An Appalachian Trail Update

It's up......but needs more work.......But It's UP!!!! YEAH!!!!!

www.pumaghostwalker.com/

The downsizing of Puma Ghostwalker……

I am leaving for the trail in March 2011, the plan is that I have a savings of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars prior to my departure.
My estimation of needed funds is about 3,000 dollars to hike the trail one way in four to six months.
A one way trip north (NOBO) starts in the state of Georgia and ends in Maine that is approximately 2,168 miles.

Depending on my health and strength, I may turn around and do what is called a Yo-Yo,
going back from Maine to Georgia.

(That’s not counting the miles to hike off trail to towns for resupplying)

(I could do it faster but I plan to stop and smell the roses)

I am doing the trail alone and no support team to follow me…..
Mail drops of food will be preplanned and mailed to towns along the trail.

On my web site…..PumaGhostwalker.com, I will blog my trip using Flickr to post my photos
My web site will have a great map that people can enlarge to great detail and follow the journey with me.
I’m hoping that I will be able to post every three to five days. Packing a camera a laptop and my black berry cell phone is a lot of dead weight,
But I really want to do this.

(I use my cell phone as a modem for only an extra 10.00 dollars a month)

I personally am hiking the trail for Diabetes, through the march of dimes I will donate one dollar per mile I hike.
My web site will have a list of charitable originations that people can contribute to in behalf of my (our) journey.

This trip is going to change me inside and out, I need one year to plan this, I’m NOT COMING BACK…..to my old life……exactly.
I will continue to come back to New York City, I can make a lot of money fast…..and my work with the Boy Scouts of America…..
And of course……My bees and the NYCBCP……..New York City Bee Conservation Project...

With the purchase of a travel trailer, I am downsizing my cost of living expenses to help save up for the trip and after my return
I don’t plan on working more than six months a year. My plan is to work and travel going on digs and studying nature.

(Like the wild orchids in the Florida Everglades)

I must give up my cats to good homes.
My orchids to people that know how to care for them.
95% of all that I own….I don’t need it

My sailboat……..I’m keeping my sextant, I still plan to sail around the world one day, and I need a bigger boat for that anyway.
My books…..I have about three hundred….About thirty of them I could never part with….. (Is any one like that with books?)……LOL!!!!!

…Change Is Good ............They Say………

I Thought this post I made on Flickr.com September 05 2009 would be a good place to start my

blog of my upcoming trip to Hike the Appalachian Trail……..

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I am going through some huge changes in my life…
This is blocked for friends only, I am a very private person and I like
to keep it that way.

I stopped coloring my hair……..I never admitted to coloring my hair ever…..LOL!!!
Yes the braids are gone with the handle bars of my moustache; I grew it for several years
And change is good they say……

Thirty some years ago I left the US. Marines and bought a camper, the kind that fits inside
The back of a pickup truck. I worked a steady job but bounced around living at the beach
In southern California or I would move to the mountains for a bit. Life was great I had no bills and I felt free……

I am in the process of buying a travel trailer.
I am giving away 95% of all my possessions
I will work for one more year in New York City.
Then I start my working retirement with a bang……

I’m hiking the entire Appalachian Trail in late winter or early spring 2011
That depends on a sobo or nobo (south or north bound) trip.
I have read four books on it all ready and it will take me a year to plan it correctly

After my hike of nearly 2200 hundred miles I’ll go back to my truck and camper, probably live and work in Florida for the winter and study the wild orchids of the Florida Everglades pass on my research to the local botanist and……. hit the road again………

I want to do all the things I dreamt of before I die……….
It’s all about living in nature making discoveries and teaching ……

I’m going back to my old ways……….Back to the wild where I belong….
I will keep a journal and use Flickr as a blog.

…………….Change Is Good They Say……….

With this change I have taken on a new name.........

.................Puma Ghostwalker..............