Intro

Hello everybody!
For those of you who are unaware, I am about to embark on a two and a half month hike with my cousin Bart Hobbs on the Appalachian Trail, starting in Georgia and heading north through North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and ending in West Virginia(spanning a distance of a little over 1000 miles). I will be leaving this Thursday and coming back sometime in early May. I thought it would be fun to keep everyone back home informed of our progress, or lack thereof.

Some of you may be wondering why the hell I am doing this. Well, there are several reasons. First, I love the outdoors. Though equipment these days can make life a little cushy in the back country, a hard hiking trip can still trigger those poignant feelings of man versus or, if you are lucky, man in harmony with nature. Secondly, my window of opportunity to make a trek like this is rapidly closing. Medical school starts in August, and after that... well, life changes. Third, there is something just damn interesting to me about the Appalachian Mountains. They are about as old as mountains come, contain insane amounts of biodiversity( Smokey Mountain NP has more species of trees and shrubs than all of Europe!), and are the backdrop for the wonderful world of bluegrass music. Fourth, I imagine we will be in pretty good shape by the end and fifth, it will make a good story at the very least.

I'll be updating whenever possible via iPhone. I will say adios for now with more to come on Thursday.