Our first picture

We're currently staying the night at our friends Ericson and Jen's house. Hannah's parents are here as well, and we'll be heading to Georgia with them in the morning. I'm posting a picture to test how easy (or difficult) it will be to do this on the trail from computers that are not our own. The picture is of me using silicone to seal the seams on our tent so the rain doesn't get through!

Before we get on the Trail

Updates before we go

Hello. I think it might be interesting for those reading to see some of the specifics about our trip, e.g., what exactly we will be carrying in our packs, what we plan to eat, and where we plan to be each day. I've begun to post these things on the site; I hope you enjoy and leave intriguing comments. 

We're in full gear tying up all the loose ends before we leave Gainesville and our jobs here. Those belongings that we decided not to keep have either been sold or donated to an organization (or friends). Hannah's parents are coming up to Gainesville on Sunday (29 March), and we're leaving Monday morning and heading to Georgia where we will stay the night at Hannah's aunt and uncle's house; I'm really hoping that Hannah's uncle will make his famous Brunswick stew--it's amazing! We'll be up and out early Tuesday morning and will hit the trail by Tuesday afternoon, I expect.

The first week we're only scheduled to go 5-7 miles per day. We'll gradually increase our mileage each week until we're averaging about 20-25 miles each day. That should put us in Maine in mid-August!

We are very excited about getting started on this journey. Thanks for reading

Welcome to Mike and Hannah O'Malley's blog about hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2009.