Patience & Preparation to Get Back on Trail

This morning, I got up around the usual time and went to breakfast with everyone. It’s been cool having so many southbound hikers around recently. Their energy is very exciting, as their journey is only just beginning. After breakfast, I headed upstairs to get ready. Which really just entails putting my contacts in, combing through my hair, and brushing my teeth.

Usually, I use coconut oil to keep my hair tame. I ordered some more and it got sent to my dad’s house. But I only have one packet of it left currently and I’m attempting to save it if I can. So I’ve just been putting a ridiculous amount of conditioner in my hair every single day. So every morning I wake up and my hair is super tangled.

Once I got ready, I joined Hippie Chick and we walked over to the post office together. I wanted to mail home my Microspikes, sleeping bag liner, hot hands, extra accessories for my Coros watch, and a couple other random goodies. Yesterday was the first time that I walked over to the general store in the last two weeks. I felt so good to finally be more mobile. And also to wake up this morning and still feel good. That’s what is the most important thing in my opinion.

I know I’m definitely turning the corner and I’m getting really close to being ready to take out. And I also know how important it is right now to still take it slow and listen to my body. The urge to rush this process is obvious, and is also something I’m actively avoiding. Another couple days isn’t going to be the end all be all of my hike. But rushing into getting back on trail definitely could be. I know I need to make smart choices and take things slow and easy, and listen to my body. It’s so nice being in contact with a physical therapist frequently as well. Being able to send her a text message or message on Instagram at any time is incredible.

The two of us walked over to the post office together and it felt really good. I’m still taking my walking stick with me most of the time. But I find that I’m not really using it to bear any weight. It’s more of just a support that I have if I do need it. When I’m walking without it, I do get occasional discomfort in my hip flexor. So when I’m walking with it, I basically have no discomfort, but I’m still able to put complete weight on both of my legs. It’s kind of like the best of both worlds I suppose. Plus, once I am back on trail, I’m going to be using my trekking poles constantly. So at least I’m not relying on something that I won’t be able to have in the future. I’m going to be stabilizing myself and supporting myself on my hiking poles when I do leave.

Indigo is the sweetest boy!

When I go back from the post office I sat outside the gear shop for a long time. A hiker named Ed Beard came by to see Hippie Chick and Poet. I wound up hanging out and talking with him for a while. He’s hiked a ton of national scenic trails and it was really awesome to talk to him. Then I just sat outside the gear shop for a while and played with Indigo, the adorable family dog here at Shaws. One of the cutest things that he does is lick everyone’s legs. It doesn’t even matter if you’re dirty or clean, he’ll sit there and lick your leg for literally five minutes. I did a bit of writing and video work while I sat out there. Then eventually hide it inside.

I’m trying to motivate myself to do some long form of videos. As well as record some short videos to upload Instagram. I haven’t been updating as much in the time that I’ve been here, just because there hasn’t been a ton of entertaining stuff going on. And honestly, I really wanted to see how everything played out. The idea of posting every single day, while my fate almost felt like it was hanging in the balance, just didn’t appeal to me. Now that I feel so much better and I’m expecting the hike out any day now, I feel much more incentivized to be updating. I also feel like the updates are a lot more positive. Which is something that I strive for in the content putting out. I do you want things to be genuine and properly represent what is happening. Which is why I was very open about my thoughts, feelings, and emotions the last couple weeks. At the same time, though, I did want to hold off on doing a video updates until things have turned around a bit.

Indigo is apparently trying to heal me with his endless licks on my “bad” leg.

Though I am very excited for my long form videos to come out on YouTube from my time off trail. I did some brief recording most days that I’ve been resting and healing. Every now and then I missed a day because there was nothing going on. But going back and editing those videos was pretty eye-opening as well. In the first 4–5 days that I was off trail it’s very obvious how sad it was. Being able to watch myself heal and my mood to turn around was very unique. By the middle end of one of my videos it was crazy how quickly my mindset had changed. I’m very grateful to have all of those recordings and be able to look back on them. It’s not every day that you get such deep insights into your own thoughts and feelings. And get to watch yourself evolve in real time.

At my room I wound up going through my food bag. I know I’m going to be leaving ridiculously soon. So I wanted to start thinking about how much food I have, how much food I’m going to need, and everything like that. Because I’m going northbound into the hundred mile wilderness, I’ll probably need a good amount of food. It’s going to be impossible to judge what sort of mileage I’ll be capable of until I get going again. So I’ll probably wind up carrying extra food and plan on doing a food drop at Joe Mary Road, 60 miles into the hundred mile wilderness. That’s a good idea additionally, because I have to go past Katahdin to the Canadian border.

I’ll be able to get some food at the Abol Bridge store as well. Which is in Baxter State Park. Luckily I have a ton of stuff so I probably won’t need to get too much. I also managed to score a bunch of goodies in the hiker box this morning. Some guys came through who were doing a section hike in the hundred mile wilderness and didn’t wind up finishing. They left a ton of great food in the Hiker box, so I was able to grab some of that to pack out. And I’m sure I’ll wind up buying some resupply at the gear shop to pack into a food drop for myself. But I’m not there yet necessarily planning wise. I think once I get out and do a slack pack I’ll have a better idea of how my body feels and what I’ll be capable of. Fortunately heading into the hundred mile wilderness means there are tons of roads and trailhead. For some reason people think that section of trail is very desolate. But that is not the case. It’s probably one of the best areas for me too start out in. Because I’ll have lots of options if for some reason I need to get picked up somewhere. So I don’t think that is going to be the case.

After I got my food organized and a couple other things organized I just laid around. I had some food left over that I got at the General store yesterday, so I snacked on that over the course of the day. Then later on in the evening, I went over to the general store to get some dinner. I knew I wanted to get a sandwich and maybe some other goodies. It was around 6PM when I headed there. And once again it felt so good just to walk! I feel like it’s become incredibly effortless to get down the street. My body feels really good. The funny thing about tendons though is that there are a lot of ups and downs with healing. It’s very common for attendance to feel significantly better at times and slightly worse at times. Which can be hard mentally when you really just want a more linear and positive healing process. I’m just so happy to have improved as much as I have though in the last week. It’s crazy to think that a couple weeks ago I couldn’t bear any weight on my leg at all. Even walking around with a stick with almost impossible. I was limping like crazy and probably should’ve been on crutches. And just my resting and waiting my body is now basically healed.

The ice cream shop was open on this glorious rainy Saturday! But I bought an entire tub of the ice cream at the general store. It’s the same brand, but much more ice cream for less money. Now that I’m more mobile I’m definitely trying to load on more calories than ever.

For the rest of the night, I just hung out in the lounge area of the hostel. I ate my food from the general store and hung out with some people. Then later on in the evening or not a really cool surprise. A hiker named Woods got into town and came to visit me! We met for the first time on the PCT in 2022. Then she was down on the Florida trail toward the end of 2023 and the start of 2024. I hung out with her and a bunch of hikers at the Florida Trail kickoff. Then I went and surprised everyone in Okeechobee after I finished the eastern continental Trail at the start of 2024. She’s a really great person and it was so cool to see her again.

She did the Appalachian Trail again this year in preparation for doing the CDT in the coming weeks. Just because of timing and everything she wound up being behind me on the Appalachian Trail. So I wasn’t sure if we would ever see each other. But because I’ve been laid up here for so long she finally caught up and is about to finish the trail.

We wound up sitting in the hiking lounge area for literally three hours talking. It was so nice to catch up and talk about this year, the conditions, the CDT, and all kinds of other stuff. Other than last week or two, I haven’t spent this much time with hikers the entire year. there are so many crazy stories and weird things that have happened this year, which didn’t necessarily make it into the blog. I try not to talk about other hikers or gossip. So sometimes it’s nice to actually talk to a friend and be able to chat with someone about things that you basically haven’t told anyone. Other than maybe my parents or my bestie Sparkle. It was just absolutely delightful to catch up with Woods.

Depending on when I leave here and what kind of mileage I’m able to make in the first for some days, there’s a chance I’ll see Woods again. But I’m trying not to get too attached to that idea. When she summits Katahdin she’s going to hang out around Baxter State Park for a little bit with her brother. So depending on when I get up there, there’s a chance I could see them in the park. It’s just so hard to say if I’m going to slack pack the day after tomorrow. Or if it might be a couple more days. I’m so eager to get going and I’m also trying to be incredibly cautious. I’d rather be overly cautious and waste an extra day or two than not be cautious enough.

The two of us hung out until almost 10 PM before she headed out. Because she’s done this trail more than once, she wanted to stay at hostels that she’s never been to before. So she’s actually staying a place across the street. But will probably come over tomorrow morning before she hikes out so that we can say goodbye. It would’ve been so cool to be able to hang out together. And if I had been in my normal state, then we could’ve finished the trail together. Woods is definitely doing some solid mileage and has been cranking. But that’s not where I’m at right now, ironically.

After she left, I headed upstairs, had some snacks, and laid in bed. Then just watched some stuff on my phone for a while. It’s funny though, I couldn’t not fall asleep for the life of me! It reminded me of the time I spent after getting off of the CDT. There was a long period of time we’re always staying up till about 3 AM every single day. I think it has something to do with my body and how much excess energy I had. I just could not get onto a good sleep schedule. Maybe this is a sign that my body has finally healed significantly. Because I wound up staying up until sometime between 2-3AM tonight! My poor sleep schedule is going to be a wreck by the time I get going again. But at least I am very well rested from the last two weeks.

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