I’m a global wanderer, a Kiwi living in Scotland, hugely interested in making sure that everyone can read.
In March 2012 I will be walking The Appalachian Trail in homage to Bill Bryson’s ‘A Walk in the Woods’. The AT 1s 2100 miles and will take between five and six months.
I will be writing a blog so that you can follow how often I fall down, have an impromptu dip in a river, or an casual encounter with a bear. I have named the blog ‘looking for Katz’ because Bryson was always going back to check on his friend Katz who walked with him, in the true spirit of the AT.
As I go I’m raising money for National Literacy Trust. I have made a link to the charity via Just Giving and if you would like donate any money please click the link for the charity and it will take you to the donation page.
Alternatively if you would like to help me towards the cost of the walk which will be £4,000, you can e-mail me on archangelagent@gmail.com. Any excess that I recieve will go straight to the charities involved.
If you want to make sure you keep up with my posts, just click on the posts button on the top right hand side of the home page and wordpress will e-mail you every time I blog.
Thanks.
Gabrielle Balfour
Very cool Gabe, good luck with this. I’ll keep tuned in to your blog to check out your progress. – John Dodds
Very best luck on your coming stroll, Gabrielle. I have much enjoyed your lyrical musings in the blog, and I look forward to seeing you when you pass through the Virginia section of the AT. Patty, Claire, Will, and I have sometimes used the trail in our meanderings in the Shenandoahs, and I suspect we can find a gang to join along for a mile or three. We look forward to seeing you.
Thanks David, It will be amazing to meet you all at last! Even better will be having you join me for a bit.
If you hike on the AT in the Great Smokies, do carry a bear bell and a harmonica (to blow at the bear) because the last thing you want (this is from my own personal experience) is a causal encounter with a bear. That implies that you just happen to walk up on one. They don’t view it as a casual encounter. Some run off, some stand their ground to make you run off and some charge.
Also, watch out for boars in the Great Smokies. They are far more aggressive than the bears.
Put your food in a bear bag, too, the kind that keep the smell in the bag! If you read Bill B.’s chapter on bears it might scare you off, but considering how many people hike through the Smokies and live, even after multiple bear/boar encounters, you don’t need to worry!
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