As the Days and Miles Fly by

Time has flown and all of a sudden we are in the midst of the summer heat, and the Pennsylvania Rocks. After hitting halfway in Harper’s Ferry, I am now getting a daunting feeing- my journey is half over.

So many things manifest themselves on the trail which I consider to be the trail magic of everyday. No matter how tough things have gotten from time to time, there is always a rainbow after the clouds.

I have been able to cross things off my “bucket list” that I would have even dreamed would be on my “bucket list”. This included jumping off the infamous James River footbridge. After twenty minutes of shaking on the edge I conquered a lifelong fear and made the jump. From hiking the trail I have surprised myself by learning more about my mental and physical limits of what I am comfortable and capable of doing.

Night hiking has been quite the experience to say the least. Our true personalities shine after hours of racing up and down the rocky hills. My trail friends know me better than almost anyone, due to the fact we are being constantly tested to our core of our limits in all types of weather and terrain conditions. That is one of the reasons I know that my trail family will be my friends for life. Shotgun, my hiking partner is more like my sister. We will greatly miss our brother Happy Feet who is returning to Germany. We have since been happily reunited with another favorite from our trail family, Uncle Spicy.

As our journey continues on through the North, I will do my best to fully soak in everyday of this journey of a lifetime. I wish everyone could have the chance to go on a similar journey like this, some type of pilgrimage or quest. The things I have learned I could never learn in school or work. This is life being lived to its fullest everyday. Life appreciating the land we live on and the people we cross paths with. One of the highlights of my journey has been sharing my hike with my friends Peter, Savannah, Chris and most of all my incredible Mother.

Hiking into Harper’s Ferry was very sentimental. I never doubted myself that I would make it halfway, to my home, on foot, but I also didn’t fully believe it would happen. My dream has become reality. I am hiking the AT and have made it over halfway to Maine. Hiking the last mile with Shotgun and my Mom into the ATC office was one of the most joys I have had in my life and I will always cherish it. Seeing Laurie at the ATC and having my photo taken by Peter Pan was so surreal, it definitely made me realize how far I have come from this time last summer. This time last year I was just learning about backpacking, gear etc. and now I am over halfway to Maine. Funny how much everything changes in such a short amount of time.