Posts
Day 45: Sloppy Slackpacking
We planned to bite the bullet and just go, rain or no rain. Unfortunately, rain is not the only consideration. The Virginia Triple-Crown has lots of exposed rock faces that are very slippery in rain.
Day 44: Getting Ready to Go Again
My foot feels better and I can almost imagine hiking not hurting. I have to deal with my shoes. They are part of the problem. They have holes. For the past couple of weeks, I could scratch my toes without taking my shoes off.
Day 43: Collaborating with My Body
Hiking the Appalachian Trail is hard. Mile after mile, day after day. Pack explosion, repack, filter water, drink water, filter more water. Wash hands. eat, eat again. Eat some more. Sleep, go again.
Day 42: Nothing is Wrong, My Foot’s Just Old
Hike ending injuries are common. They are never fun. All hikers,--regardless of age--know they are just one fall or misstep away at any moment. The older you get, the less you bounce.
Day 41: Arriving in Daleville
It feels like a failure, arriving in Daleville in a car rather than on my feet. I have lived long enough to know I am dreadful at telling when I have reached my limit. The Historian and a hostel full of hikers we zeroed with yesterday all agreed I need recovery time. My head agrees with them, but my heart is having trouble catching up with my mind.
Day 40: Life at a Thru Hiker Table
Today, Huckelberry Hostel has more hikers than a muffin has berries. A lot of us who would normally just hike on in the wet are seeking shelter from the electrical storms and flooding rain.
Day 39: Slackpacking the Dragon
We slackpacked today. Southbound. It felt entirely odd carrying a small amount of weight. It felt even more odd going south. It felt like walking inside-out.
Day 38: Rescued From Hiker Brain
Hiker brain is an unidentifiable medical term. All hikers know what it is. You are loopy, in a stupor, knowing something needs to be done, but completely unable to formula the thought of how to act on your own behalf.
Day 37: How Virginia Got All Her Rocks
When to get up in a stranger's house is a delicate question. When someone invites you to stay in their home, there is a certain intimacy that cannot easily be discussed or ignored.
Day 36: Pack First into the Flooded Creek
Charles Dickens could have written my opening line for today: "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times." The rain has been incessant. Small streams are forbidding and larger ones are mighty.