‘Twas the Night Before My Thru Hike

Just some last-minute thoughts before I hit the trail last month.

There’s an eerie sense of calm before the storm. Literally. As folks already on the trail hunker down and wait for the gnarly thunderstorm showing up this evening, I feel extremely confident about my decision to stay at the Lodge tonight. It doesn’t hurt that my waitress Melanie in the restaurant is just a sheer joy to chat with!

This isn’t a 2200 mile journey. If I looked at it as such I’d never start! I’m just chasing the next resupply. And if those couple days seem too daunting, then I’ll look forward to tomorrow’s miles. Or even just a mile. Hey, how about the next five minutes? Yeah, that seems doable.

Every thru hiker knows the statistics: 7 out of 10 do not reach Katahdin. So many of those 7 will end their attempt at that first resupply. Do they think, ‘I barely did the last 30 miles! How will I ever do another TWO THOUSAND!?!’ I suspect there’s probably some of that.

This is a BIG adventure. But no one said it couldn’t be tackled with SMALL steps.

When I’m agonizing about weight, both mine and Meg’s, I always hear that phrase ‘ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain.’ I think it is time to apply that philosophy to this trail and flip the script:

Baby steps equal miles, and miles equal Katahdin.

Let’s GO.