the trail via train to pick up where I left off. It was nice to be
home for a bit, and it was great to see everyone, but I was also
missing the trail. I was afraid that I would have to convince myself
to go back to hiking, especially in the pending heat, but that wasn't
the case.
Coming back home was a shock. The traffic and general busyness was so
drastically different from what I have been dealing with since the
beginning of March. I had to try to ramp back up in order to accept
the faster pace of the "real world". Being away from the trees and
the rocks and the dirt was a shame (although I do need to figure out a
way to have showers and laundry available while on the trail). I
couldn't sleep much for the first couple days home because it is noisy
around my house compared to the woods, the air inside my house is much
drier, and my sleeping surface changed from a hammock to a mattress.
And then there was driving. I managed to avoid much driving for a
couple days, but then I fell back into the trap of relying on the
convenience of a car. Surprisingly, the mechanics of driving did not
escape me at all. But, my reaction time was definitely reduced from
normal. On the trail there is no need to react to anything very
quickly. On the road (at least around NJ), that is certainly not the
case. I got up to 45 mph on one of the roads, and it felt so fast.
Normally that is a slow speed on that road.
I tried walking to a few stores, but having to constantly watch out
for cars wasn't as fun as walking on the trail. And, I just felt so
out of place as there are often no sidewalks and cars are steadily
whizzing by. I had had delusions that when I finished the AT, I would
try to walk to work. I am not sure if that is going to be practical.
One thing that was not a problem was adjusting back to having readily
available food without having to carry it. The hiker hunger
fortunately subsided a bit after a couple days, altough I did notice
that I had to eat more frequently than normal and each meal consisted
of a larger portion. And, I always had a supply of icecream around
for any time of day.
My schedule reverted to my college schedule...go to bed very late and
wake up somewhat late. I was unable to catch up on sleep, so that
will be a priority when I get back on trail (well, at least after the
4-state challenge attempt). I thought I was going to get bored during
last week with nothing to do, but that was unfortunately not the
case. I only finished a fraction of the things I wanted to do while
home, but I believe I did finish all the things I needed to do (at
least I hope so). Last night I got 2 hours of sleep as I was trying
to finish off my necessity todo list.
I did lose a good 16-17 pounds during the course of the first half of
the trail. And that isn't counting any weight transferred from fat to
muscle. If I continue at that rate, I am probably going to have
problems near the end. I tried gaining back a few pounds, but only
succeeded in gaining back a little. I'll just have to make sure I eat
even more when I hit towns ;). If you are looking for a weightloss
program, just go long distance backpacking! All you need to do is
walk, and you can even eat anything you want :)
I made a surprisingly small amount of gear changes. I finally
switched to a new pair of shoes and replaced one pair of socks. I
dropped my emergency hand warmers as it is extremely unlikely that i
will need them for a while. I believe everything else stayed the same.
As I was going back through the photos of the trip so far, I was
surprised by how different the trail looked at the beginning of March
compared to now. Everything was white and devoid of growth. Now
everything is green and alive. Prior to looking at the pictures, it
didn't really set in regarding how much distance I have actually
walked in the last 3 months. I feel like I have done so much more
with my life than spending those 3 months working and living my life
in NJ.
And then finally there was the reason I went home in the first
place...Matt and Melissa are now married! The wedding and all the pre
and post activities were a ton of fun and everything went fairly
smoothly. My beard did get trimmed back quite a bit so I didn't look
like a homeless person, but there is another 3 months or so to grow
that back :)
Back to the trail I go. Now that I am getting closer to home, a
number of people have expressed an interest in meeting up. So, if you
want to come for a section or a day hike or to just meet up in a town,
let me know when and/or where and we'll work something out. Today
will be a little backtracking, a nap at the VA/WV border, and then an
attempt at the 4-state challenge starting at midnight. Nope, I really
don't think I am going to make it as it will be my first real day back
on the trail. But, I might as well try and see where I get :)
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