Hello!
On January 15 2010 I am starting out on a journey that I have been planning for since March 2009. I am following the path of many others on the Appalachian trail.The AT is a continuous marked footpath that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, a distance of about 2160 miles. This is no easy journey at all, but I am aching to get on the trail and finish strong.
Back in May I cancelled my housing contract with VSU for 09-10. In August I signed up for a NOLS semester to train myself for the crazy conditions I will encounter on the trail. I also dropped every class I had with VSU. This is something that I want to complete so badly that words cannot explain. I made this site to ask your help in funding this hike. Sometimes we have to be prepared for the worst and that is all too common in the woods. Food and potential medical issues are on my mind right now. I have gear covered, but I'll never know when I need more food than expected, or a stress fracture pops up all of the sudden. I have been saving for this adventure for almost a year,but I cannot plan for surprises.This trail is all about spontaneous problems and challenges arising.
I anticipate very cold, extreme weather. I am unique to this trail right now because I am a 19 year old girl going solo on a thru hike in the middle of Georgia's coldest winter. I never like to do things the way everyone else does them. ANY amount of funding will help me. It's such a wonderful thing to come off trail and find that someone has left me something to help me along the way no matter how small it is.
March 5, 2010
I recently had to come off the trail due to a strained hip flexor...In the midst of all of this I acquired 3 large kidney stones. It seems that I keep getting hit while Im down. Despite all of this I am still determined to go back out as soon as I can either pass the stones or go through surgery. I have been spending quite a bit in co pay for my doctor visits, but if i let things like this stop me i'd be like everyone else. Failure isn't in my vocabulary for myself, nor is it my plan for this trip.
How it Works
Once a donation is made, make sure to leave your current email in the comments box and you will automatically be put on my email list. Whenever I get to a computer(usually every 5-10 days) I will send an email out with my journal entries from each day on trail. Journal entries are going to sound as if they've come from a strange novel. Expect stories of meeting day hikers in the woods, hitch hiking into town, trail angels and their acts of kindness, the nights where it was too cold to sleep, the days when I couldn't get to camp until way after dark, and strange trail happenings.