To start with READING - oh yeah, I am an avid reader and this is only a few of the many books I still have. When I gave up the apartment, I did give away about a thousand books and I am not exageratting. These books are some of those that I will never leave behind. All hiking reference materials. There is always another book with some bit of information that I would have missed if I don't get them all. Since moving to Shelly's basement I have added at least another 5 books since attending the AMC annual meeting.
Beyond that, training, training training - first and foremost. Hiking as much as possible and going to the Springfield, Mass YMCA every night in this cold weather weightlifting, cardio, water fitness class, pilates. The Y is awesome. Staff are wonderful and everyone who goes is a joy to work out with. My appreciation of training comes from my experience on the Smith College crew team - go crew! Training will get you to the end of a race or at the trail's end without it this would be one miserable trip from beginning to end.
And planning - have a huge spreadsheet going with the hike mapped out, stuff to see, food lists, mail drop addresses, daily and weekly goals. I am now working on getting the mail drops ready(boxes for Shelly to mail). I love the challenge of trying to figure out the where, when and how much will all this weigh but it can be a bit overwhelming.
Food, oh my gosh, what a lot of work. I plan to have a mail drop every week or so with some food and some that I will buy along the way. I am vegetarian and do not plan on eating ramen every night. I bought a great dehydrator and am cooking and drying most of my food so that I know I will be getting the nutrition I need to stay healthy. If I am healthy I will finish this hike. It is a lot of work to decide now what you are going to want to eat in June!
A concern I have is that today I drink a pot of coffee,. that right a whole pot, in the morning and talk to no one. On the trail, I still won't talk to anyone but one cup will have to suffice. I have a feeling that it is a good thing that I do not have to talk to anyone and anyone out there will likely be glad too.
At this point I am tired of cooking, drying, packaging but no it will be worth the effort in the end.
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You could always take a couple t-shirts that say - Please don't talk to me. Didn't drink enough coffee this a.m.
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