Some of you might be concerned that I never came back from my shake down hike last week.  Not true!  The four day, three night outing was a real eye opener for me.  It was also a lot of fun and a great learning experience.

The first thing I learned is that there is a real difference between mountains and hills, at least the mountains I will face on the AT.  Somewhere along the line, they forgot all about switchbacks when they laid out the trail.  It just goes straight up, and up, and up!  Not impossible, but nice to know about now before I face them alone.  My second lesson involved being ready for whatever happens.  We hiked through rain, snow, ice, and high winds before the trip was through.  The last night on the trail, the temperature at our campsite went below 10 degrees with winds howling all around us.  I had packed for my April hike.  After all, I was trying out my gear and supplies.  Needless to say, I was very cold in my 30 degree sleeping bag.

The overwhelming lesson of the trip was, however, a glimpse of how exciting it is really going to be in just a few days when I start the journey for real.  The friendships, the challenge, the beauty, and the community that surrounds the AT all came together in those brief four days.  I am especially grateful to Bert (Wildcat) and Estes for allowing me the chance to come along and learn from them. They taught me many tricks and skills that I will need to know.  They were true guides to me and real "trail angels" to the other hikers that we met.

Now that I am back, my training has taking a more serious turn.  I am climbing long flights of stairs, picking challenging hiking trails, and working on my long to-do list to be ready by April 3rd.  The days are flying by!