Okay, new one

So, we got our packs in but we haven't had a chance to put em on, take a picture of our absolute excitement, upload, and put it on here. Nevertheless, they are AWESOME and look like they will do the job flawlessly. Thrilled!

I've been trying to figure out how to go without a guitar for 6 months(much less a skateboard) and I realized I can at least substitute one with minimal extra weight. No, not the board. The guitar. Well, not a guitar but a ukulele. That's right, a ukulele. Hell yeah. I've been doing extensive research(as always) and I think this is the one for price/quality:

 It's so fun to play and weight will be about a pound which I know means a lot when you already have 35 more on your back. Not to mention the overall mass. However, I fully believe it'll be worth any extra hassle. I pick up string instruments quite quickly but would still like to get this baby sooner rather than later so that I'm not a newbee by the time we hit the trail. I found it for $44.99 which includes shipping and tax which makes me feel okay about it's abuse it will inevitably receive. Needless to say, I'll be respective to other hikers. But I think it'll be perfect in more situations than I can foresee. Oh and Linds is bringing her tambourine!

Lindsay is on spring break so I took off and she, Chaser, and I are headed to St. Francisville tomorrow to do some fishing and maybe some hiking. Can't wait to fry some up! Every minute in the outdoors with my two best friends are great ones.

Keltys to Katahdin

We bought our packs and we are excited! We are putting a lot of faith in Kelty. And I have a good feeling about that.

Mine:

The Kelty Red Cloud 5600.
5600 cubic inches, 90 liters, a little less than 6 lbs. It wasn't the color I wanted. I preferred green one which cost the same but it was 600 less cubic inches. $98.95 from SunnySports.com. That's a great great place for good deals on backpacks.

Lindsay's:

The Kelty Red Cloud 80 for women.
80 liters and 5000 cubic inches. Lindsay loves the color. We found it for $134.95 from... I forget the name of the site. But they should be in real soon.

We haven't gotten Chaser's yet, but that's next. His, too, will be blue.

We will let you know when they're in and what we think!
Woo!

I guess there is no "perfect" backpack

The camera is gonna wait and the backpacks are gonna come first. I did a lot of research a while back to get an idea of price range. It's almost exciting. If you dig and dig you can find a lot of great looking backpacks for a around 100-125 between REIoutlet.com or SunnySports.com. But the problem is there is soooooo many. Kelty, REI, ALPS, Gregory, North Face, High Sierra, Black Diamond, etc spinning me in circles. Everything seems so perfect about one EXCEPT one thing EVERY time. Kinda frustrating, but again exciting... and timestaking. Review write ups and YouTube reviews can take days. And I these are our days of doing that very thing. The second I think, "I'm definitely get that one. It's perfect." I see another one that looks more perfect for, say, 5 more dollars. Hopefully, by tomorrow night we'll have one pinned down. It's probably coming down to either a Kelty or an REI backpack for me. Y'all will be the first to know!

Practice- 33lbs ain't so bad and that's a poopy test backpack I had laying around:

Colton

Reading and Watching

The one that got us started:

Yeah, it's on Netflix Instant Play


Couple more:

And...

Also on Instant Play. Not as informative, rather more of a taste of what life is like on the trail.


Hard to say which is our favorite. All them make us feel closer to the trail.

Also, a couple books. I wanted to start with a couple of informative books and then first hand accounts. I started with:

Solid book overall. Gave me a good idea what we have to look forward to. I'm about to start reading his book about his first thru hike.

I'm almost done with this one:

This book explains it all. It's a little outdated, like mid 90's outdated. But it gives a lot of percentages, charts, and diagrams that you never knew you wanted to know. Yes, Roland Mueser looks like a total dork, but he created an awesomely informative book. Got this one at the library.

Lindsay started with Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

She loved it and made it quite clear it must be the next I read. I'm sorta reading it. More like it's being read to me. Got the audio book. PERFECT for cutting grass and the weekly rides to and from St. Francisville. Bill Bryson is awesome. Something about the way he writes is so capturing. I'm enjoying probably more than Lindsay said I would. So good.

And that's how we spend our free time. Any slow moment is directed towards the trail and suddenly it isn't so slow. We are there in our mind already.
Quick note: Onward and Upward(One More Mile), two hikers who started the trail at the beginning of February stalled out due to lack of funds and headed home(New Orleans).  It was such a shame to read this today because I was dedicated to their blog. I was really pushing for them and wanted to see them to the end. All their posts were endearing and spoke to me. All their preparation and support wasn't quite enough to make it. However, it goes to show how much more prepared Linds, Chase, and I must be, especially financially and we are working hard on that.

That's all we got right now. I hope you are getting inspired!

-C

state by state

thinking about hiking a section with us??

you should be. we would love to hike with you!

this website should help you in deciding which part you wanna join.

http://www.fred.net/kathy/at/atstate.html

love, colton and lindsay

love

you gotta watch for dem weirdos in the woods

in a year from now, it's finally going to be time for me to join colton (hunting boy) with being in the woods all the time. but this time, really all the time. and for the same reasons. and together. + with chaser. my two loves. i am so thrilled and excited about knowing that i am going to be living in the woods for six months... it's going to be very difficult and very challenging but because i will be with colton and chaser, i really believe with all of my heart, we can tackle any adventure. + experiencing all of the highs and beautiful ohhh ahhhh i can't believe this is real sights on the trail would not mean the same to me if they weren't around to share this experience.i want it to be here already! (i also wanna to visit nyc, shanghai, and fcf sometime before this trip) if i don't make it before because of lack of funds, i'll for sure be there after. with colton, arm in arm. unless we make the movie "chaser: lost in shanghai" he prolly won't be coming. though it would be amazing if he could.

as much as i wanna be trail talkin all day and night, i need to graduate. and focus on my art. + be on the lookout: trail art &&&muchmuchmore

love

In one year

Yesterday was the day. One year till our feet hit the trail. It almost didn't register in my mind because I was preoccupied at work. But the second it dawned on me, I got extremely excited. It marks the day that Lindsay and I can officially start saying, "this time next year we will be hiking and camping" for the next six months. Like this morning will have been our first morning... on the trail. Everything will be ... on the trail. First breakfast ... on the trail. Simply can not wait. I hope this year goes quick. 12 month count has begun!


- Colton and Lindsay