Cold is everywhere.  It was 1 degree Fahrenheit in Dallas, Texas today!  Overnight and into tomorrow, here on the eastern seaboard, we are under a wind chill warning…negative 15 degrees…ugh.  This is the time of year when it is easy for me to become a total slug.  I fall into the lull of winter.  I don’t want to work; I don’t want to hike.  Heck, I am in some kind of winter funk!

So today I made a conscious decision to do something that would energize me.  Little Caesar and I looked at our schedule a few days ago and decided that between the spring and summer semesters there were a few days in which I could go backpacking!!!  This is an unexpected and absolutely phenomenal turn of events!  I was pretty sure with everything we have going on right now that leaving Little Caesar with the dogs and cats in order to escape to the woods for a couple of days was out of the question.  Well, okay now, … I immediately pulled out my AT maps and books.  Where to hike? Where to hike…hmmm?  Pennsylvania! Yes, that would be good…close to home and yet I can get new AT miles.  🙂 🙂

Trail Planning!

In May I am spending a weekend with Trail Dames of Maryland.  We rented a PATC cabin in Pennsylvania and plan to stay two nights and hike our butts off! I will get a few new AT miles in just by being there.  But the following week, I plan on backpacking a little further north to Swatara Gap.  I contacted Google, the woman I hiked with in Georgia and Maryland, and she is game! Yes!

My winter doldrums are being held at bay for a while!  Planning for a spring backpack gives me a goal to work towards. It gives me a reason to get out and walk in town or on a trail regardless of the weather!  Although tomorrow when the wind chill is NEGATIVE 15 I will be inside planning! 😉