Tomorrow is the start of the next adventure. I have my first training session for my job as Springer Mountain caretaker. At the moment, I'm not sure what my schedule will be for the upcoming months or the exact extent of my duties. Hopefully, some of the uncertainty will be cleared up tomorrow.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks since I was hired. There's been a lot of gear maintenance and repair and the requisite trips to REI. I've also been re-packaging the leftover foods from our thru-hike into single servings. Fortunately, I'll be able to supply my food for at least half of the period I'll spend on the mountain. There is some lingering anxiety regarding winter camping, which has never been a major interest of mine. Not entirely sure I have sufficient gear for the very cold and potentially snowy weather I'll encounter.

The weather will definitely be a challenge for me, since I really struggled with the cold in the later days of our hike. But it will be fun to experience something we missed--the insanity of Georgia at the start of thru-hiking season. The vast majority of thru-hikers travel northbound, departing from Springer Mountain between late February and mid-May. That means that on the weekends, especially on the popular start dates (March and April 1), there will be dozens of hikers on the trail. Honestly, the crowding was one of the reasons we did NOT want to start in Georgia. But now, I'll have the opportunity to observe the crazy in action. So, there should be some great stories coming....

Stay tuned, y'all!

Into the woods again!

Greetings to anyone still out there paying attention!
The blog will be picking up again, to follow along on my new job.
The good news is that I'm heading back to the trail--AND getting paid to do it!!
The bad news is that I will be a Nachita without her Pancho.
Starting at the end of February, I will be the caretaker on Springer Mountain for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I'll be living near the shelter on Springer in my tent, trying to herd the cats--I mean the thru-hikers heading out for Maine.
I am super excited about this opportunity to return to the trail community. (Do you ever really leave?)
So stay tuned, there is much more to come!