A Year to Hike

I’m a 49-year old English professor with a Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.  I live in Houston, Texas, with my boyfriend and our four cats.  I am diabetic and have Bipolar II disorder.  These things define me, but they also challenge me to be better than… to be more than.

I have been dreaming of walking the AT for about ten years. The idea of disconnecting from life and walking from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine has been a consistent daydream for the whole ten years.

I’ve made gear lists and mileage lists many times over, but life (in the form of single motherhood) kept me from being able to just disappear for six months at a time. So time and again, I put away this dream in favor of jobs and girl scouts and birthday parties and graduations.

This time, I'm not giving up.  I have decided that my 50th birthday present to myself is to hike the trail.  

Leaving your life for six months isn't cheap, however.  You have to pay all your regular bills, and it takes about $1000 a month to feed yourself on the trail.  Then you add in the money needed to buy gear... whew! It's intimidating.  I've gotten most of it together, but...

I just need a little help buying the rest of my gear and finishing off that "eating on the trail" portion! 

I need to finish shopping soon so that my partner and I can spend the summer hiking and camping to be sure all our gear works and that our bodies are as ready as we can be. 

After ten years of dreaming, you can't imagine how much I will appreciate your help to finally make this dream come true.  You will be my very own trail angels.