This morning I purchased my new pack. Yahoo! I got an Arcteryx bora 60 LT, a lighter weight and smaller version of the pack I carried in 2001, the Arcteryx bora 80. After I got finished culling out the stuff I didn't need in 2001 (I started with about 53 pounds of weight and ended up carrying 35 to 40) I was hardly using the space in that big pack. I sent the top home, and I had to cinch the thing down like crazy. Anyway, I found a really good deal on the pack I wanted at a website called Mickie's Place. They didn't charge me any tax or any delivery cost, plus they had the pack on sale for much cheaper than anywhere else I could find it. I'll be using that pack when I head out to the trail in May to hike from Damascus to Waynesboro. I'm both excited and nervous about that trip, although the excitement far outweighs the nervousness. This is a very different type of experience than that I had in 2001, when I spent the last two months before my thru-hike began asking myself, "Can I really do this? What am I doing? Should I just quit? What if I break my leg?" and other silly questions.