Insert Quirky Blog Title Here

So as always, we will start with a few updates...

• Today I am a little overwhelmed by the love of so many great people at my church. Very grateful for their prayers and support and generocity in giving to Active Water. As I am writing this post, $1450 has been raised to provide clean water and hygiene training in Zambia, Africa. 
• I begin my last week at work tomorrow. This is very bittersweet. I have been working for Starbucks for almost 6 years. My experience with the company has been nothing but positive. I am going to truly miss my co-workers and all the customers who have made going into work so much fun!

Now onto the last of my gear posts. We are saving the best for last- the big 4. The big 4 refers to the tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and backpack. These items are usually the heaviest items. If you want to know how heavy, these four items make up almost half of the weight I will have on my back.

• Tent: Six Moon Designs Skyscape Trekker- weighs 1.5 pounds and just enough room for me and my pack on the inside. It uses my hiking poles to set up.
• Sleeping Bag: Mountain Hardwear Lamina 20- kept me warm on a night that got down to 17 last weekend. I also have a liner that can add up to 14 extra degrees of warmth.
• Sleeping Pad(s): Thermarest NeoAir- weighs a pound and rolls up to the size of a nalgene bottle.  I have a thin pad to lay on top of this, which keeps my body heat from escaping to try to warm the air in the Neo Air.
• Backpack: Deuter Aircontact 65+10- holds the next 6 months of my life in it. This is the heaviest item I am carrying, but it is very comfortable (and my wife won't let me spend any more money on lighter gear).

So there it is.  The end of my gear coverage.  To see the full list of everything, you can check out the gear page.  In all honesty, I am still just overwhelmed by today and that is really all I can think about.  I know everyone has their reasons for hiking the Appalachian Trail, but I hope mine will inspire and encourage others on their journey (literal and spiritual) to do amazing things.