Hi --
I'm James Francisco from Delhi, New York. Until about 6 months ago, I had never had a backpack on my back. I have always liked being in the outdoors and it's a good thing; being a contractor and all. For all of my life, as far back as I can remember, I have loved to be in the woods exploring and learning the ways of the wild critters. Soooo! When Rick Roberts asked me if I wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail with him in the summer of 2000, I didn't even have to think about it. I said "sure" at the time, not knowing how long the trail was (2160 miles) or how long it would take to complete it (5 months). We took a short, but grueling 70 mile hike in the Catskill mountains in September and ran the gauntlet of obstacles, including 5,000' high mountains - 90 degree heat - nice 70 degree days and Hurricane Floyd which dumped 15" of rain on the last day. I guess I must have passed the test because he still said I could go with him.
In the ensuing weeks & months following I got all my gear together - packed it, weighed it, unpacked it, repacked it, reweighed it many times until I got the weight below 50 lbs. with four days of food and 2 liters of water, my tent, sleeping bag, first aid kit, mess kit with stove, fuel for the stove and all the clothes I'll need for the next 5 months. All this has to be stuffed into one pack that is bulging at the seams (I hope it holds...).
I have been looking forward to March 16th. (the day I go to Atlanta) for 6 months now and it's finally here. I can't wait!!!
I hope that my knees are able to take the abuse that I'm about to dish out to them. At this point that is my only concern.
At first when I started talking to my friends about the trip, they all thought that I was nuts. My mom still thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this. When people ask me why I would even want to do this, I can't honestly answer the question because I really don't know myself. Maybe it's the fact that everyone thinks I can't do it and I need to prove to myself that I can. I don't know. But, I have noticed lately that some of the people who thought I was crazy, have started to tell me that they wish they could go with me because it sounded like fun (I agree). When I hit the trail on March 16th, that will tell the story.
I have an e-mail address of jimbobat2000@yahoo.com. I'll check my mail on occasions when we get into towns along the way to pick up our food packages. Don't be shy about sending me e-mail or letters of encouragement (or cookies). My wife, Bonnie, will have my mail drop addresses and when we would be arriving there to pick them up. Rick and I also will have a website (thanks to Rick's wife, Rosemary, and brother-in-law, Jon) and they'll be updating it regularly with pictures and jounal accounts from us. The web address is http://home.rochester.rr.com/athike.
But most of all, I would like to thank my loving and very understanding wife, Bonnie and my three girls (Mandy, Jaime & Crystal) for their support. Without Bonnie's help sending my packages out on time I wouldn't e able to do the trip. So a Big Thanks to all the people involved. Well, off to the trail I go. See ya in September.
Jim.