The Day Before

Today I've traveled from Urbana Illinois  to Atlanta.  I spent  the last 6 days in Urbana with my mom, who became part of my AT team as she helped load my 20 resupply boxes.

We sent three to my first three "zero day" spots for me to pick  up.  The rest she'll send a week ahead my projected ETAs at the rest of z-days. 

I filled in a few final items of gear. Now My kit is already including some Swiss flavor on my pack.

I couldn't leave Switzerland completely behind. 

And what about the bounce box?  What is a bounce box?  It's a box that you pack with stuff that you don't need (like shampoo, razor, shaving cream, town clothes, sandals etc.) and send ahead to you next zero day spot. So I sent my first resupply and bounce boxes to "Top of Georgia Hostel". 

In Atlanta, I'll be greeted by Jim and Shawn Ballew.  I'll spend the day with them and tomorrow we'll go to the top of Springer Mountain,  the beginning of the AT.  But before we get to their place, we'll go to REI to buy a tank of stove fuel.  The airlines don't let you fly with flammable

compressed/liquified butane/propane gas.