Planning, already!

So I decided today (and yesterday) that I, and my awesome boyfriend/hiking buddy (Josh) will start going on long distance backpacking adventures as early as this May, and we've already got our first trek (mostly) planned out.  This is what happens when I have a ridiculous amount of time between classes on Mondays.

We've decided that we are going to hike the entire Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Trail, from mile 0 inside of DC, to mile 184.5, in Cumberland Maryland.  We won't be continuing on to the Great Allegheny Passage Trail quite yet, but like I said before, we're starting small.

A map of the entire C & O Canal Trail, 184.5 miles from Georgetown in DC to Cumberland, MD.

Because I am a ridiculous over achiever, I already have a majority of our itinerary planned out, as well as part of our projected budget for the trip.  Here is what we have so far!

We intend to start hiking at Mile 0 in DC, which is located at the Watergate to the Canal from the Potomac River, between the Pennsylvania Avenue overpass and the exit for Whitehurst Freeway, On Rock Creek Parkway.

For those of you familiar with the area, this is beyond the Kennedy Centre, in the area behind the National Zoo.  For those of you unfamiliar with the area (or people who are interested in interesting trivia), the infamous Watergate Hotel gets it's name from the Watergate to the canal from the Potomac.  The Watergate is located at the farthest inland point of navigable water on the Potomac (by ships, at least)

Here is what we hope to accomplish each day:
Day 1:

• 16.6 miles
• staying at Swain's Lock #21

Day 2:

• 17.9 miles
• staying at Turtle Run
• Total Mileage: 34.5

Day 3:

• 15.8 miles
• staying at Calico Rocks:
• Total Mileage: 50.3

Day 4:

• 12.6 miles
• staying at Huckleberry Hill
• Total Mileage: 62.9

Day 5:

• 17 miles
• staying at Horseshoe Bend
• Total Mileage: 79.9

Day 6:

• 15.3 miles
• staying at Cumberland Valley
• Total Mileage: 95.2

Day 7:

• 17.2 miles
• staying at Fort Frederick State Park
• Total Mileage: 112.4

 Day 8:

• 17.4 miles
• staying at Leopard's Mill
• Total Mileage: 129.8

Day 9:

• 14.7 miles
• staying at Devil's Alley
• Total Mileage: 144.5

Day 10:

• 17.6 miles
• staying at Town Creek
• Total Mileage: 162.1

Day 11:

• 13.3 miles
• staying at Iron Mountain
• Total Mileage: 175.4

Day 12:

• 9.1 miles
• staying somewhere in Cumberland, MD (yeah, I know that I should probably figure that out, but we have time!)
• Total Mileage: 184.5

Day 13:

• Going back to DC via Amtrak

As of right now, our budget is pretty general, but it will get more specific as we get closer to May, so no worries there!

We plan on spending no more than $200 on food, which includes breakfast bars (approximately 60), dehydrated fruit, beef jerky, 24 peanut butter sandwiches (pre-made, the day before we leave) and some sort of MRE's for dinner.  The MRE's will probably put us back the most, as far as our food budget goes, but we are pretty certain that we'll be able to fit everything else in, too.

MRE's or Meals, Ready-to-Eat, are lightweight, meals in bags that are great for backpacking.  If you are a backpacker, or a member of the military, you will probably be very familiar with them.

The Amtrak Tickets will only cost us $48 dollars between the two of us (which is awesome), and we will probably also have $50-100 set aside for other expenses.  Additionally, depending on where we stay in Cumberland, we'll have to set aside money for that, too.

I think that a budget of $300-$350 for two people for two weeks is pretty reasonable, what do you think?

I'm really getting excited about this trip, and it's only November!