Ok folks, its 12:01. I'm sitting at my computer whose monitor is propped up on a card table so old that dinosaurs looked in my window before and made fun of how old it was. Whats left here? Me. My Brother. My computer. A pair of shoes. And everything I'm taking on my trip. It's definately a weird feeling to know that in the morning, I am going to leave this place and not ever come back. I mean I have lived here for 2 years, and this isn't my first apartment, but I kind of feel tied to it somehow. I have a lot of great memories that have happened here and a couple of shitty ones, but all in all it's been a wild ride. I gotta give an obiligitory shout out to the Brad. He has been a fantastic roommate during this time, especially recently, having put up with some crazzzzzzy stuff while I have been in  trip preparation mode: "Hey dude, is it ok if I just set up this tent in the middle of the living room and let a family of Lemurs test it out for a couple of weeks?" "uhhhhhhhhh, sure." But seriously, I feel like the last two months have been incredibly hectic and have all been building to this huge gigantic enormous thing, and I have had lots of support along the way. Brad included. I just hope it starts to feel real soon, because as of right now, it still feels like I'm watching a movie that someone else is starring in.

Well, now it's 12:08 AM, and I have realized how late it is, and how incredibly exhausted I am, and how I really ought to try to get some sleep. Sleeping on the floor in your apartment is somehow different than doing it out in the woods. I don't know if its because of the fact that when you are hiking all day, you just get so tired that you don't even care where you sleep - for instance, I did an overnight hike once, slept the whole night through with my foot stuck in a bear trap, didn't even bat an eyelash. Boy was that a surprising morning. I think it has something to do with routine. I have been used to coming home and eating dinner and finally laying down in my comfortable bed that is comfortable and very beddy. But now I don't have that, I am in my element but something is different, and I think that causes an unsettled feeling and keeps me from really sleeping soundly.

Seriously though, its time for sleep. Shout out to the Heatly 1st and 2nd graders. They drew me pictures of animals that I might see along the trail. One of them had a hand drawn sign that read "Randeer crossing... YO". So now I am fully prepared if I run into any strapped reigndeer from the hood.

Happy Sleeping Suckas
*Norm

Today I got James from the Rensselaer Train station. For those who don't know, James is my brother and hiking partner and is pretty much exactly like me. We get along great and also enjoy making fun of stupid people together. His train got delayed due to signaling problems, so they got to go a blurring 8 miles per hour for the last hour of the trip. Pooptastic. Oh well, will all the news that I have heard about all the Amtrak crashes over the years, its probably better that they didn't press their luck and go for the big money, because I would honestly rather have my bro here in one piece than try to be taping legs back onto him or something horrible like that. Lets thank the gods of safe travel and train conducting for another safe Baldauf passage.

Then it was time for dinner. The one thing about James that you will immediately notice is that he is a twig. 6'2" and about 165 lbs soaking wet with pockets full of rocks, quarters, and some scrap steel. The thing that you might NOT notice right away is that he eats like he weighs 600 lbs, which makes me incredibly jealous. We went to Moe's where he at like 52 bajillion tacos with extra hot sauce and washed it down with some root beer. What a meal. I know I am going to be not getting hot, prepared food like this for a while, so I am stocking up now. I have put on a couple of lbs, but I am not too worried about it, since I am pretty sure its all gonna get dropped in a hurry after I get out there.

Oh well folks, time to get back to the cleaning. I'm in the process of moving out of my apartment and need to get it all pretty before i take off.

Happy Hiking
* Norm

What a nice day. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, I was ready to get out and do a short hike just to keep my head in the game. I checked out the Albany Pine Bush - I've been there twice before, but I didn't want to get into anything too crazy, since it was after work and I still had a bunch of stuff to do. I got to the trailhead and put my pack on, only to realize that one of the buckles from the hip belt was missing. I think I used about 12 different curse words in 3 languages, but I quickly got over it. [I used 7 more curse words after the hike when I found the buckle sitting in my trunk obscured by much of the garbage that has been piling up in it over the last few months. I really need to take better care of my vehicle.] I knocked out around 3 miles of easy terrain in about an hour and loved every minute of it. While I was hiking I was doing a lot of thinking...


Is the following just a list of questions? Do they need to be answered?

-- Who --
Who am I?
Do I know who I am?
Do I like who I am?
Who do I want to be?
Who will even notice that I am gone?
Who will track my progress and welcome me back?
Who will I meet while I am on this trip?
Who cares?

-- What --
What is waiting out there for me?
What am I trying to find?
What am I running away from?
What am I going to be missing while I am gone?
What will I eat?
What if there isn't anything to eat?
What kind of trouble will I get myself into?
What do I like about my job and my career path?
What if this trip turns out to be a disappointment?
What if it's not all its cracked up to be?

-- When ---
When will this become real?
When should it have become real?
When will I finish?
When I come back, will things be the same?
When will I grow up?
When will everyone around me realize that you don't have to?

-- Where --
Where am I going to sleep?
Where am I going to go to the bathroom?
Where is home?
Where do I want to spend the rest of my life?
Where do I want to spend the next week?
Where will I go if I get sick?
Where on the trail will I feel like I am actually accomplishing this?

-- Why --
Why am I going on this trip?
Why would I leave everything I know?
Why rock the boat?

-- How --
How the hell am I going to do this?
How much fun am I going to have?
How much dread is there going to be?
How much weight will I lose? or gain?

Those questions (and about a bajillion others) are exactly why I am going on this trip. They may not all get answered, but more I bet more than one will.

*Norm

I have to say it - today was a very productive day. I am pretty excited, because I got the biggest piece of outstanding preparation done, which was creating the mail drops or care packages that are going to be sent to us while we are on the trial. This was a little intimidating, because deciding what you might want to eat three months from now is a little risky. What if I develop an aversion to nacho cheese or become allergic to clam juice? That would not be a good sitation for anyone involved... So I took the easy way out. I broke the trip up into 3 phases and decided to buy food to send to myself for the first phase of the trip: Harpers Ferry, WV to Bear Mountain, NY. This should take about a month to complete, and we will get the opportunity to be in the safe harbor of my parents domicile for as long as we want to hammer out the details of the next phase. We can then learn from our experience: what worked, what didn't, what food we are sick of and what we really want more of. It gives us an opportunity to be more dynamic and change direction on the go. Plus, buying 60 dollars worth of potato flakes is a big investment if you aren't going to eat them.

Step 1 - Deciding where to send the food.

I decided that it would be sensible to do 5 mail drops during phase 1 of the trip. Each would contain about 3 or 4 days worth of food and we could resupply as necessary. The part of the trail in which we are starting is very close to a number of towns, so the likelihood that we will actually starve to death is low. Like a midget doing the limbo... Without further adeu, the list of mail drops:

• Blue Ridge Summit, PA
• Duncannon, PA
• Port Clinton, PA
• Palmerton, PA
• Delaware Water Gap, PA

1. angel hair pasta
2. ramen noodles
3. minute rice
4. Lipton dinner mixes
5. granola bars
6. tail mix
7. dried fruit
8. oatmeal
9. backpacker meals (from EMS)
10. tortilla wraps
11. peanut butter
12. tuna fish or salmon or chicken in a pouch, hopefully not a kangaroo pouch
13. pretzels
14. bagel chips
15. cous cous
16. fruit roll ups
17. cream of wheat
18. Carnation instant breakfast
19. beef jerky / pepperoni
    

1. toilet paper
2. extra plastic bags [small (mini me), medium (gilligan), medium large (the professor), large (Mrs Howell), extra large (the skipper), extra extra large (Godzilla)]
3. batteries for my digital camera
4. applicable maps and guides
5. paper for taking notes, journal entries / letterz
   

Doing some more work to get ready for this adventure today. It seems like an everlasting process. Getting comfortable with my gear is my first goal. It takes constant iterations to lay everything out on the floor and look at each piece of equipment. Then you decide either a) I need this, b) I don't need this, or c) I need something that does this better / faster / lighter / more effectively. An example might help here. I have been reading more and more online journals, and I see a lot of thru hikers raving about baking soda. I have now read of it being used as toothpaste, deodorant and cleaner for pots. I am going to give it a shot and see how it works. Anything that can be used for more than one thing is so much better than a piece of gear that can only do one thing.

I'm getting my gear and clothes together for training hike number 5 tomorrow. As of right now, we (Justin S and I) are planning to hike up the steep side of Mount Greylock (tallest point in Massachusets) from the North Adams side. I figure it will be good practice for when I actually get there in a couple of months. The biggest thing I am scared of is blisters, but I think I am gonna slap on some moleskin and tough it out. Another aid should be the new knee brace that I purchased recently. Its smaller, more rugged, and more secure than its predecessor, so we should be sitting pretty. I am going to bring a full pack tomorrow. I doubt that Justin will, but I don't think thats too big of a deal either way. I'm running pretty light, and need to practice like the real thing.

In other news, I am going to be a school project. Pretty exciting. The second grade at Heatly School in Green Island (NY), has asked me if I will come in and share my plans with them before I leave, and then keep them up to date with my progress including pictures, letters, and stuff like that. In return, they have agreed to send me care packages and letters - letting me know what I should make sure I do or see or who I should talk to along the way. They will be my research department of sorts, a home base to keep me informed and up to speed on civilization. Some people might think its kind of corny, but I think its pretty cool. Any time you can use your experience to help or educate or entertain someone else, then its better than just doing it alone. Plus its a bunch of second graders, so that just makes it double.

I have been staying up late recently, just thinking about what this trip is going to be like. I have to admit that I am still pretty nervous, but as it gets closer and closer (and more real), that all starts to melt away. I am going to do this, and I am going to finish it, and I am going to have one hell of a story to tell when I am done. Anyone got odds on a huge Northeastern hurricane this summer? I told my brother that if we see any snakes, I am going to throw one at him and he has to catch it... in his teeth. In all seriousness though, 27 days until I am outta here. Countin' down.

Today I really just spent some time by myself and thought about the journey I am about to embark upon. I really don't feel like I am ready to do this. I mean, 1200 miles... 3 months...away from everyone and everything that I have ever known? That seems a little extremem to me. I guess the biggest thing that i sbugging me is that I really don't feel like I am thoroughly prepared. And I don't mean physically. I can do this, no problem. I guess what I am most concerned about is food. I just don't want to be stuck in the woods, starving to derath. I think that would be a pretty far fetched scenario, but my mind works in interesting ways.

I did make some progress with my gear today though. I did a little surgery on my backpack, cutting off some straps and other useless stuff. I went over my equipment again and tossed out a couple of things. I am ditching the razor, because I am not going to shave anyway. I am seriously considering ditching the leatherman tool as well. At a half pound, it might be a little mutch. In terms of clothing, I am pretty much all set, save socks & underwear. I also need a pillow, and I think I am going to try and make one out of some water wings. That is probably going to work out just fine.

I guess the other thing that is bugging me is that I don't really know where we will be at any given time. I would really like to make it to Kahtadin (ME), wich is the Northern end of the trail, but I don't know how feasable that is going to be given my kind of forced schedule (I need to be back to work by August 13th).

You know what, everything will work out just fine. I got James coming with me and he is the king of playing it by ear, and I will never be too far from civilization. And how many times do you get a shot like this? To do something that you have dreamed about your whole lief? Not all that often... I am gonna take this trip and make and adventure out of it. This will be fantastic. Even if I will miss what I got here, I know it will be here when I return, and will be around for a long, long time after that.

Today was just another day back on the work scene. 24 work days left until my departure. Man, this is getting exciting. I registered my own domain today, that will display this travel blog... www.wheresnorm.com. The idea is that people can find this quickly and easily without having to use booksmarks or search, and I can keep people up to date on my progress.

Also, I got a volunteer to post my journal [blog] entries every day. There will be a few day initial lag until I can get to a post office, but the plan is that the great kate will do all the dirty work of transforming the paper and ink accounts of my adventures into digital artifacts. Thanks Kate, you are a fantastic cousin. I knew that our parents were brother and sister for a reason...

Next on the todo list: I need to go through the mail drop locations for the first part of the trip and come up with a list of places where people will be able to send me letters and care packages. Or maybe that is being too optimistic. I think that people will be really jazzed to hear that I am taking the trip when I leave, and maybe send a couple in the beginning, but once the time starts to wear on, they will most likely forget and they will say "I was gonna send you a package, but...[insert lame excuse here]." I suppose that only time will tell.

Anyway, I think that it is time to get some sleep in, so that I can do some good mileage tomorrow. I am planning training hike number 5 this weekend with Justin S, so that should be a good time. I am gonna try to keep the mileage rather low and just load up the pack to wear myself out. Trying to hike 16 miles last time was simply too much, and I think I would be better served by doing less mileage more often and just getting my head in the game...

It's time to start getting ready for shore. I have done a little bit of prep work and training so far, but its high time to get my ass in gear.