Right now, I'm watching (Ben) Chrobot finish stuffing his bag with all of the essentials required to hike for over four months. He's got everything in his bag, but I can see him wondering how the hell he's going to fit five days worth of food and water in the remaining space. As of now, his compact 45 liter bag weighs only 17 lbs, an unimaginably light set of gear for what the contents actually are.

At the same time, (Anthony) Kawecki is sitting in a room on the other side of my house, skyping his girlfriend. Both him and I have been gone from our usual home at MIT for the past four months. In order to accommodate a northbound Pacific Crest Trail hike, we opted for taking the spring semester off and took internships in San Francisco. Living in a place with nice weather and no homework gave us time to catch up to Chrobot who completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail two years ago.

I am writing while sitting on my bed in my home in the Arizona desert after a day of rain, and I couldn't be happier.

Two days and three nights are all that separate us from the beginning of our 2,650 mile longitudinal haul across the continental United States. We are all excited and scared in some shape or form, but I believe that we're also ready.

This blog (shout-out to Mike Birbiglia for the name) will be used by all three of us along our attempt at a thru-hike and will hopefully convey our own individual experiences, insights, and feelings along the way, as well as our progression as a whole. The three of us, Chrobot, Kawecki, and I, share a love for hiking and nature, but, as with the rest of humanity, we also have our own specializations. Aside from our fields of study in school -- which are Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering, respectively (hence the cute name of this post) -- we have our own hobbies and interests that will hopefully bring a wide range of content for the blog.

I, with my interest in writing, will try to capture the philosophical, human, and, for lack of an appropriate word, emotional side of our trip.

Kawecki, with an interest in photography and sketching, will attempt to capture our experiences through those media.

Finally, Chrobot, with his love and knowledge of thru-hiking, will be updating the blog with the more technical details of the hike. Despite denying his expertise, he is the manager of this journey. For that, I am thankful.