Atlanta
4-18-12
It's raining and 62 degrees in Atlanta, which is exactly what I expected. Looks like I get to use my rain gear right away. I'm waiting outside at the MARTA (train station) for my shuttle ride and watching the freeway. It's going to be a big change to switch from driving everywhere and taking hikes when I can to walking everywhere and taking a ride when I can to get into towns.
I am happy to hear that my gear arrived at the hostel ahead of me. I don't know if I'll need to sleep with it tonight on the bunk at the hostel, but I can if needed.
Later:
The Hiker Hostel is so nice! And full of great people, too. I unpacked my gear package and loaded everything in. That Ursack sure takes up a lot of room in my pack with the aluminum liner. I may only carry the liner through the biggest problem area in Georgia and then send it home. I already went through my food bag twice to lighten my load. Then I weighed my pack on the rusty luggage scale hanging on the front porch. Forty three pounds, including three pounds of water.
It's a slight improvement. Definitely better than fifty pounds, but still pretty heavy. I almost gave away my jar of Nutella (13 ounces by itself!) but a former thruhiker said it really is good if I love it, which I do. So my compromise is to eat at least half of the jar for lunch tomorrow.
Springer tomorrow! Yay!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am writing these posts live, but not posting for a few days, so don't assume I am where I said I am on the day you read my posts. And don't send me any packages without first making arrangements with me, or I won't know to pick them up.
Also, since several people have asked, the money you donate on this blog site, does not go to me. I never see it or touch it until I get to present it to Best Friends. I like it that way. For anybody who wants to help me with my costs of hiking, please send me a Facebook message or leave a comment below with contact info and somebody will let you know how. And thank you to everybody who has donated in any way towards me or the fundraiser. You have no idea how much it means to me.