So one day I went for a walk...

As the day of my departure approaches I am spending a few moments thanking myself for taking the time to track all of the gear I planned to bring on this trip. Having used a gear checklist template (courtesy of Andrew Skurka) i was able to keep track of the flurry of new gear I was purchasing. Without it, my planning addled brain would not have been able to keep everything straight and allow me to pack effectively now. The other benefit of this checklist was a constant tracking of my baseweight of my gear.  Each new package arrival meant a visit to the kitchen scale, which became resident next to my desk for these past few months of planning. The outcome of this constant tracking has been an easy analysis of my baseweight.  Being able to spot where all the weight in my pack is, and make informed choices on what should be exchanged for a different item to cut weight. My baseweight (excluding my clothing, food and water) prior to leaving currently sits at 10...

So this is the inaugural post for this blog, so what better place than to post my intended route through the Tokai Shizen Hodo (TSH) for future reference: Click the top left icon to access the legend and change what markers are displayed. Click the top right icon to view in a new tab, This route plan would not exist without the efforts of previous hikers who documented their hikes.  I have to thank Nomadic Tom for blogging his experience hiking the Tokai , and Amy and James over at DoingMiles.com for their excellent documentation of the trail . There are very few english resources for the Tokai, so these sources were invaluable to me, both in terms of planning and preparation as they provided both hard GPS information, as well as personal insight into what to expect on the trail. From this point forward I will try to update you on my travels on the TSH often.  I am far from an experienced hiker, and I won't be moving fast.  My intention it to take my time and...