Helloooooooo! Long time no talk! I just fixed my website, sorry for the wait. I got the runaround from the hosting site, yatta yatta yatta... Antway, I am four days away from heading to Trail Days, an annual festival for hikers in Damascus, VA. On the left is a picture of 'tent city.' All the cool people will be there and there will be music, a parade, tons of food, and ten thousand people apparently. My left knee and ankle have been acting up so I bought a knee brace in Erwin, TN, and will try it out today. I will have completed 25% of the trail once passing Damascus so I am excited for that milestone. There has been a lot of rain and a few zero days to rest my knee. Ahead lies Virginia, which hosts roughly 550 miles of the 2,184 miles of trail. A lot of people get the Virginia blues, so I hope I can get past them. Onward now! It's not about the miles, it's about the smiles. We will see!

Hey y'all. I made it to Hiawassee, GA. I am 70 miles in and 9 miles from the North Carolina border. I have met many many people so far that are doing the whole trail and many just doing day-hikes. It has rained a couple days, and it has been a little warm some others. The first person I met was Steve form Florida and we stayed at a shelter the first night with about fifteen others who camped or used their hammocks. I told him I would put him on the website. He quit his job at Sears and is spending two months on the trail for fun. I spent the next three nights in my tent. I met a big group of thru-hikers and have hiked with one of the small groups since. I have met Connecticut, Chief, Katch Up, and Doc. The third day we lost Doc and he took a day off the next day. Then the fifth day we lost Katch up due to chaffing and blisters. Today I am taking a zero day, zero miles hiking, and we are hanging out in Georgia doing laundry. The picture is at the top of Blood Mountain where someone left a twelve pack of beers for hikers. Awesome! A lot of people have been talking of quitting but not me! I'm going to make it! I have been eating oatmeal and energy bars and other delicous dehydrated foods. Talk to everyone soon! Oh, no trail name yet and I have seen a chipmunk and a snake and an owl killed another owl in the night. Cool beans!

Well, the time has come. That's right- playoff hockey! WOOOOOO! But besides that, on the eve of my departure on Friday the 13th, I reflect on the past six months and realize LET'S DO THIS ALREADY! My dad and I hiked the Approach Trail today, a healthy 9 mile ascent, and also a badge of honor for anyone attempting hiking the whole Appalachian Trail. Our road trip has come to an end and I could tell with the sunset at the lodge at the Southern Terminus if the trail in Georgia that a new beginning was in the horizon. I can't explain yet how it feels as I felt like I haven't had any time to reflect in months. So please be patient as I narrow down my thoughts and opinions about these next steps. Thank you everyone so much for getting me this far. Thank you family, friends, and strangers for all you have done to make this happen. It is happening. Tomorrow morning. The Appalachian Trail. Finally. My possessions are on my back for the next six months and you are all in my thoughts. You guys are awesome. As they say, HAPPY TRAILS! Catch you on the flipside... or in a week or so. Here we go!

I have a lot of people asking me how and where to send care packages along the
trail. Thanks for thinking about it! Here's how it goes:
Get a nice little box and a ziploc bag or a few and put stuff in it for your
favorite hiker. Then box it up and send it to:

Joshua Farrell (cannot use nicknames. Boo)
General delivery
You don't need an address
City, state zip from list below
Please hold for thru-hiker
Estimated arrival: from list below

Then send a few weeks earlier than my estimated arrival date. Then send me a
text telling me you sent me one so i know to pick it up. Hey thanks!

Post offices on the trail:       estimated arrival:
Hot springs, nc 28743.                4/20
Damascus, va 24236.                  5/22
Daleville, va 24083.                   6/20          
Harper's ferry, wv 25425.             7/1
Boiling springs, pa 17007.             7/8
Port Clinton, pa 19549.               7/15
Delaware water gap, pa 18327.     7/20
Bear mountain, ny 10911.             7/28
Kent, ct 06757.                         8/2
Salisbury, ct 06068.                    8/5
Dalton, ma 01226.                      8/9
Killington, vt 05751.                   8/13
Hanover, nh 03755.                    8/18
Mount Washington, nh 03589.       8/25
Caratunk, me 04925.                  9/14

I probably could use laughs, gift certificates around the city you chose, booze,
meat, and nostalgia/things happening from wherever you are located. Send
a'plenty! You guys rock! You have no idea how awesome it will be to get your
package!!!

Here we go! The going away dinner was great. We ate Zolo's grill in Boulder and I thank all the people who atteneded and stopped by to wish me farewell. My dad, sister, and I left at 5am Saturday and arrived in Santa Fe at 11. We checked out Santa Fe Brewing Co, downtown, and then went to Alberquerque and checked out Old Town and downtown. We got to see the middle of a breakup during dinner and the parking lot we parked in was being used for the show In Plain Sight. Then we ventured towards Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns at 3am and arrived early enough to go standby on a tour but with no luck- all parties showed. So we did two self-guided tours and spelunked like amateurs. If you have never been, you probably have never seen anything like it. The Big Room is fourteen football fields long and the steep entrance in one football field long and bats and sparrows spiral up and down it. Pretty freakin' sweet stuff. One more tour this morning and then off to Dallas for two nights. Thanks to Papa for the road trip and driving and the food and the hotels and the clothes for the trek and the gas and for Gunner. Thanks Amanda for falling asleep so I can take pictures of you with your mouth open. Many people are asking if what I am about to do is sinking in yet... Nope. Not even a little bit. But I'm sure in a few more days I will have some more to disperse. Stay tuned!

Only eight days left before I move on to a huge chapter in my life. So crazy! I still have to get a lot of crap done. I bought a lot of food and supplies at WalMart (Sorry Boulder) and I am preparing my drop boxes for the trail so I can eat on the cheap. Lots of crap dehydrated food and (score!)- the cheapest jerky I have ever found. Woot woot! I must move out of my house this weekend essentially. It is all happening so fast now whereas the past two months have seemed like six months. I am sending out couchsurfing requests to the cities on our road trip coming up. We are hitting up Santa Fe, Albequerque, Carlsbad Caverns, Dallas, Austin (Thanks Margie Lynne!), Houston (Thanks Cory!), New orleans, Jacksonville, Charleston, and Atlanta. I am very excited to get this show on the road and get all up in that nature and whatnot. Thanks to Ann for your pledge and donation recently to the CU Foundation. Ummm... Other last minute things include making sure credit card payments and student loans go through my checking automatically, buying insurance for six months (body not auto), and setting up where I send the drop boxes. If anyone wants to send me care packages (hint, hint), I will try to post a few addresses where you can send them to me along the trail. Time's a tickin', talk to you all soon and thanks to everyone who keeps making this grand adventure possible!

The Walk-a-thon was an amazing success thanks to friends, family, co-workers, and great local businesses. With all donations and sponsorships we raised roughly $1300 for the cause. I appreciate all the people who joined me, and those who joined in spirit, and couldn't have done it without you. I walked 21-22 laps (I don't know if I missed a count) and, according to USA Track and Field, at .56 miles per lap, I walked 12.4 miles. I will be averaging 15 miles a day on the trail. I walked for roughly six hours to six and a half. My feet and my right shoulder were a little sore from the 50lb. pack but I feel fine today without aspirin which is great news. I do hear that the battle is all mental though and I can't wait to face the battle. Thank you all so much for sponsoring/donating/walking: Susie Bullock, Sheila Carrigan, Auntie Janie, Amanda, Margaret, Terry, Marney, Leah, Sean, Robin, Jane, J.T., Anthony, Steve, Dana, Ann and Chris, Shannon Derby, Kelly Ross, PJ's customers, Anonymous, people who took pictures to post to blogs, and a shout out to the helpful Adam "Shameless" that completed the trail three years ago. Also, the amazing local businesses that supported the cause (support them please!): Pettyjohn's Liquor and Wine, Mountain's Edge Fitness Center, Weaver's Dive Shop, Play it Again Sports, Kim & Jake's Cakes, The Jerky Outlet, Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins, Southern Sun, In-Step, Tsingtao, Neptune's Mountaineering, Orvis Boulder, Organic Marketing Ideas, La Dolce Events, Abo's Pizza South, Caffe Sole, Tandoori Grill, and South Side Walnut. You are all amazing! Only a few weeks until liftoff and I am super excited to start the journey with Amana and Papa through the southern states of New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama for a sec, Flordia, South Carolina, and final destination of Georgia.

A quick thanks to everyone who helped participate or sponsored the Walk-a-Thon yesterday. It was a beautiful day and it was great to see everyone. It was a big boost for me to get this trail started! Specifics and much more to come in the next day or two... Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Celebrating my bday with one of the most sought after beers on the planet. #2 on Ratebeer.com and extremely delicious and hard to find. A smooth drinking hoppy brew that goes down like gold. Worth the wait and a great reward for the work I have put in lately for the charities. First for shout-outs... Thanks Kyle Brewer, Susan Richardson, Laura and Anthony (maybe Daisy and Gavin?), Neptune Mountaineering, and Orvis Boulder for their recent support and donations. Thanks also to all the Pettyjohn's shoppers who drop in $s to the bins- that kitty grows like no other... I have been painstakingly working with all the South Boulder businesses and now I am about 95% complete and ready to start passing out flyers with all their coupons and information on the walk-a-thon March 11 around the shopping center. I hope they receive a lot of business from this venture. I have been working out at Mountain's Edge Fitness Center, as they gave me a free membership until I leave, and I am getting a lot of great wierd looks as I walk on the treadmill with my pack for hours. Thanks guys! Also, thanks Ann at Pettyjohn's, Shannon at Mountain's Edge, and K Ross for your sponsorship for the Walk-a-Thon. It is always hard to get the first few people so those are very encouraging! I bought a med kit for safe travels along the way. I will definitely test the man method first (see how long I can go without using any of it) just to prove to others how tough I am. Other than that, I am excited to get this thing on the road, stop drinking so much, get out of town, and check out what America has to offer! WOOOO! I hope y'all had a great leap day because we can all use an extra day to get crap done. Toot-a-loo!

If you haven't heard, I am trying to spark fundraising by having a Walk-a-Thon Saturday March 3rd. We are basically going to be walking around the Table Mesa Shopping Center in lap form walking near the local businesses that sponsored the walk. So far, we have many signed up, with more to come for sure. So... Thank you to Play it Again Sports, Weaver's Dive Shop, Pettyjohn's Liquor & Wine, Kim & Jake's Cakes, The Jerky Outlet, Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins, Mountain's Edge Fitness Center, Southern Sun, and Do It Best Hardware. With their support, fundraising has reached $1500 overall with plenty of time to go. If you would like to join the Walk-a-Thon, please just text me or email me, or write on my facebook wall. All you have to do is ask some friends/coworkers/family for $1 a lap and come walk with me for a few laps. The more the merrier and it's also part of my birthday party so join now!