Dan's Hike - Dad's Pre-Hike Notes

Well Dan came home from college in mid December and our home immediately morphed into an outdoor sports warehouse.  Three boats, three bikes, crates full of climbing and paddling gear, etc. kinda tightened up the space around here.  Then the A.T.  gear started coming in.  Minimum of one box almost everyday for a few weeks.  Sometimes the Fed Ex driver had to wait on the UPS guy to get out of the way!  Everyday I jealously watched Dan unpack new sleeping bags, tent, pack, shoes, clothes, and everything else you could imagine someone might need on a thru hike.  Some stuff had to be reordered. Kara's backpack, which cost $130, (yeah that's for a dog backpack) was lost on the first practice hike.  Kara took off into the woods and got the pack hung on something. Dan found Kara a few hours later, but never found the pack.  New $130 dog pack on order.

I think I'm almost as excited as Dan about his hike.  I'll be driving over and resupplying him with food and clothes several times while he is in the southern half.  Our cousin Jeff might catch him up in southern VA with a resupply and his girlfriend Kaity will meet him a time or two in NC.  I hope to get to hike a few days with him from time to time although I will  have a hard time keeping up.  I plan to drive up to Maine and hike the last leg with him and drive him home.  Taylor and I will be helping Dan keep up the blog.  We hope you will follow Dan along on the blog as he makes his way to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.  Feel free to add comments to the blog posts.  I know he will enjoy hearing from you while he's out on the trail.