so i think i've taken the lazy route and decided that i'm not gonna start up a rigorous workout routine to get myself in shape for the AT. that's not to say i'm going to be sedentary until i hike; it's just that the general consensus is that the only way to condition yourself for the trail is just to get out there and hike.

i finished another book today. "long distance hiking: lessons from the appalachian trail." highly recommended... two thumbs up sort of thing. it was written almost 20 years ago, but it's got a lot of really good information in it. i enjoyed it, anyways.

i think i'm gonna try to make it to virginia next month for a two or three day outing. can we say excitement? =)

so i've not found a tent yet. or was it a sleeping bag that i was looking at first? i never really read my last entries before i decide to post a new one. either way, i'm still doing research and definitely have not figured anything out yet. but when he got off work last night, blake went camping somewhere upstate. he brought his pack in to work so no one would take it out of his jeep, and it made my AT fever flare up.

i bought another book. it's roland mueser's "long distance hiking: lessons from the appalachian trail." i read a lot of it at work yesterday because we were so slow. this brings my book count to four. =) lots 'n' lots o' research.

i had an epiphany earlier. i was totaling all of my bills up for this month and paying them and whatnot. when i hear people say, "oh, you should have $1/mile saved up to get you through your thru-hike," $2,100 seems like a ginormous figure to me. but i got to thinking about it... i'm going to lay out my current bill situation here:

cell phone	105
student loan	300
truck	455
insurance	120
gas	250
rent	575
electric	75
water	62
groceries	300
total	2,242

so really... it's more expensive for me to stay in society than to leave everything behind and get out on the trail. on the trail, the only expenses that i can think of that i would have would be my cell phone bill, a monthly storage unit to keep all my crap in, and food. and whatever i decide to do with my dogs, i'll still need to feed them.

on the trail, i could get rid of my rent and utilities and i'm planning on selling my truck anyways 'cause i can't afford it anymore. poof! 90% of my bills would be gone!

also, i don't know whether i'm going to try to train really hardcore for the trail anymore. the more i read, the more i discover that a lot of people seem to think that the only decent conditioning for a thru-hike is to just get out there and hike. this last book i bought said that after 6 weeks of being on the trail, your fitness level is pretty much good enough to hike the whole darned thing.

i use flip flops pretty much everywhere i go, so i've got decently tough feet. my vff's have given me blisters numerous times, so my feet have toughened up from those bouts.

i just can't believe my bills are so much each month. =( society sucks! i'd like to be a hermit now, please.

something new every day...

so i bought a new book today. =) backpacker magazine's "everyday wisdom." i bought it because i don't have any trail common sense - yet. when i first looked into hiking the AT, it never dawned on me that you might want to bear bag & cable your stuff. i would have been eaten the first night, had i not done any research. i'd never thought about taking hiking poles. i was pretty naive.

anyways... so i bought this new book and it should wisen me up. i also bought a backpacking magazine, but i bought it mainly for the ads in the back so i can go online and get a few more catalogs sent to me. :)

i still don't know about taking the dogs with me. a lot of people on the wb forums seem against taking a dog on a thru-hike. most of them are concerned about the health of the dog, while the rest of them seem to just be anti-dog.

i don't know what i would do with them for six months if i didn't take them with me. i hate to say this, but the thought actually crossed my mind of just taking swayze and leaving jolie behind. i don't like to think that's playing favorites... but swayze *is* my firstborn. o.O plus, jolie is a boxer and would overheat really quickly. who knows?

i did start a discussion on a whiteblaze forum today regarding dogs and water supply etiquette. i don't want people on the trail to hate me, so i asked everybody else what they thought of letting your dog(s) swim and play in rivers/streams as long as they were downstream from the main collection site. i just don't understand why some people would get upset about that! bears and raccoons and all the other wildlife POOP AND PEE in the same rivers and streams that we're getting our water from! that's what water purification systems are for, people. i don't know... i just don't understand some people's logic. if they can see the animal playing in the water, they have a conniption fit, but if a bear craps upstream around the bend, it's outta sight, outta mind.

i'm still on the fence about whether to go or not. i'd really, really like to and it's the only thing i've been able to think about lately. i just don't know what i would do with all of my bills and whatnot.

if i could keep my truck until february and then just sell it off, that would be awesome. daddy did mention buying my truck, and that would be the perfect scenario, but i don't want him to feel obligated to buy *my* truck just because he's looking for another truck of his own.

so i wouldn't have rent or electric or cable to pay. i wouldn't have insurance or gas to pay on my truck (maybe just the actual note). i would have to buy my food. i would call the student loan people and get another six-month deferment. i would still have a cell phone bill. i would still have a minimum monthly payment due on the credit card, should i start using it again.

maybe i just need to buy another lottery ticket tomorrow. =)