Good morning, swellcasters. When planning a long hike, research comes in all shapes and forms. Sometimes it's reading other people's journals. Sometimes it's poring over maps or online apps with reader comments. Sometimes it's reading books. You never know what's going to actually be the most beneficial until you're hiking, so you have to do a little bit of everything beforehand. Before the appalachian trail, I read a book called Becoming Odessa by Jennifer Farr Davis