Technical Preparation

Technical Preparation:

Decision making, at least for me, is a long process of mulling something over and over. It can be in the background of my mind for a long time, while my day to day activities are in the foreground. Eventually, a conclusion forms, and the answer becomes progressively more clear. Deciding to do a 500 mile hike, required a 3-4 month time space. In turn this required, a 3 months or so planning and walking through the process of retiring from my work, deciding which trail to hike, planning meals, and deciding and if necessary purchasing gear. I started with doing an internet search of all the trails under consideration and looking for books on each trail. I then ordered maps of the trails and then started evaluating the terrain, local resources i.e. nearby towns, possible food drops through post offices or motels. There was also the consideration of which direction to travel -- east to west or west to east, all the trails I was considering went in these directions. I gradually eleminated: the NM/AZ trail because of the mountains, the Bruce trail because it was out of country and had very few towns near the trail, the El Camino trail because it was out of country and I did not have time to learn sufficient Spanish to feel comfortable navigating through Spain. The Finger Lakes Trail had one other plus. In 2003, I worked with Pat and Gina on the NJ Appalachian Trail as a Ridgerunner. They were living in Ithaca, NY, the middle of the FLT, and they had invited me to visit at different times over the years. I chose to do an End-to-End hike, as they call it, of the Finger Lakes Trail. The distance would be 550 miles plus. The starting time would be in mid-June. The basic plan was to drive to Ind. and visit my mother and some HS friends, Ted and Wanda, and then drive to Ithaca where I would leave my car while I hiked over the next 6-7 weeks.

Using the FLT maps, I plotted out an itenerary, and made up food boxes that Pat and Gina could send to me at post offices (general delivery) or motels. The next task was to sort through the gear I had and consider what new gear I needed to purchase. My doctor had who did my hip surgery 2 years ago, advised me to keep my pack weight at around 30 pounds. Historically, my pack weight was usually around 40-45 pounds. I will review my gear and what I have learned to be truly necessary gear and considerations for an end-to-end hike of the FLT in another segment of the Indtroduction (next page).

I then started the journey of retirement, buying gear, and a modest attempt of getting physically in better shape. Over the past 5 years I had gradually gained weight, my doctor's lab workups said that my body was not doing so well, and my psychology was depressed. My outlook on life was definitely at a low point, and my overall energy level was the lowest it had been in 35 years.