What doesn't kill us will make us stronger...

....but, let's at least be smart about it.

We are in New Hampshire with Evan's family having a blast!  We have done boat rides in Portland, ME and hiking in Franconia Notch and White Mountains NF.  The hiking has been quite the eye-opener for us.  I have read in books about how the White Mountains and the 100 mile Wilderness were some of the hardest terrain along the AT, but I wasn't sure how you could only average 5 miles per day.  After a couple of day hikes in this area however, I am beginning to understand it.  It is hard work!

Up until now, we had been planning on starting in June and hiking SOBO (southbound).  This timing would allow us to go to my best friend's wedding (which has yet to be officially scheduled, but has been penciled into the "April/May/June" time frame) and kick off soon after.  However, after hiking around the White Mountains, we have decided this might actually kill us since we have no way to truly prepare for this kind of intense hiking. After actually experiencing a small portion of what the northern section has in store, we have decided that our chances of starting off strong and keeping going are better if we don't start there. Our re-revised plan now is to begin in the south in Mid-February/Early March and head north. We will hike as far as possible before the previously mentioned wedding, take two weeks off to clean up and attend, then with mother nature sending cold seasons our way, return to the trail at the north end to head south until we hit the point of our previous stop.  We are hoping this choice brings us the best of all worlds in that we will avoid starting off on the hardest portion of the trail, we will be able to start early in the year, and not be pressed for time as much at the end if the seasons don't cooperate or any particular event takes more time than expected.

Island hopping in Portland, ME

Evan and I took a sneak peak of the AT (hiked about 100 yards worth)