Long distance back packing

Doc, Llama, Coy, Spot and John

Location: North Conway, New Hampshire
Interests: Long distance back packing

Overview: A brief bit about us. I'm Llama, married to Doc, mother of John, with Coy & Spot, our two dogs. I'm 30 years old. Doc is 34. John is now 9 months old. Doc and I met on our first Appalachian Trail thru-hikes in 1998. We stayed together after the trail, worked for 3.5 years, then hit the Pacific Crest Trail in 2002 with our dog, Coy. At the end of the trail in Canada, Doc proposed to me. We were married in March 2003 and decided to thru-hike the AT again for our honeymoon. We did and had just as much fun as the first time. Shortly after, Doc joined the Army and was sent to Korea right out of training so I lived in Hingham, Massachusetts, first waiting tables then working as a dog walker.

After Doc came home in June 2005, I became pregnant with our first child, John, who was born in February 2006 at Ft. Hood, TX. He's the light of my life. And ever since he was born, I've had the strong itch to get back on the trail. I miss it so much!!! And I want him to experience it as soon as possible.

Doc has been deployed to Iraq. I plan to move back to New Hampshire. After much thought, I've decided to attempt a Long Trail thru-hike through Vermont’s Green Mountains with John while Doc is gone. I've never done much planning for my thru-hikes, but I think this one will take a lot of planning. John will be 1 year and 5 months old, and I have no idea what he's going to be like on the trail. Will he want to walk or ride, a little of both? I don't know. Will he even like being out there? He could hate it, sending us home on Day 2. So my goal is to at least get out there July 2007 and give it a whirl. I'll have both dogs with me, as well, so it's going to be crazy. It will probably be slow going since I'm sure John will want to walk some of the way. I'm nervous, yet so excited. So, LT '07, here we come!!!

Llama will be gear testing toddler clothing as well as a Sherpani Rhumba child carrier. If you would like to learn a little bit more about long distance hiking and follow Llama, Doc and John on their adventure, go to the following Trailjournals site:

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=141172