Things are still on target, but winding up loose ends is quite the task. Well aware time is running out.
I have been dehydrating everything under the sun. Well, not literally, but I have a good supply of dried strawberries, pears and bananas so far. Will probably do a second batch of all of them though at some point. Plus, I have plans to start experimenting with some jerky recepes.
I ordered ProBars. Got the Superberry and Greens flavor, but I only got one box and there are only 12 bars in a box. So, a second box or even a third may be in order. I also got a box of the ProBar Energy Chews in the Berry Blast flavor. Again, only 12 come in a box. I would have ordered more, but these babies are like gold, super expensive.
On the more affordable side however, I went to one of my favorite sites, Nuts.com, and ordered a one pound bag each of the dried organic apples, dried organic mango, dried organic coconut chips, and organic trail mix. Everything came to about $45. Love this company! Also, hit REI up again and ordered the Outdoor Research Bug Net Cap and the Platypus Big Zip LP 3 Liter Reservoir. I have two more items I may need from REI before this is over, but I couldn’t add them to the list today since I have to go home and do some investigation of the current gear I have and see if I absolutely need new or not. Going to depend on weight, etc…
Decided to rent a car for the trip to Georgia instead of flying. Glad I did. Enterprise is only charging me $11.32 for this rental. Obviously, I will have to put gas in this beast, but I had to ask three times, if she had the correct amount. She insisted there were no other charges. Go figure! Being that my rental needs to be dropped off in a small town just outside of Amicalola Falls, I still needed to secure a ride into the state park, which happens to be another 22 miles away. So, I called one of the shuttles listed in my AT Guide. Unfortunately, he is booked that day. So, the search continues. I have a couple more shuttle services I can call, so panic is unnecessary at this point.
I need to start calling drop off locations soon and figuring out how long they will hold a package for me. It will be the deciding factor as to whether or not I send one box ahead of me, retrieving it as I travel every two weeks or so, or sending several boxes out to various locations, being more strategic as to what I put in each.
I have section hiked the AT many times over, but never a through hike, nor a hike this extreme. There is really way more to it than just heading out on a walk with a bag on your back. I thank myself for being smart enough for getting an early start on things like I did, but man, many small things you need to think about come creeping up out of nowhere last minute, for sure. Time is of the essence!
