Explaining My 'Theme'

I suppose I should start out by saying something about why I'm even wanting to do this hike; especially since I'm not even really a hiker.  (doing a few 3 to 5 mile hikes a couple times a year does not a hiker make--I realize this)  Living in Washington state, I heard about 'The Pacific Crest Trail' and wanted to learn more about it.  In that process, I came to learn there are three 'through the country' trails, and as I read more about the east coast's Appalachian trail, I was utterly intrigued.  When I read the story of the "ked's lady", a light went on..."bing"... and all I wanted was to be a crazy old lady like that! (here's the link if you want to read about her:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood but basically she hiked the thing at age 67 wearing just keds sneakers...here's a quote, ""Make a rain cape, and an over the shoulder sling bag, and buy a sturdy pair of Keds tennis shoes. Stop at local groceries and pick up Vienna sausages, most everything else to eat you can find beside the trail.")  I figure I'm already pretty far along in the crazy department, and the old part is coming along nicely too...so this seemed like a very doable feat.  All I needed to work out was the hiking; something I love, but really don't know much about.


Now, I'd love to call myself a dreamer, but my realism gets in the way. (some people call it 'pesimism'...how negative is that?)  I'd love to think I could do the entire 2,168 mile trail (what they call a 'thru-hiker'...oh, the glory of it!) but really?  My dreaming just does not stretch that far...I could stretch my realism brain to imagine maybe 3 months on the trail, (the thru-hike taking an average hiker 6) but then another "bing" moment alighted my mind--"50 days when I'm 50"--I mean, how cool is that?  And then I did the math, and lo and behold, 500 miles should fit easily into 50 days.   And as I looked at the map, I could see that 5 states were within the 500 miles, and it all seemed like destiny. 


Now all I needed to do was haul a 30 pound pack and spend the night out in the wilderness and see if I survive and if I ever want to do it again.  Oh yeah--and find someone who will let me use all the equipment I need since I don't even own a backpack.  I hope that doesn't sound like a sought Melissa out just to use her stuff, because that's not how it happened...I met Mel before I even came up with this cockamamie idea.  But God works in mysterious ways, and beautiful Melissa has turned out to be my ticket to the glorious outdoors--and a great friendship to boot.  I'll post about our first hike (not the over-nighter...yet) tomorrow.