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First night at three forks rain,sleet, lower 20s cozy and warm in the hammock, everything frozen in the morning very cold. 9.5 mile day.
Second day pushed to Justus Creek, stupid move had to set up in the dark, 10 mile day, lot's of mud but warmer day. First fall totally lost my feet landed on my pack. Felt like a turtle barely got up made 3 new dog friends. Day 3 hiked to Lance Creek first bear sign cub print with a mama print just ahead. Sassafras Mountain was a total monster but great views. Entered the campground to the shout of Reverend! A lot of community forming quickly on the trail. Camped with 5 new trail friends. Day 4 short miles huge day 6 hours to do 7 miles. Blood Mountain was amazing! Met a Twitter friend on the trail, great day into a real bed tonight and a rest (zero) day tomorrow. This is even harder and more awesome than anticipated. Lots of ups and downs every day, really awesome people. Trail people so far 3 Kevins 2 from Maine, 1 from FL, abbey, petri, ducky, AT, Kayla, Bain, Bactracker, Wildcard, speed bump, warrior, airman, Running Nose the GA trail angel and a ton of people whose names escape me or had not picked one yet. I have made over 10 new dog friends including a pair of miniature italian Dalmatians wearing beat bells. Ahh Team Turtle a name I forgot but I'm one of the slowest people on the trail. But, two 20 yr olds have already quit, and the stats say 30 percent of all hikers quit here at Neels Gap, I'll be walking on in 2 days. Some are younger and faster I'm faster than a couple, luckier so far than some and more determined than a lot. So slow and steady has me further down the trail than a lot of folks. This is hard as hell and I'm happy and lucky as hell to be doing it! Night all, an actual bed under a roof, is calling my name. In Neels Gap GA, climbed Blood Mountain today highest pt on the AT in GA. Climb was magnificent the descent SUCKED! This is really hard and I'm sun burned and really happy. Amazing how fast you recover on a zero day very ready to hit the trail in the morning. List of ailments so far, pulled lower back muscle day 1, sore shoulder muscles, sore mid-back muscles, blister on right foot from a boot rub, sore spot on left ankle from boot rub. All much, much better today, let's walk.
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 After extensive internal debate, I’ve decided to offer up an invite to EFI, my little orange octopus of a mascot, to join me on this year’s northbound Appalachian Trail thru-hike.
The observant reader might recall seeing EFI on the first draft of this site’s About page, or as the original lead picture for my Bus Question post. I kept trying to drop him in here, there, anywhere, because he’s hugely important to me. In 2008, after graduating from college, I cycled coast-to-coast, from North Carolina to California, with 29 other young adults. We rode with Bike & Build, a nonprofit benefiting affordable housing. The 3,600 mile journey took 9 weeks. Early on in the trip, a few riders and I pulled into a flea market in North Carolina. It was at this flea market that I bought EFI for a few dollars. Before riding out of the parking lot, I zip-tied the little stuffed animal to my top tube, where he stayed for the remainder of the summer. Today, I would pay many times EFI’s original cost in order to hold on to him. Simple, seemingly worthless objects can take on tremendous meaning in our lives. I don’t fully understand why or how, so I won’t go into details, but Radiolab did a great podcast on the subject. It's definitely worth a listen. Why name him EFI? It stands for “Every F’n Inch”, which is the mantra I used on that summer’s harder rides. This mantra, as well as any other type of reminder we give ourselves on a daily basis, can (I think) have a dramatic impact on how effective we are at achieving our goals, and also how happy we are in our day-to-day lives. One of my favorite authors, and a local Boston guy to boot, put it best: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” - Thoreau Anyways, I’m taking EFI along because the trade off is worth it. He’ll add an ounce and a half to my pack weight, but if and when I get lonely on the trail or stray from my ultimate goal of reaching Katahdin, then a quick look at his goofy grin and the reminder of another seemingly impossible goal already achieved (with the help of those 29 other folks) might get me back on track. Also, he’s super photogenic. Happy Hiking! Bus Question "The Climb"
I can almost see it. That dream I’m dreaming, but There’s a voice inside my head saying You’ll never reach it Every step I’m takin’ Every move I make Feels lost with no direction, My faith is shakin’ But I, I gotta keep tryin’ Gotta keep my head held high There’s always gonna be another mountain I’m always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose Ain’t about how fast I get there Ain’t about what’s waitin’ on the other side It’s the climb The struggles I’m facing The chances I’m taking Sometimes might knock me down, but No I’m not breaking I may not know it, but These are the moments that I’m gonna remember most, yeah Just gotta keep goin’, And I, I gotta be strong Just keep pushing on, ‘cause There’s always gonna be another mountain I’m always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose Ain’t about how fast I get there Ain’t about what’s waitin’ on the other side It’s the climb There’s always gonna be another mountain I’m always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Somebody’s gonna have to lose Ain’t about how fast I get there Ain’t about what’s waitin’ on the other side It’s the climb Keep on movin’ Keep climbin’ Keep the faith baby It’s all about, it’s all about the climb Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa, whoa, oh.  CONTENTS OF STUFF SACKS:
CLEAR BAG #1 MESH SACK The A.T. Guide Jeff and Kim’s BP Meds Pen Q-Tips Garmin GPS Wash Cloth Playing cards Baby Wipes Deodorant Top CLEAR BAG #2 Good Goop French Book 2 Tooth Brushes Journal Travel Tooth powder Pen Floss Bar Soap OLIVE BAG Comb Hand Sanitizer Razor Sunglasses Lotion Wash Cloth File Towel Clippers Bandana Baby Wipes ORANGE BAG Toilet Paper Body Glide 50’ Paracord Two 1 Gallon Zip Locks Gold Bond COOKING BAG Aquamira Tabs Pot Cozy Survival Kit Pot 4 Ear Plugs Fry Pan Back up Stove Lid Esbit Tabs Bic Lighter Headlamp 2 Eating Utensils Paracord Bracelet 2 Collapsible Cups Bug Head Net Knife Waterproof Matches Note: Kim is also carrying items and food.  So I’ve arrived at the park, shuttled up from Atlanta by Survivor Dave a great guy, I highly recommend his services. He’s part of a network of folks down here that help shuttle people to the start of the trail. He took a photo of me at the arch on the park, should be on his website in a day or so. The lodge at Amicalola is beautiful and I’m sure the park is as well but this is the current view from my room. Tomorrow I hike 5 miles up to the Hike Inn and then Thursday I’m on the trail. This might be my last post for at least a few days. As anticipated I’m a big ball of nerves and excitement can’t wait to get on the trail. Ready or not here we go! I hope whatever adventure you’re involved with today that you are having a happy day my friends. – Rev Kane Last July I left my job. There were a few things I was going to do before our hike…
Get in shape. Work on the house. Down size. Lose a few pounds (about twenty would have been nice). Only 55 more to go! Stay off the internet so much. And I got it pretty much 100%. 100% not doing any of that. The first of the year I thought for a while and actually came up with resolutions. 1. learn to shrug things off more often. Let 2015 be the year of ¯\_(?)_/¯. 2. Stop dieting: Just eat more fruit and veg and drink a ton of water. 3. Figure out what makes you tick, what you actually feel passionate about, and delve further into it. Never stop learning. 4. Stop beating yourself up about missing workouts, instead find a form of exercise you actually enjoy. 5. Dance whenever you get the chance. 6. Take a social media break. 7. Ditch phones when you’re eating with other people. 8. Sing out loud whenever you feel like it. 9. Worry less about what people think. 10. Give more compliments. 11. Clear out all the clutter in your room and clothes you no longer fit into. 12. Write someone a love letter. 13. Meditate, or at least try to. 14. Walk to places, let your feet do the moving. 15. Dip your toes in a body of water you hae never been to before. 16. Make a to-read/watch list. Then read/watch. 17. Do some crafty DIY hacks around your home to make the place more cosey. 18. Learn to make the first move, be bold, be brave, be the first to dance, grab 2015 by the horns. 19. Learn songs on the guitar, uke and harmonica. 20. Work on mobility, flexibility and strength. 21. Learn some Gaelic. 22. Learn to juggle. 23. Start a daily journal, to-do list and schedule. 24 Floss 25 practice my bongo board 26 play more games I am really trying on number one and even seven though that one isn’t much of a problem. It would be worse if I had a smart phone but I don’t so it isn’t. February 17th/18th we came back from Vegas. I was going to, you guessed it, lose a few pounds, work out, down size my things, organize, etc, etc, etc. Another 100%. 100% not. So, what am I going to do on this trip? Well, hopefully get into better shape. Walking 2189 miles should do that. We’ll also being eating pretty well thanks to all the work Kim has put into food prep. I’ll have been on a six month social media diet which I hope kicks that habit for good. We’ll be living out of our packs for so long I hope it really will encourage me to down size for real when we get home. I want to walk off a lot of my problems, feelings, a guilt. Leave them on the trail. I know I promised to leave no trace but I really want to leave a lot of those things behind. My constant worry. My cynicism. My pessimism. Kim calls me her “Little Black Cloud.” I want to leave that on the trail. No, I don’t want to turn into some chipper a-hole that annoys the crap out of people. I just want to be me. Enjoy family. Enjoy life. Drink good coffee. Drink good beer. Laugh with friends. Work hard when work needs to be done and play hard when its playtime. And floss of course. Isn’t that what we all want? For more from Jeff and Kim Mann Click Here  Michael Kane and John Stewart head for the AT So finally today, I’m on the train and heading south. It’s an emotional day, the first day of an adventure always is this way. Little sleep, wake up early, double even triple check everything and of course the one rule of travel. You always forget something. For me today it was both my debit and AAA cards. Remembered the debit card in time, the AAA card is left behind.
Always a bundle of nerves initially and then standing at the station a woman cautiously walks up to me and says, “heading to Georgia?” I smiled big, she was a 2008 thru-hiker and we had a great conversation. Getting into Penn Station and headed for the train, it was my turn as I said to a couple, heading to Georgia?” They smiled big. Turned out to be John Stewart so there were now two famous names heading for the trail. On the train we fell into immediate and easy conversation, we have the same anxieties, questions, excitements. We are all carrying too much food, right? We immediately talk about gear, the hiker’s equivalent to how’s the weather. it’s nice to have this conversation, they are good people and I’m taking it as a good omen. Today I’m traveling solo but not alone, I bring pieces of people with me both mentally and physically. My medicine bag from KC with a drawing from my youngest niece, and Ganesh from Stephanie. I have a good luck charm from Kim and Lhakpa in Nepal. A book from my family. A piece of a quilt from my friend Meleah, anything you carry on this trip has to be precious because weight is so important. We carry a lot in our heads as well and we hope to throw off that weight with the miles. So to my three questions, what was the most beautiful thing I saw today, that would have to be the scenery out of the train window. What made me happy today is easy, getting on the road. What I learned today was that other thru-hiker’s are in the same space I’m in and that made for a happy day my friends. – Rev Kane  I’ve learned that fear limits you and your vision. It serves as blinders to what may be just a few steps down the road for you. The journey is valuable, but believing in your talents, your abilities, and your self-worth can empower you to walk down an even brighter path. Transforming fear into freedom – how great is that? ~ Soledad O’Brien
So tonight is my last night before the journey starts, I’m excited and nervous and running a million things through my head. Tomorrow morning I will board an Amtrak train for Atlanta with a brief hour and a half layover in Penn Station. Enough time for one last legitimate piece of pizza before I leave NY. About 19 hours later I’ll arrive in Atlanta at 8AM on a Sunday morning. Because it’s stuck in my brain I’ll share the worm, On the Road Again I will spend two days in Atlanta, to see one of my best friends, kick around Atlanta a bit and pamper myself for a couple of days in a really nice hotel. On Tuesday morning I’ll jump on MARTA to hook up with Survivor Dave and a couple of other thru-hikers to head to Amicalola Falls State Park. I’ll transition easy into the thru-hiker life on the AT, a night in the lodge, then a 5 mile hike the next day to the Hike Inn for a less posh evening. Then finally the next morning after a year of planning and scheming, of buying sooooo much gear and changing my mind so many times about what to bring, I’m off. My plan is simple, 8-10 mile days and an arrival into Neels Gap on the third day. The first few days will really be a live fire check-out run, get things dialed in and start to adapt to trail life. I look forward to when get up, tear down, hike, set up and sleep becomes a routine. The beauty of all of that is nothing about it will be boring or routine. I look forward to warmer clear nights where I can take the rain fly off of the hammock and stare up at the stars until I fall asleep. There will be so many milestones to look forward to, my first state border, then 13 more. I look forward to seeing my first bear, climbing Clingman’s Dome, then getting out of the Smokies, jumping off trail in NC and VA to visit friends, my first resupply run, my first hitchhiked ride, my first trail angel, my first successful yogi’ing and especially to my first new friend on the trail. There will be adversity of course, blisters, turned ankles or knees, sore feet, incredibly hard days, rain and I look forward to all of it. Truly, all of it is the experience because you never know how many of those 5,000,000 million steps to Katahdin you’ll get to take, but I’m hoping to take and relish every single step. Lot’s of thank you’s to go out to folks, first to David Miller the writer of the AT Guide, AWOL is a great guy, super accessible and helpful, he was in fact my first pre-hike trail angel and I look forward to meeting him in person at Trail Days in Damascus. My friends and family who have been supportive even when they didn’t have an idea or understand why in the hell I’m doing this. To Scot Gauvin and the Potable Aqua ATCrew2015 and my fellow crew members, I look forward to seeing you all at some point on the trail, even if it’s a high five when you’re going SOBO. To Phoddo, a Twitter friend, it’s been great to have someone to stress with via Twitter. Finally, to the readers of the Ministry of Happiness, we talk a lot about living a happy life, so time to stop talking the talk and to fully start walking the walk and of course having many happy days my friends ~ Rev Kane Check out from Rev at The Ministry of Happiness  And now for a quick break in the radio silence.
Ten weeks from today, I'll be hanging out at a campsite along the Appalachian Trail. Nine weeks from yesterday will be my last day at work. It doesn't seem real. Hike PrepA few folks have asked how planning for the hike has been going. I have to quickly think about it before answering because, though I do feel busy, I don't feel like I've been thinking about actual AT prep all that much. Things are in a pretty good place on that front. I've written up what I think will be my final list for gear. There are a few items that I still need to sort through, and those are marked with an asterisk. (This might change if you read this post after I leave, at which point the gear list should be completely finalized.) Many of the items with asterisks just need to be weighed for total pack weight. Something to keep in mind is that thru-hiking the AT can be viewed as stringing together a lot of 3-6 day backpacking trips. Every few days, I'll have access to a town where I can restock on food and pick up packages. I don't plan on doing mail drops, but if there's a piece of gear or clothing that I realize I should have gotten, then it's an easy enough thing to have Amazon ship it out to where I'll be. I feel a lot more comfortable not having everything "perfect" before I head south after stumbling a bit on last November's 5 day shakedown hike in Virginia. Other Prep, etc.There are other things that have been happening over the last few weeks, though, that have kept me busy. Here's a quick sampling.
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