A week in….

It’s been a wild week.  Here I am on Sunday and I have hiked for 6 days so far.

It’s a lot like I expected but not!  I am really enjoying it, especially the people, but it took a while to get used to it. At this point, my feet are not really hurting much, nor are my calves or thigh muscles.  Butt hurts when I climb, but boy will it be in shape!

For now, the most pain is in my arms and hands from gripping the trekking poles too hard.  This is something I need to work on.

We took a zero day today for the first time, a day with no hiking at all, which is necessary. It felt great!  Harold came up (my husband) and we rented a cabin in Blairsville.  Three additional hikers joined us, hiker names are Water Squatter, Walkabout and Hakoda.  I’ve been walking with Water Squatter since the beginning, by day two we were joined by Hakoda (she is over 80) and then Walkabout joined us.

My trail name is (wait for it) Glamper.  This came about because on Day 3, Wednesday, I had a down day, got a little depressed and felt like I really needed to get off the trail to a hostel or I was going to quit.  So I listened to my body and my mind and got a shuttle to the Above the Clouds Hostel.  I stayed there 3 nights and slack packed each day meaning hiking with a smaller pack and then getting picked up.  This unusual amount of hostels is hopefully temporary but I earned my nickname Glamper from that unusual amount of hostel time 🙂

I think for now my formula for hiking will be 4 nights sleeping on the trail, 3 nights in a hostel.  Between nights 1 and 2, I’ll slack pack, and then between nights 2 and 3 I’ll take a zero day.

Out there on the trail, you start passing and being passed by the same folks.   It really is not just about time in the woods, but also about the people.  Really great people, really great views and smells of the forest and the mountains, and really great opportunities to just get down to the basics and away from technology.

I have not been watching television or listening to radio or news.  It’s really great! No talk of politics!  It’s just a totally different experience than anything I’ve done before.  I am loving it!

My tent is great and my sleep system. I’m using the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 2 person tent plus the Enlightened Equipment quilt with the down booties and balaclava.  I am nice and toasty warm in my tent.  No issue there at all.

I feel very positive about this experience. I think it will be a success no matter how far I make it!