The Final Countdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R9zN7o_s2Y

I shall summarize the events of the past few weeks:

• panic
• stress
• make lists
• spend money
• repeat

In general it feels like everything is happening at the.last.goddamn.minute.

First of all, we did our equipment shakedown a couple weeks ago. Seeing as it was Easter and we didn’t make reservations anywhere, we decided to kick off to the Ventana Wilderness Area. Beautiful, but please note the name: Wilderness Area. You know what that means? No signage or wrong signage, zero trail maintenance, and poison oak everywhere. So how did it go, you ask? Well, Jan got poison oak (natch) and my brand new boots proved to be sponges on soles. Gore-Tex, my a**.  

Second of all, I have been madly trying to plan and prepare our resupply boxes. This is really fun, really stressful, and really expensive. Many weeks ago, Jan produced our final resupply schedule and according to our division of duties, it is now my turn to do the actual resupplies. There are two general approaches to resupply: 1. Buy it as you go, 2. Prep it ahead of time and mail it. The first is more convenient, the second offers more nutrition and diversity. I’m not a ramen-every-night kind of girl, so option number 2 is the one I went with. Of course we will supplement at convenience stores along the way, but imagine eating out of 7-11 for 4 months straight.

Last of all, there is THE QUESTION: “So are you ready?!” I get this question a lot and I am never sure how to answer it. “Yes” seems over-confident and makes me feel like I am tempting fate to prove me wrong right out of the gate. “No” seems rudely deflating for the asker and sounds like I am totally unprepared. So to everyone who asks, here is the real answer: yes and no. I’m as ready as I can be in terms of fitness and equipment and enthusiasm. I’m ready to leave my daily responsibilities and focus just on the simple task of walking. But I’m not ready for all the things that can go wrong. My resupply boxes aren’t done and I’m still worried I’m never going to be able to hike it all. I’m not ready to leave my amazing job and daily luxuries and my two sweet kitties.

Geronimo "Derek" (Zoolander) Drees & Princess Vespa

I’m not ready for body odor and no showers. But I’m also ready to not worry about it. I’m ready to trust my legs to carry me 1800+ miles and I am scared they won’t. Life is full of contradictions and I am keenly aware of them all in this moment. We stand on the precipice of this adventure. In 10 days, we jump.