In Yo House

I am writing this blog post from my laptop, which had lain dormant for 4 months in my parent’s house in the New York suburbs. Yes, I walked home. 1,400-ish miles, minus the ones I skipped when I was sick 2 weeks ago (more on this later). Yay me! Except for the fact that I don’t currently feel like hiking the remaining 800. Not to be dramatic, but the concept of leaving my very comfy bed behind fills me with existential dread. Being home has given me a taste of life post-Katahdin and now I am, as the kids say, in between two ferns with Zach Galifianakis — I can’t imagine being stuck indoors all day at work *shudder*, yet the first thing I did when I turned on my computer was update my resume. It’s confusing. I’m confused.

Anyways, you guys want to hear about the trail, not my emotions.

• Maryland FTW! The trail is flat and wide and there’s a lot of random Civil War battle sites and places to order pizza.
• I didn’t hate Pennsylvania. The rocks were annoying but the climbs were pretty easy and the state felt like it flew by compared to Virginia.
• I was equally surprised by the number of people who chose not to do the Half Gallon Challenge and the number of people who did it and ordered a burger 10 minutes after. Both are wrong in my opinion.
• For a while now, a member of our tramily has been behind us, and I thought it’d be fun to hang posters of him at trail towns. He still hasn’t seen them! Maybe they’ve all been taken down? I decided to include them below so they exist for eternity.

• I was sick for a week in Pennsylvania and skipped 56 miles. I have no intention of going back to do them. Everyone has a different version of what hiking the AT means for them. For me personally, I want to hike 2,000 miles. The other 198, anything goes. I want to be honest about yellow-blazing because “purity” is much discussed among thru-hikers and it can sometimes feel like you’re sinning if you skip sections. It’s a long fucking trail. Do what you want.
• I loved New Jersey. Great variety! There’s pastures, lakes, good views, boardwalks, taverns, and ice cream. What more could you ask for?

Boardwalk! Don’t forget to collect $200 when you pass Go

Backyard of Gyp’s Tavern

• My weekend in NYC was a whirlwind. I got to see my extended family (Happy Birthday Mansi & Roshni) and my tramily met my IRL friends. It was really nice! I also went to a candy store where they had imported Twix bars. Since that’s my candy of choice on trail, I had to buy one to see if it’s different. Will update you all on this important subject in my next post.