This is something I’ve wanted to do since my days as an avid backpacker in Boy Scouts, and something rekindled my interest a few months ago – I can’t even remember what. At first, I tried to gauge the interest levels of my friends, and when I couldn’t seem to get any interested in the idea at all, I let the idea lie dormant for a while. Recently, though, it’s come back to the forefront of my mind, and I’ve decided that if I want to do it, I should do it regardless of whether or not I can get a friend to go with me. The time I have after I finish my Master’s is going to be the best opportunity I’ll have to go, and if my desire remains, I’ll really regret not doing it. Once I’m finished with my thesis, I’m going to be taking a number of prep hikes to test out gear, and make sure that it’s something that I really want to do. But beyond that, it seems like mental commitment is the most important contributor towards successfully finishing, and I know from past experience that that won’t be a problem for me.