I now have confirmed transportation from Gainesville, GA to Amicalola Falls State Park, where I will begin my hike at the foot of the approach trail.
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I went on a 13.9 mile walk (with only a light backpack) yesterday, from the Branch Ave Metro Station to Judiciary Square. About 3/4 of the way through, the back of my knee started feeling weird, almost twinging, like it did during some of my "long walks" in 2011, and my feet hurt in a way they didn't during either of the last two hikes I did. I'm unclear exactly why this is, but it could be because of one or a combination of: long distance on concrete; rapid pace (3.7 mi/h); or no appreciable breaks (both hikes included one or two instances where I stopped for 10 minutes or more, but today's walk included very little time stopped).
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Friday morning, I had a weird dream where (among other things) I was leaving my childhood home, to drive myself to the AT trailhead (apparently via some warp in the fabric of space and time that would get me to Georgia in 20 minutes), around mid-day (so, not even getting a full day's worth of hiking in), after a quick detour to the food store to pick up my first week's worth of food.
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I went back to REI today to take another look at shoes, since my left little toe kept banging into the inside of my shoe during Saturday’s hike. After trying on (literally) a dozen pairs of shoes, I wound up getting a wider size of the shoe I already had, the Lowa Renegade GTX Mid Hiking Boot. I also picked up a pair of wool socks and sock liners, so hopefully the next test hike will be kinder on my feet. The weather forecast for the next week doesn't look as good as Saturday was, but it looks like this Thursday's going to be the next day out, or maybe Wednesday if this chance of lightning goes away.
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I hiked about 9.5 miles today between Carderock and Great Falls, along the C&O Canal Tow Path and adjacent trails. The trekking poles I got add as much to hiking as my Camelbak (and possibly even more so). I now can't imagine going hiking again without them.
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