How do you summarize four weeks of hiking the Appalachian Trail?
I climbed up mountains and I climbed down mountains with a 40 something pound bag strapped to my back.
Now that just doesn't seem to suffice.
Why don't I start with the fact that despite my best attempts to rationalize my feelings, I miss hiking the Trail. I miss it! So many times I thought about quitting. So many times. And yet, here I am, in civilization, mostly all clean and 'comfortable', and still, I crave hiking out there. When you hike for an extended period of time you develop a rhythm and you sink into a very simple lifestyle: wake up, eat, walk, take a break and eat some more, keep walking, stop and set up camp, eat again, sleep. And you do the same thing over again the next day. During the time I was out there, I believed I could never be a Thru Hiker because that lifestyle must eventually get really tedious. Then again, I find myself here in civilization and the lifestyle here is way too complicated. So many distractions and variables and unnecessary stress have been created. I'm not advocating a Jeffersonian regression of society, I'm just surprised how much I miss that simplicity.
I still do not want to be a Thru Hiker. But I will continue to do extended section hikes and I still intend to complete the Appalachian Trail.
As for what I did with myself for those four weeks. I think I should try to summarize with a few statistics:
Wildlife Encountered
Bears: 0
Moose: 0
Moose droppings: 50+
Snakes: 5
Salamanders: 4
Birds: A LOT
Mice: 6
Mouse that bit me: 1
Frogs: A LOT
Voracious Blood-Sucking Insects: 9876421827481972649172649712843469124761249718723562... (more than A LOT)
Terrain Covered
Mountains ascended: 32
4,000-footers ascended: 17
Shelters or campsites stayed at: 19
Towns encountered: 4
Gondolas ridden: 1
Hitchhikes aquired: 10
Miles walked: 204
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