We have never in our life experienced so much rain. I'm not sure if we have been dry for a period of 48 hours since we have been out here. Hiking in the pouring rain, putting on wet clothing and shoes in the morning, and climbing into a damp sleeping bag has become the norm. It has been physically grueling and emotionally taxing. We slowed down this week to find refuge from the rain which played out in us doing a few 1/2 mileage days. It's hard not to stick with our planned mileage but even harder to hike miles and miles in bad weather. Many thru-hikers went into town, stayed at shelters all day, and even called it quits to escape the rain.
Hiking is hard work, but hiking...
-9-11 hours
-day after day
-with a heavy pack
-in bad weather
-without a regular shower
-in dirty clothes
-with body aches/pains
IS EVEN HARDER.
The best way I can think to describe this experience is that it is 75% tedious, 15% okay, and 10% amazing. So why have we continued? The amazing parts are INCREDIBLE (generous, kind, supportive & fun people-both on and off the trail, spectacular sights, living simply, reflecting on life, a sense of accomplishment, etc.). Also, our desire to finish fuels us to continue hiking. Who knows how far we'll go? Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe to the end. We don't know. We're proud that we have hiked over a 1,000 miles and endured so many elements thus far. Thru-hiking the AT is one of the, if not THE, most difficult thing we have ever done.
Thanks so much to Kara, Peyton, CJ, and Pam! We had a wonderful time visiting with you. We really appreciate it everything you did for us.
FLAT TRAIL...very rare on the AT. We definitely enjoyed it.
A fun warning of the "Roller Coaster" trail we were about to hike.
"Hot Mess" taking a picture as we cross the border from Virginia into West Virginia. We were in Virginia for the entire month of April.
We've hiked a 1,000 miles...YEA!!
Pete, "Hot Mess", and "Too Klean" find refuge from the thunderstorms at Blackburn Trail Center.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) headquarters is located in Harpers Ferry, WV. We went there to check in and get our picture taken. It used to be the halfway point, but the trail has become longer. We still have 80 miles to go before reaching the midpoint.
Our picture in the ATC "Class of 2009" thru-hiker binder. It's fun to check out the hikers ahead of us and put a picture with the registry entries.
Our cousin, Kara, and her son, Peyton, playing with balloons. Happy 2nd Birthday Peyton! They were kind enough to take us in. A wonderful time off the trail with great company. Thanks for everything!!
Peyton...so cute and sweet!
3 comments:
so i decided to watch many episodes of "out of the wild: an alaskan experience" tonight.... makes me think that they should be filming you girls right now - "out of the wild: an at thru-hiker experience"!! they seem to be having similar experiences, but are definitely not traveling nearly as far as you two! you continue to amaze me :). one thing i learned... make lots of noise because bears are more likely to attack when startled. but you already knew that, right? love you! miss you!
So great to see you!! LOVED hearing your stories... so glad to visit. I am thinking of you... especially every time it rains!!! You go girls!!
Love,
Kara
Hang in there!
-Vania
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