Day: 31
Trail miles: 150.7
The more I embrace this adventure, the more I truly understand why I am here. Some are devoted to ensuring they walk along every inch of the trail so they can say they truly walked the WHOLE trail. The purists want to do it in proper order too. Some are focused on how fast they can finish the journey. Many view the “civilization” along the way as nothing more than resupplying and shower spots.
In short everyone has their own reasons and expectations. The Trail is distilled life after all.
I have come to realize I am not really a purist when it comes to completing The Trail. It is not necessary that I see every inch of it, nor do I need to complete it in a certain time frame. For me this journey is about exploring parts if the world I have yet to explore. It just happens that at the moment my focus is Appalachia. To me this means that I have no specific agenda or schedule to follow. I am about the journey, wherever it may (or may not) take me.
This means I have no issue with staying put for a few days because I enjoy the people I recently met, or want to play more in a specific local. At first I was kind of disappointed in my progress. If the expectation is to complete The Trail in a certain time frame, I am FAR behind schedule. But once I truly realized that is not really my aim, my own expectations and self-view changed as well.
One advantage of this realization is I am not completely beating my unfit body into a bloody pulp. One DISadvantage is that I have spent most of the money I set aside for the WHOLE trip in a month. I really did not imagine I would be interacting so much with the “civilized” world. Live and learn.
Ultimately this is a journey of reconnection. Reconnection with nature. Reconnection with my social consciousness. Reconnection with humanity. And most importantly, reconnection with myself. Where the journey ends is yet to be determined.
For all I know it will have NO well defined end.
You may be moving slower than you thought you would, but you’re still moving forward. 🙂 I’m glad you’re getting to not only hike and sight see, but getting to spend time and enjoy it.
There are moments that are not so enjoyable, but they get buried by the overall adventure 🙂
great photos. Almost makes me wish I were there. Almost….but I’ve done some hiking in my day, and I never truly enjoyed the hike. I liked the destinations once I got there. Sounds as though you have a totally different perspective which I respect. No destination means you can enjoy the hike all the more.
Take care. You are there only for yourself, so you nothing to prove or compete against. It is totally for yourself by yourself.
Plus, 150 miles is pretty damn awesome.
Just like any other form of travel, sometimes the actual travel part is the worst. At times hiking can be pure hell, the only thing keeping you going is stopping might actually be even worse. But other times it is quite pleasant in itself. The general philosophy out here is to “hike your own hike,” and that is what I plan to do. And as you say, 150 miles is nothing to be ashamed of.