Since I hiked the Appalachian Trail back in 2012 lots has changed. I moved across the country to the west coast and have been hiking out here. When I was a thru-hiker I used to make fun of the ‘weekend warriors’ who could only come out to hike on weekends. They all smelled fresh, ate real and healthy food, had more expensive gear than us and would always want to pick our brains about gear and how many miles we hiked each day. Welp, I’ve become one of them; a weekend warrior.

Though I dream of one day hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and reliving my glory days on the AT, in the last 10 years I haven’t put in nearly as many miles as I used to in an average day. As a weekend warrior I sometimes have a heavy pack, more gear than I need and always more food than necessary. I also look at high mileage hikes and think, can I still do this? Truthfully, maybe, but not quite as quickly or gracefully, and I’ll definitely be hurting more the next day. I do not miss that hiker hobble I used to get, when my whole body felt so tight and my joints took a few minutes to loosen up each morning I’d be hobbling around like an old person, why did I never stretch?? I would never survive without stretching these days.

I’ve also upgraded my gear. I value my knees and my back more and more as I get older so I’ve tried to lighten my load. I finally cut ties with nostalgia and bought a smaller and lighter pack, a very good choice, I shaved off about 4 lbs with just that upgrade alone. My lighter sleeping bag is so much nicer and my sleeping pad, well… it probably weighs about the same but I decided I needed a longer pad and the longer pads only came as wider pads so… I have an extra long and extra wide chubby sleeping pad. I can get really good sleeps with that set up. Sleep is so important on the trail because that is when your body heals.

Well the bottom line is, I’ve gotten soft… and I’m completely ok with it. I still get out into some pretty beautiful and wild places… on weekends.

Its been one month since I’ve finished hiking the Appalachian Trail, since I’ve stopped walking countless miles each day, since I’ve stopped grocery shopping in dollar store and since I’ve had to sleep in shelters. I now have running water, a car, healthy food and a bed to sleep in, sounds great doesn’t it? Well then why do I miss trail life so much!?

Admittedly, the last month on the trail wasn’t always so much fun. Hurricane Sandy hit the north-eastern United States with winds, and water and the south-eastern United States got hit with snow, snow, wind and more snow. I was hiking through thigh deep snow wearing nothing more on my legs than shredded rain pants and tiny running shorts. What was I thinking?

Each night in the chilly shelter I cooked my dinner while trying to shiver myself warmer with my lower body in my sleeping bag, went to sleep around 7:30 pm and woke up at approximately 3-4 am shivering my buns off waiting for the light to come. At 7ish I would eat breakfast in my sleeping bag, only this time I would still be lying down and fully zipped up. That is one advantage of eating pop tarts and hunny buns for breakfast, I don’t have to worry about spilling them in my sleeping bag.

Hiking in the cold wasn’t so bad. Once I got moving and my legs woke up it felt good. I always thought that hiking was just walking but on a trail, and that if you could walk then you could hike, and its true. If you can walk you can hike, but once you’ve been on the trail for so long you learn a different type of walking. Have you ever seen a ‘City Slicker’ try to walk on a rocky path? They stick their arms out for balance, stare at their feet and move really slowly so that they don’t trip. My balance improved x 100. I could step on any rock, root, stump, incline, decline, mud clod, leaf pile or log and not lose balance or speed. I could trust my feet to get me where I wanted to go. Ups and downs no longer slowed me down and tripping stopped being an issue because my legs, ankles and feet adjusted to whatever I put before them. It took me a while, but I became good at walking.

Needless to say, I think about trail life a lot. I’ve never been a city girl. I have always craved adventure. When I come back to the city I try to trick myself into thinking that city life can be adventurous too, but just in a different way. I’m not sure if its working.

Despite all the hard times on the trail, cold weather, sore muscles, and homesickness, I miss it. Maybe its not even the trail that I miss, but the lifestyle. Anyway, even if I live in a house now, sleep in a bed and have running water, I still have sore feet to remind me every morning that I did actually hike 2184 miles from Maine to Georgia.

My shredded rain pants, I had only used them 4 days at this point.

My sore feet..

Finishing up the trail was a bit of a whirlwind. The last few days the group of 5 I was hiking with decided to push hard to finish by November 20th. That meant that we had to hike three consecutive 20 mile days and then two 15 mile days to the end. As I walked the last 15 miles I was thinking a lot about the Northbound hikers who would soon be leaving on their trek to Maine. When I started out my hike the first few days felt so long and tough, but lately everything felt so easy. I could just imagine what the North bounders would be thinking about the first few mountains, the terrain and the water sources, as far as we were concerned, they have a really easy start to their hike compared not only to the 100 mile wilderness, but also compared to the rest of the trail.

I had decided early on that I would try to stay focused on today rather than tomorrow to help the time pass more quickly. It made my day feel longer and more difficult if I was constantly looking at how many miles I had left until the end, or what giant mountain was coming up tomorrow. North bounders would tell us that Springer Mountain was a let-down because it isn’t much of a climb, more of an ant hill. I ignored them because I didn’t want anything else to get my spirits down on this hike.

When we arrived at Springer Mountain a few of my friends parents were there to greet us. The last one mile on the trail felt pretty surreal. I could hardly believe that I was moments away from finishing the entire length of the Appalachian trail. At the top we celebrated with hugs, champagne and pictures. It was near dusk when we got to the summit and the sun was starting to set. The view was beautiful, the company was great, and we were all elated to have finally made it.

I’ve been home a week now, and it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I have just hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. 2180 miles! I know it seems crazy to think about attempting it, but while I was on the trail it just felt like one step after another, slow, painful and thoughtful steps.

Top left to right: Voice of Reason, Testiment, Manboy
Bottom left to right: Foot, Lite Brite, Desert Lock

beside the plaque and the final white blaze

Yesterday I finished!

The last few weeks have been crazy. I’ve survived snow storms, the Smokey Mountains and the tourists in Gatlinburg. I have only a few miles left in my journey and it feels bitter sweet. I feel SO ready to be done this trail, yet I know I will miss it dearly.

I am about 3 day from springer mountain in georgia which is the southern terminus 2180 miles from where I started in Maine.

I just walked through one of the most beautiful sections of the trail. The Grayson Highlands in Virginia where gorgeous! Hills upon hills of grassy splendor, no trees so the views are everywhere you look. The best part was the wild ponies! I saw a few of them and I got up real close, close enough to pet them! It was really neat.

I’m past the 500 Miles to go mark now! 🙂

Tomorrow I cross into Tennessee! Lots more adventures to come!

PONIES!!

Sun set at Thomas Knob Shelter

Beautiful Grayson Highlands

 

a chilly virginia morning, 7am

hugging the keiffer oak, the largest tree in the south half of the trail.

I wanted to add more, but computers are very slow and I am very tired.

My thanks giving Sunday was spent in Pearisburg VA in a sleazy motel and at a Pizza Hut. It was a miserable day walking into town because it was pissing down rain and blowing chilly winds. I was pretty homesick for my Grandads place where I would probably be if I were at home.

All night at the motel I could hear the other motel dwellers slamming doors and arguing, along with their yappy dogs barking. Not the place you would take your family on vacation. The rooms smelled funny, kind of minty and in the morning an ear wig crawled out of the bathtub… Needless to say, I was glad to hike out in the morning, even if it was still raining and windy. That place gave me the creeps.

Luckily that night we only had to hike 10 miles to get to a hostel out in the woods that was described as “a slice of heaven not to be missed”, and it turned out to be just that. We walked up to the old cabin from the 1800’s and went right inside. It was wonderful! So warm and cozy with 3 dogs and 2 cats who greeted me and wanted to cuddle. I sat on the couch and a cat came over and fell asleep on my lap, and then I fell asleep on the couch.

The couple who run the Woods Hole Hostel made us all a great dinner and we slept inside on a comfy bed that smelled good. I slept like a baby and a dog even came to cuddle up with me. Woods Hole saved the day. 🙂

Fall is here and the temperature is dropping. Sadly my warm jacket is somewhere in the mail, so it’ll be a few more days until I’m cozy in the evenings. At least my sleeping bag is warm!

As I get closer and closer to the end of the trail (515 miles left) I can’t help but get more and more homesick and excited to be done. I am trying to stay in the moment and enjoy my time here. I know there is still a lot to see, this week we are walking through a park that has wild ponies in it that come up to you! I’m so excited!

Hope all is well at home!

A quick up-date on my hike:

I am in Virginia now, passed through the Shenandoah National Park last week. I stayed a night in Waynesboro at a fellow hikers place for a night.

The weather is getting colder here. For the past 2 weeks I have been freezing my buns off at night wishing that I had my winter sleeping bag. My dad sent it to me, and now the weather warmed up..

The leaves are all changing colors now, so it is really beautiful hiking these days. The mountains are getting bigger again and the views are fantastic.

I have only Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and then GEORGIA left to hike through, less than 800 miles. 🙂

I will try to keep this updated, but it is getting harder and harder because the towns are so small and internet access is very limited.

Thanks for the support!

Happy Trails! 🙂