and also, she shared with Penny Grateful and I, some of her joys experienced.

Her one line: (Paraphrased from Memory) "I stretch 45 minutes each morning before my daily hike", really stuck.
45 MINUTES?!!!  WTF? (Walking Thru Forests) lol.

It takes me 45 minutes before I can think walking.  I guess I will need to find what works for me, and I will.  Might end up being 1 hour and 45 minutes after I'm done.  Sheech!

So,this morning I fudged a few stretches and will get in my 10,000 steps before breakfast.  I'll work on getting a better stretching routine from the plethora of data and links.
Add it to my day and then create a Miracle Ball Routine for "Sssssssssssuccess!" 
(The sssssss sound is what I expel from my lungs and throat as the pain melts away & gravity works in my favor and my life around an inflatable, small blue ball.)  Daily will become daily.

Just as 50 crunches before coffee has become my routine.  :)

As one of my mentors, the late Jim Rohn would say:
"The Result of Your Life Is Determined by a Few Simple Disciplines" 
Because: 
"Being Successful is a Personal Choice"

So true and proven.

I continue to live my dream.  One step at a time.

Keep it simple, keep it positive and keep moving forward, always forward!

~ Kindle.

Pain, Trials & Realizations .... Moving Forward on plan

Moving into my new body shell as it changes has been .... interesting.

This morning, I awake to something new .... knee joint discomfort.
Good thing!  I was waiting for this day.  Do I start taking Vitamin "I" or rest as my body acclimates?   The questions begin, lol.

I'm going rest first as pills are 2nd to my last resort. 
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food", I understand.

Which brings me to a very good point in this journey quest, that if only after 2 continuous days of walking on a flat treadmill, for over 10,000 steps each day, (roughly 3.5 miles each day right now), I am slower and in discomfort .... how will I handle the trail as I acclimate to it?  One moment at a time will be my answer - pure joy! :)

I guess I'll find out when I get there.  I'm learning to fly.  Thanks Tom Petty.

*********

Another odd thing appeared twice from two different sources as well yesterday: Death on the Trail.
Apparently, a man (trail name: Open Mike) passed away on the trail in 2011.  I first read of it as I finished up the book: "Appalachian Trials" by Zach Davis, and I'll say that I did not see that coming.

Later in the day, I then read of others named Mike, that also passed on the trail in the past 6 days and in the past few years.
I'm glad my given name is Pete.  Nick Named: Zak
Trail blessed: Kindle  - as I like fires from spark to blaze.
(for the record, I was Kindle {circa: 2004} before Amazon used it for books which was Nov 19, 2007 for their Kindle launch)  Reason I know: 11/19 is my younger  brothers birthday - it stuck out from memory and I dealt with A LOT of hiker trash talk about me being electronics in the woods (especially when I did not carry electronics in the woods).  Hikers are odd for sure, I am one too.

Thanks to the trash talk, McGuinness was added to my hiking handle to cause a pause in others thinking.  To date, it has worked.

I added: McGuinness for the love of beer and the possibility of wearing a Kilt, hiking as a Highlander - Go Radford Rowdy Red! lol.

Back to death by hiking:
I was not searching for it, I was looking for "under ware" brands preferred by male hikers, not death.  I guess that is the ultimate in pain relief, none.  In each of the 3 "Mike" A.T. Death cases, seems they miscalculated a move and it was their last. Happens.

So, it opened up my mind to consider that my affairs best be in order before I begin my April 2020 trek.  I found my guide:
"I'm Dead, Now What?" by Peter Pauper Press.

Now this is not the first time I've had to consider myself deceased and then work the time line backwards to my present life to construct my last wishes.   I think I've mentioned that I'm former Navy.  Being dead first in order to perform under extreme pressures for the ship in battle conditions was a thought process I've taken myself thru before.  Ain't Skeered.  Just a responsibility I need to uphold myself to by being accountable for myself to and thru the end. Shit happens then we all end up dead eventually.  Just a fact.

********

Then comes today. 
I wake in pain .... nothing new, just a new normal day!  :)

Communication has begun with some in my life who are encouraging me to do this hike, FINALLY!  I think they were tired of my Springer Fever moments each year for the past 2 dozen.

I found my library saved: Seems, when I have a notion for a future event in my life, (aka: a Dream), I collect data to signify the time spent thinking thru the event, long before it happens.

Well, It appears that the last time I was getting Springer Fever, was between 2004 and 2009.  Yep, 5 years I mentioned I was going to do the trail ..... life got in the way.  I was as close as I could be back then.  Meeting the rock stars: Baltimore Jack on Fathers Day 2006 at Angels Rest in Pearisburg Virginia, (R.I.P. dude). Then there was Trail Daze: A.W.O.L. , Lion King, What?, Persistent and Certain to name a few. Trail pros in my eyes.

I was still too far from hiking as I still needed to eat and pay bills back then.  Working for a University Library, I was reading everything I could find and I also picked up some materials (Books, Mags, DVD's, etc) to review to keep me close to my dream.
I also did several hikes to McAfee Knob including the day I met a 76 yo man (On his Birthday) who's father bulldosed the initial path to that outcropping.  Seen the pictures of the Model T ford on the Knob and the bulldozer ON the knob as well.   He was a HOOT! 
I know I have the pictures of the day on a stored drive somewhere.
Memories.   I know I can do this.

Last but not least: I figured out how the beautiful Yellow Book, Appalachian Trials entered my life.
Final page: Printed in Lexington, KY (02 March 2014)

I was working for Amazon Fulfillment in Lexington.
I was J.O.B. at the time (Just Over Broke) and still very much disabled.  I know that "Picking and Stowing" kicked my ass.
Keeping up with their insane "quotas" had me working overtime in the Book Printing area of the facility to make up time by placing newly printed books on the shelves for pickup.
Most all of the books were print on demand, so they were sold before I could place them to be picked up for packaging.
I must have been thinking "March 4th!" and had Springer Fever for Zach Davis' book would have caught my eyes as I most likely had to place several copies on the shelves in various cubbies.  I would write down the titles of books that interested me and then later I would purchase those titles from home, usually to arrive the next day. 

Yeah, working within the belly of the A-Z beast was a great LAST employment job.  The speed was not difficult, the recovery was.
Night shift also ages one quicker I believe.  Body clock gets all wonked.

Anyhoo .... enough of that.  I'm planning a life time "Epic Shit" Adventure!   ESA .... hmmm.  EEEE Sah!  Needs refining. :)

*********

I'm monitoring my health closely as I've begun training for this ESA. My son Zack purchased BioStraps for Penny Grateful and I.

It's a Sleep Tracker and Health & Activity troubleshooter.
Hacking my body to see where I need to adjust its Biometrics.  lol

Moving Forward.

~ Kindle




 

Waking up, feeling a little bit different.... same pain, different 'tude.

It was pleasant waking up to a gentle rainfall outside.  We've been in a drought as of late and are presently in a Burn Ban until December. 

Don't want the Daniel Boone National Forest to burn more than it has in the RRG (Red River Gorge) which is a few miles down the country road from us.

Life seems a bit different now that I have set a date to start the trail and picked a starting point.
Logistics are what I am going thru right now so that I can collectively create a "wish list" of items needed for this journey.  Timing of costs is my next concern for it is the exact concern of my wife's.

I've been handling the budget and such as we've both been labeled disabled. 
Cash is a concern as it should be for her.  Dr's still are a part of our lives but Insurance is limited.
We both are doing our best to work with the bodies we have and the Ins. systems as it changes.

Disability:
Unable to do what we used to for the labor force. Out of place on this mountainside where we recover or continue as is.  In a way it is freedom ..... in another way, a cage.  We just keep moving forward.

Her's from Cancer and mine from a physically hard life to date.  Arthritic spine that snap, crackles and pops, and for many years I thought the sound was coming from my cereal bowl, lol.

Anyway, I'll be back to crunching the data on my screen to formulate a guess-ta-mate plan for this journey.  I understand that it cannot be too rigid but it has to hold some structure for my sanity.
I'm a technician ..... I have to have some edge of my unknown to believe in.  Base line, so to say.

HMOH and truly enjoy it, including this line for line data entry for myself.

Possibly, some day it will matter to me to re-read it all.

Keeping it simple, keeping it positive and I will keep moving forward, always forward.

Kindle

Appalachian trials..... I have a date and starting place :)

Today was an emotional roller coaster day ..... glad I had it.

Without getting deep into details, I love my wife Annette more than I love myself.  Our discussions about this crazy excursion proved how much she loves me.... it came thru her chemo brain, unfiltered words.   Some words hurt deeply and others enraged me.... I need to walk a long distance to figure out why I need to walk a long distance.

I love you Babe.... I'm thankful you deal with me straight and have a "NO BULLSHIT" rule that I can support.

*********

I had a normal pain day....numb arms, left leg today and a deep lower back issue.  Pain makes me behave more like an asshole than I can seem to control.  One of the reasons I care to hike the A.T.

Later in the day, I was better counseled by the book "appalachian trials" by Zach Davis.

The book cover explains that it is: "a psychological and emotional guide to successfully thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail."

Doing the exercises and being honest with myself about the tougher questions I need answered.   

"Seems that the best strategy to stave off separation anxiety is to do your best damn job to enjoy the trail as much as possible - your ultimate goal anyway."   pg 47

Enjoy the trail as much as possible .... Ok. 
Right now, I'm enjoying the process.  The day was going to arrive where I started to dissect the data to produce an accurate plan so that I can begin to compute costs of how I desire to enjoy the trail.

Well, the process began on Saturday, October 19th, 2019 when I was given the OK to hike by my best friend, wife and life partner in sauntering.... I would be sauntering alone if I was to do it at all.

My son and daughter understand that I should not go though existence with the final thought that I did not attempt to accomplish a dream.   If you have read my journal this far, you might have caught on that I'm a dreamer.  Many of my dreams have materialized and I am a firm believer that many more will continue to materialize for me.  I'm good at it and I work at it.

That A. T. "Seed" was a thought delivered to me by EM1 Scott Ensell while we both served on the USS KittyHawk.   (circa: 1987)

A resurgence of this seed appeared when I worked an 11 year stint for Radford University, McConnell Library.  The trail runs near this quaint hamlet and the Library I served had maps for about 300 miles of the "Virginia Blues".

Feeling that that was the time I should section hike, I did just that.
Starting with Campbell Shelter and the Pig Farm Campsite, McAfee knob drew me in deeper into considering a long term hike.

30 mile stretch from Dragons Tooth to Daleville, VA has felt my feet trod on it's surfaces and body did drink from it's springs.
Lightning dancing on ridges, downpours and deluges - drought and trail magic .... I got a taste.  It was all good.

A few Trail Daze Events in Damascus, VA had me win a few prizes from Backpacker magazine.  (Day backpack, Italian custom hiking shoes and widgets are the most memorable - all have been replaced).
I got to meet some of the Trail Journals hiking rock stars of the times too.   All of these memories get me to this day in 2019, 19 years after I started that job for the Library, still no more accomplished a hiker than those days.   Most of my gear needs updating.....if I would have not noticed, 19 years brings with it major advances in technology and weight / costs too.
I like my opportunities to walk in 2020 with a ultra light or hopefully hyper light setup.

But if nothing was to change but my personal body weight, I do believe I will never have to carry my fat ass up a hill heavier with a full pack than my personal body weight is today without one.

I can only believe.

*****
The plan:   Starting on Saturday, April 18th, 2020, I will leave the A.T. Train Stop and begin walking South to Roanoke, VA.

I placed it online and in my being. 
As Jean Luc Piccard would say..... "Make it so." 

Leg 1 of my Triple Frog, Cool Breeze Itinerary. NY to VA.

Leg 2 will see me at the very same starting point in NY going North to Maine and the final frog leg will be from Roanoke to Georgia before my 60th birthday and the 2020 Presidential Election.

Continuing a daily blog: so far so good.
Just registered my hike with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Here's the link: https://atcamp.org/index.cfm

Much to do, much to consider, much to allow.
Moving forward, always forward.

Kindle McG, and happy is he.  :)

Trail Journals has a new writer:  Me.