Today I found a collection of postcards and letters that I wrote when I hiked the Trail in 1980. My sister put them together for me one year for Christmas (thanks Sarah!) Here is a quote from a postcard I sent my sister dated May 19, 1980: "Hi, thanks for the card. I'm doing o.k. I experienced gale force winds on top of White Top Mt (over 5500 ft.) and almost froze to death. I got a ride back to Damascus and stayed at the hostel there. I've seen lots of groundhogs and deer. The mountains are really beautiful....I'm going to start speeding up. Katahdin, Maine here I come."
I also found a list of the post offices where I picked up my food packages (they were sent to me General Delivery and marked "hold for through hiker"). Here are the names of the post offices and the dates when I expected to pickup mail so far:
Young Harris, Georgia (4-18)
Fontana Dam, North Carolina (4-25)
Hot Springs, North Carolina (5-3)
Elk Park, North Carolina (5-12)
Trout Dale, Virginia (5-19)
I stayed pretty close to my schedule throughout the entire hike, sometimes varying by a few days. On May 19, 1980 I had hiked a total of 475 miles in a little over five weeks. All of that came from putting one foot in front of the other and not giving up. That's the same way I am approaching my current project of losing weight.
Today I weighed in at 181.6 pounds (another "zero" day). I did go jogging this morning and added some distance to my route. I also signed up for two 5K races in June. That should give me the motivation to run even more and get into better shape! Last night was the last Wed night dinner at church. I cheated and ate a cookie! Today I am eating some more brunswick stew that Jim Sipe gave me. I have no idea how many calories it has, but it sure tastes good!
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