Back at it

Current Location: Warren, NH

Miles Hiked: 1794.4

Miles to go: 404.0

Percent of trail completed: 82%

It’s been a little over a week since returning to the trail and I’m getting back into the swing of things.

Back when I was planning my thru-hike last fall, I thought carefully about my start date. I wanted a date late enough to avoid heavy winter conditions, but early enough to allow for a buffer in case something happened to delay my hike. I settled on March 16th. I figured that there were two things that would cause a significant delay: a bad injury or a family emergency. In the case of such an event, an early-ish start date would still leave me enough time to finish the trail before Mt Katahdin closes in early to mid October. Fortunately my mini-retirement allowed me lots of flexibility in choosing a start date. I didn’t have to plan around a work or school schedule.

My premonition about either an injury or a family emergency came to fruition. It was the latter that took me off the trail for over a month. Luckily I did make some wiggle room. Nothing is ever guaranteed on a thru-hike, but if all goes according to plan, I do still have time to finish before the season ends and Mt Katahdin closes to hikers.

Physical transition

On the first day back everything felt strange. My trekking poles which once felt like a permanent extension of my body, now felt like foreign objects in my hands. I dropped a pole twelve times that day. I didn’t feel bad at first, just awkward.

On the third day back, it hit me. After a 20 minute bus ride from the trail to the town of Rutland, I stood up to get off the bus and immediately fell back down onto the seat. My calves burned, my knees were screaming, and I collapsed from the shock of it. It took another try to slowly get upright and hobble off the bus.

It wasn’t really the type of soreness where something is wrong per se, but the more type you get when you use muscles that you haven’t worked hard in a while.

I’m not upset with myself for not working out while in Washington. I had devoted my time and energy elsewhere. I am however kicking myself for not at least stretching daily. My posterior chain, from my feet through my calves and hamstrings, ceased up pretty tightly while off the trail. Now they have to acclimate back to heavy daily use. The first few days were the worst, but now they are starting to remember what to do.

Now that the initial shock is wearing off and I’ve had a week to adjust, I don’t notice a huge change in my physical ability, compared to where I was before the break. Hard climbs are still hard, but not necessarily harder than they were before.

Mental transition

I am very happy to be back but I do feel a little bummed about the interruption. It still absolutely “counts” as a thru-hike, but it’s not the same as one continuous interrupted walk. It’s been hard to convince myself that this is the same journey that I was on before; it feels more like the beginning of a new one. The early days of my hike feel like a lifetime ago.

However, I have discovered some traces of connective tissue. Though it is mostly new and unfamiliar faces around me now, I have bumped into two people from the before times.

The first, Whitman, I met several times back in Pennsylvania. He chose to take a detour to complete the Long Trail before returning back to the AT, which is how I caught up to him. I also ran into another familiar face, Jimmy Dean. We both recognized each other but couldn’t remember exactly where we had met, perhaps the Smokies or maybe southern Virginia. He has been on and off the trail due to a knee injury, thus slowing his progress.

And then there’s Waldo. Part of my original tramily, he and I actually started in Georgia on the same day. He is an incredibly strong hiker and can knock out 30-mile days when needed, but has chosen to take it slow, approaching the thru-hike as an extended vacation. Due to his laid back pace, I’m only a few days behind him now. I hope to catch up at some point before the end.

It’s a small thing, but these familiar faces are the threads of continuity stitching my current experience to my original hike.

Benefits of time off

Taking a month off had its advantages too. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention those.

Flooding

As you may have seen on the news, Vermont was hit hard in July with historic rain and flooding. Already coined as the “Great Vermont Flood of 2023,” the state suffered massive flood damage. Vermont was declared in a state of emergency the same day that I walked into the state, July 11th.

The flash flooding impacted hikers too. Many had to delay or reroute, and some were caught in the worst of it. AT section hiker Robert “Steady Eddie” Kerker was reported missing on July 24. Tragically his body was found on July 30 in Stony Brook approximately 1.5 miles downstream from the trail crossing, presumably swept away by the high water on July 10, the day after he was last seen.

This is a sobering reminder for anyone, but especially for me knowing that he was just a few days ahead of me. Though I managed to continue hiking through the flooded trail for a few days without incident – partially due to some cautious decisions and partly due to dumb luck – it was probably for the best that the circumstances took me off the trail for a while.

Rest

Although transitioning back into hiking was tough on my body, I’m sure it was also good for my body to get some rest. It gave my muscles and joints the opportunity to rebuild and repair. I’ll need them at their best for the rugged terrain ahead.

There’s a saying that once you’ve completed 80% of the trail, you’ve only expended 20% of your total effort. It’s an ominous thought, as I sit here at the 80% mark. Hopefully the time off will serve me well.

Better weather

I missed the hottest part of the summer. Not complaints about that. I may even catch some fall foliage as I continue north.

Less bugs

The mosquitoes are still out – maybe slightly less horrendous than before – but there are noticeably fewer ticks. I personally know four individuals who have gotten Lyme disease this year while hiking the AT. Fewer ticks is definitely an advantage.

Pack fits better

My pack fit perfectly when I started the trail in March, the hip belt resting nicely on my hips. As I lost weight however, my hips and butt melted away, leaving the pack nothing to rest on.

Among all the other things I did last month, one thing I did a lot of was eat pie. It just so happens that around the corner from my father-in-law’s house is a shop that makes famously good loganberry pies. Obviously I had to try one. Then a family member came to visit so we bought another to share. Then a different family member visited so we bought another. Then I thought I ought to try the marionberry pie, to compare to the loganberry. Then the next door neighbor gave us a large bunch of homegrown rhubarb, two pies worth, to be exact. Then all the blackberries growing around the neighborhood ripened and I couldn’t possibly let those go to waste, so naturally two blackberry pies were called for.

Each slice of pie was served with a generous portion of vanilla ice cream by the way. No regrets.

And guess what? My pack fits better now!