A New Year, a New Mission

So it is now February of 2012. I wish I could say that we here at Red Flaces, White Blazes were in the final stages of prep for our journey on the Appalachian Trail. Unfortunately this is not the case. Circumstances outside the realm of hiking made it unfeasible for us to embark on our trip this year.

I am not here to commiserate on the past, but look towards the future. I'm here to announce that the "Walk with Nature 2012" is now "Walk with Nature 2013". Yep, the walk is still on, it just is going to happen next year.

As of right now, it may likely only be me making the trip, although I hope Erin will still be able to join me. Regardless of who will be hiking the AT in 2013, we will be doing a lot of hiking throughout this year, as well as getting in shape (mostly my problem) and building up our gear collection. Hopefully we won't be going another year without a post, but instead giving you several posts a week.

Now is the point of the post where I awkwardly point to the new widget on the side bar of the site. Between paying expenses for up to eight months without income, the cost of the trip, and acquiring the equipment to make the trip, I am looking at around a budget of $20,000. If Erin goes along, she will also have a significant expense as well. We are attempting to exhaust all options in figuring out how to finance this journey. I am hoping to finance my trip through my efforts as a PHP developer. However, Erin is a recent college graduate, and any help she can get will better ensure her ability to get out on that trail.

Hopefully, you will enjoy our tales of our experiences with equipment searches, huffing and puffing on the trails, and what will hopefully be a successful attempt at making pop can stoves. We don't begrudge anybody who ignores that button, and will never attempt to put our content behind some sort of pay wall. We do this because we enjoy hiking, and because we enjoy telling you about our walks in the woods. To presume that our writing is somehow worthy, let alone requires, compensation would be presumptuous.

Nevertheless, if you enjoy our blog, and feel like passing us a couple bucks for the trouble, please feel free to do so. Any body who donates more than $10 will get a revised compilation of every post from this year, complete with less typos and additional information. In addition, you will receive a paper edition of our trail journal from the AT upon our actual completion of the trail, signed by us.

Expect many new posts in the days to come, as we will be hitting this full-tilt. So add us to your RSS feed, follow us on twitter and please feel free to start up discussions in the comments section. We'll see you on the trail!