The Greyhound: May 13

We printed off a Crew Change Guide but quickly realized we wouldn't be able to hop out of the small town we were in in Georgia. Instead, we bought a couple Greyhound tickets to Denver, CO and decided to begin our backpacking on the American Discovery Trail. We left on May 13th of 2009 and spent the next two days on crowded, noisy buses. I don't advocate drug use at all, but if you want a clever spot to hide your weed, zip it up in your sleeping bag. No really, it's a horrible idea, I was terrified. But it did work. Anyway, after arriving in Denver, we had the unfortunate realization that our backpacks had gotten soaking wet. I guess they just don't make those buses like they used to! What were once 25 lb packs were now more in the 35-40 lb range. We threw away our bus clothes and changed into our traveling apparel, washed up a bit, and hit the streets of Denver. First things first, a trip to REI. I'd never been to one and needed a compression sack pretty badly.

We got a cab, and within an hour of being in Denver, I lost our cell phone charger. Great. We moved on, got our bags at REI and I called my 'uncle' whom I was under the impression would be thrilled to take us out to Mt. Falcon Park where we would begin hiking. Wrong...