carry your life on your back

Right now, my friend Chad is thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. It's quite an undertaking. He was here in our house for 2 weeks and then we drove him to the approach trail (not even the actual trail, which, for reasons passing understanding, is not accessible by car). He spread the contents of his pack - in effect, his entire inventory of belongings with which to survive the next 5 months or so - out on our patio. Not a lot of stuff, really. The decisions he had to make regarding "extras" like a small knife or not (didn't make the final cut), peanut butter or not (made the final cut), another warm outer layer or not (made it) were fraught with anxiety about the added ounces. When you carry your life on your back, every ounce counts. His life weighs about 48 pounds - more than all but three other hikers registered thus far this spring. Anyhow, I'll be updating this on his progress as I receive the info from Larry, his dad. Right now he's somewhere near the Georgia/North Carolina border and is averageing 20 miles a day. Walking like a crazy person! My son Henry (Chad's Godson) burst into tears when we left Chad at the trail. He loves his Chad. My husband and I do too. More on this continuing saga when I get to it.