And Now For Something Completely Different

 

As some of my readers may have realized by now I am moving a tad slow; in fact at my present rate it’s gonna take me multiple years to complete the trail. 

I’ve known this for about a month now. 

The problem is that when I started this excursion I weighed in at 295 pounds. That's not an excuse but a fact. Then there is the added weight of the pack and my gear. When I first stepped on the trail last march I weigh close to 350. Those people who knock out 20 miles a day probably don’t weigh over 200 pounds with all their gear on them. It makes a big difference. 

I have lost quite a bit of weight since I started. A size 44 pants won't stay on my hips without a belt. A belt I bought in Helen I started using at the second hole from the end and now I’m all the way down to the last hole.  I will need to buy a new belt soon. In my time here in Gatlinburg I’ll have yet to find a working scale, so I’m not sure how much weight I have lost. My shirts are normally 3XL, but I now can wear a large shirt easily except for my broad shoulders. 

Still with all the weight I have lost I will still need to be able to do a 24 mile day with no zero days to finish the Appalachian Trail in the original time frame allotted. I am now working on a contingency plan. 

I will be out until September 1st. At that time I must come off. I will then make my way to Maine, climb the mountain, get the pictures, then come back home so I can make the Enterprise reunion in Las Vegas in September. The plane tickets were bought before I left. Next year I will plan to go back on the trail, walk south from Maine and make the reunion in New Jersey.  Hopefully then I’ll be finished. If not I will try to continue on after the reunion. This walk will be done.