My own worst enemy

I had a bad dream last night. I was on the trail, back during my ’09 hike. I was seeing one of the worst nights I faced during my expedition- Day 3. The weather had gotten cold and Andrew and his friend had left me. I was on my own. I had to react quickly. Because of the rain, I had needed to rush making a camp. I couldn’t get a fire started, so I set up my tent and tried to get some rest after a marathon session of hiking. It turned out I had set up camp just a few hundred feet away from a pack of grizzlies.

I knew in my mind I had narrowly escaped death, but still, in my dream, I was running, fearing for my life. Suddenly I was awake; breathing heavily as I slowly became aware of my surroundings. The bed was soaking wet, but it didn't smell like pee.

The doubt crept in like the shadows around me. What am I getting myself into? I realized that as excited as I had been, I needed to keep the realities of the trail in mind. There would be dark days ahead. They would easily outnumber the warm sunny days that get all of those noobs in over their heads. I had encountered people like that during my previous hike, mostly on day two. I laughed as the old women passed me and thought, they won't be making it far.

It was just a dream I kept telling myself. I can't give in again, I've already invested too much of my life into this. My resolve has turned to steel once again.

I am batman

This weekend was tough, the toughest one yet. The hardest part hasn't been the training, mental or physical, but the secrecy. I've kept it under wraps for the time being that I'm headed back out to the trail. My best friends and even my roommate don't know what I' about to do. I have to admit, now I know exactly how Bruce Wayne feels, living a double life.

This weekend Atlanta had the great Oyster Fest eating contest. More like Dude Fest 2011. While every one went out and drank with a bunch of dudes, I prepared for the storm ahead. While they were out wasting their lives, I stepped up my game. I've started by getting ready physically. I did pushups, but I'm not sure how many. To be honest I lost count after an hour or two. I must have done dozens by then. Covered in sweat and feeling tired, I knew that in the past the old Brent would have given up. I just keep telling myself, this time it's personal. I wanted more than ever to give up, go to bed, grab a dew, but I had work to do.

I plugged in Echo the Dolphin - yes, the hardest video game in history. It was a hell of a run. I hadn't even used a continue until level 5. But then my focus was challenged by the ice level with all the sharks. I was so tempted to give in, to use the cheat code to get to the final level like I had done in the past. Not this time. After what may go down as the greatest 5 straight hours of Echo the Dolphin in history, I got a phone call. It was my roommate, begging me to pick him up from Dude Fest 2011. My concentration broken, I decided to go and pick the poor drunk up.

After I dumped off my roommate, I had work to do. That night I sneaked into Stone Mountain Park after it was closed. I was able to get through the initial line of security, up to the edge of the mountain. I wanted to take the cable car, but it wasn’t running. I would have to hike. No problem there.

I got about halfway up the mountain and then realized the security forces located my position. They tried to track me down with all sorts of colored lasers, but I managed to escape. That was close. I saw some close calls on the trail in March of 2009, and this brought the danger of it back into my consciousness.

This experience has confirmed what I already knew – I have gotten to a point where I know I will conquer the trail. I don’t care if you guys think I will make it or not. I will buy lobster for anyone who subscribes to my blog when I reach Maine.

All systems go

Pretty good hiking weather today. I wish I was already on the trail, but I have been in this game long enough to know better than to start after the first break in the weather. Rookie mistake. I have known better since playing Oregon Trail as a kid. It will be cold again. I can feel it.

A few extra weeks will be good for my wrist too. It is at about 90% now, better than it has been in years.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. It will be one of my last in the civilian world for a long time. I can't help but feel completely confident this time that everything will go right. I know a lot people out there will probably be rooting for me to fail. I'm gonna be happy to disappoint them. Because this time, it’s personal.

Advanced Preparation

As most of you guys know, once I set out to do something, I don’t delay. I recently made a major life decision to hike the Appalachian Trail a second time. I'm looking to set out on March 25th.

My parents took me to REI and Best Buy last night to pick up new gear for the trail. I still have my gear from the last hike, but I worked it pretty hard over those five days in 2009. I picked up a Garmin 7500 with a 7” screen. I also bought the real-time traffic upgrade and the extended warranty.

I must admit the last time I hiked the trail I was young and naive. I thought I could get by at night playing games on my cellphone. Boy was I wrong. I don’t make the same mistake twice though. Yesterday I picked up a PS3 slim and the newest Call of Duty game from Best Buy. I also got a video cable that will connect it to the gps unit. Paired with my Verizon wireless card, I'll stay connected to the real world. This will help keep me focused - keep me sharp.

I need my wits to make it all the way.

Unfinished Business

So most of my fan base out there has probably noticed that Brent's Appalachian Trail blog is no longer up. After my most loyal fans created a Facebook tribute to my blog, it started to get way too much traffic. I got a call from the president of Blogspot imploring me to take down my blog.

But good news! I've upgraded from a basic account to a basic account plus. I can now handle dozens of visitors per day to Brent's Appalachian Trail Blog: This Time it's Personal.

On a more serious note, some of you may have heard that I got a little bit drunk this weekend. I didn't think my friends would leave me to die (you know what you did Tim). After outrunning a band of thugs in Atlanta, I found the safest hiding place I could - the sidewalk in front of a Citgo gas station. My survival skills developed on the trail had kicked in. I had also seen an episode of Man vs. Wild in which Bear Grylls had made an elaborate bed using nothing more than leaves and sticks. I didn't have any leaves or sticks, so I had to improvise - I used a trash bag for warmth. In the madness of it all I lost my keys and wallet, but luckily no search party was needed because I kept my trusty phone.

All of this madness made me realize something - who is Brent? When I went home and looked into the mirror, I no longer recognized the man staring back at me. Could I keep up this up forever? I realized there was only one thing that could be done. I have to face the facts and take control of my life. I have to return. I have to go back to where it all began...