forgivable sin considering the outrageously materialistic society I was sculpted from. In no way would I be truly "roughing it." Compared to the pioneers, explorers, and native inhabitants who criss-crossed the mountains of Appalachia before me, my goings on a well-groomed trail wit relatively easy access to the conveniences of modernity (you truly cannot escape Wal-Mart -- thank god) would prove to be a relatively vacationist approach. On the other hand, I am the spawn of an instantly-gratified, society-weakened people who can't imagine a world without the conveniences of said mega-super-store. At the least, I knew better than most that my kind -- our kind -- had reasons to fear and prepare for an excursion into what remains of wilderness in East Coast America.
Through time on the trail, I eventually shed many of my percieved necessities, including the umbrella. I grew to love the simplicity of possessions, and embraced, rather than feared, the rain. I valued rain for its own sake.