Miles
I have intentionally not mentioned the word miles prior to now in my journal. I have done so primarily because I wish the focus of this hike...... for me...... to be the people I meet.....the sights that I see along the trail......my daily experiences. I want the journey to be more important, than how many miles I was able to pound out each day.
My goal is to summit Katahdin. I am hiking to Maine. To Baxter State Park. To the top of Katahdin. We all are! It is in the back of my mind always. That is fact.
I am trying to keep Katahdin there in the background, and to focus on enjoying each day..... discovering at least one thing.....each day.....and on some days, many things, that are interesting to me....that are unique.... nature's beauty....interesting places.......people.....something that causes me to marvel......something that brings me joy that day. I want this hike to be fun. I want every day to have fun be it's focus.
I am at Black Bear Resort, near Hampton, Tennessee. My initial plan was to hike hard all day yesterday, go into Hampton today....shower....do laundry.......resupply, and get back on the trail by this evening. I have been increasing my mileage for two weeks and ......for me...... really pushing this week, with the goal of getting to Damascus, Virginia.......fast. Damascus is one of the key thru-hiker Way Points. You can gauge how long your thru-hike will take, by how long it takes you to get there.
Because of the difficult weather this year, I have been moving up the trail more slowly than I had hoped. My initial plan was to go slow, really slow, because I was not in good shape, and am not a kid. I knew that I had to go slow, or I would break down and have to go home. I did that successfully. As I noted earlier, for a while the old ladies were leaving me in their dust.
I have now weathered that initial break in period. The ball of my right foot is sore every day; my knee gets tired, and my hamstring gets tight, on my other leg. I stepped onto this trail with those physical issues.....they are not new. The question was, will they get worse? Should I stay home. Or should I try? I am over 400 miles into this hike and holding up pretty well! We all have sore feet. We all hurt a bit.
Before I knew it.....this week I became focused on miles.......on pounding out miles....on getting to Damascus. I was off track.
Today is Wednesday, April 17. Last Monday, two days ago, I bypassed a waterfall. My foot hurt. The ibuprofen had not kicked in yet, and I misread the sign on the side trail (a blue blaze trail) to the waterfall. I thought it said that Jones Falls was 1 mile off the AT.
I was in full 'pound out miles' mode, and was not doing 2 extra miles on a hurting foot. Nope. I was pushing on. I had to get 16 miles in......I had to.....and I was going to..... before 7pm......... so that I could put up the tent and eat before dark.
After bypassing Jones Falls, I was treated to a really pretty river, and then a beautiful, delicate waterfalls, called Mountaineer Falls. I was just thrilled by Mountaineer Falls (see photos). I played behind the falls. Along comes a hiker named "Chin Music", and says that Jones Falls in his opinion was better.......a lot higher....more water volume.....better.
I found out that in my quest for miles, I had misread the sign and had not bothered to check my guide page. Jones Falls had been only 1/10 of a mile off the AT......and I had missed it. It was a disappointing discovery and a wake up moment. I had hiked out of "having fun" mode. I was just pounding miles, and had missed seeing a really pretty falls. I have seen the falls on my new friend's phone....beautiful. Monday night I made camp, disappointed and tired. I vowed not to miss any more waterfalls. But I was still going to push hard to Hampton,Tn. and then on to Damascus.
The next day, yesterday.....I met up with my new friend "Chin Music"again, and we hiked together for a short ten miles. He is a talker too....no not as bad as me.....but we did get to know each other a bit. He was going to Black Bear Resort. Eventually, I was going to Black Bear Resort too. I wanted to get back onto the having fun path, and off the pounding miles road. I was tired.....really tired....and I was mentally tired too. Black Bear is great.... nice place....beautiful river....nice people. It was time to rest.
It has rained hard, off and on all day today. After much hesitation on my part.....("Boone" and "Doc" hit the trail in the rain) we have both decided to stay another night. Maybe I will push through Damascus, when I get there in about 4 days. But today I will stay dry. Four of us hikers are going into town for dinner.... and the resort owners, our friends, are coming too. I am taking the break, that I need now. Not in Damascus. I am having fun again. I am enjoying the company of interesting people again..... and tomorrow, I will step onto the AT and continue my journey. If you are curious about miles.....(believe me my feet know the miles....but I simply will not allow mileage to be my central focus) I will let you know again,in time, or you may look it up. Right now I am busy having fun.
Today is Wednesday, April 17. Last Monday, two days ago, I bypassed a waterfall. My foot hurt. The ibuprofen had not kicked in yet, and I misread the sign on the side trail (a blue blaze trail) to the waterfall. I thought it said that Jones Falls was 1 mile off the AT.
I was in full 'pound out miles' mode, and was not doing 2 extra miles on a hurting foot. Nope. I was pushing on. I had to get 16 miles in......I had to.....and I was going to..... before 7pm......... so that I could put up the tent and eat before dark.
After bypassing Jones Falls, I was treated to a really pretty river, and then a beautiful, delicate waterfalls, called Mountaineer Falls. I was just thrilled by Mountaineer Falls (see photos). I played behind the falls. Along comes a hiker named "Chin Music", and says that Jones Falls in his opinion was better.......a lot higher....more water volume.....better.
I found out that in my quest for miles, I had misread the sign and had not bothered to check my guide page. Jones Falls had been only 1/10 of a mile off the AT......and I had missed it. It was a disappointing discovery and a wake up moment. I had hiked out of "having fun" mode. I was just pounding miles, and had missed seeing a really pretty falls. I have seen the falls on my new friend's phone....beautiful. Monday night I made camp, disappointed and tired. I vowed not to miss any more waterfalls. But I was still going to push hard to Hampton,Tn. and then on to Damascus.
The next day, yesterday.....I met up with my new friend "Chin Music"again, and we hiked together for a short ten miles. He is a talker too....no not as bad as me.....but we did get to know each other a bit. He was going to Black Bear Resort. Eventually, I was going to Black Bear Resort too. I wanted to get back onto the having fun path, and off the pounding miles road. I was tired.....really tired....and I was mentally tired too. Black Bear is great.... nice place....beautiful river....nice people. It was time to rest.
It has rained hard, off and on all day today. After much hesitation on my part.....("Boone" and "Doc" hit the trail in the rain) we have both decided to stay another night. Maybe I will push through Damascus, when I get there in about 4 days. But today I will stay dry. Four of us hikers are going into town for dinner.... and the resort owners, our friends, are coming too. I am taking the break, that I need now. Not in Damascus. I am having fun again. I am enjoying the company of interesting people again..... and tomorrow, I will step onto the AT and continue my journey. If you are curious about miles.....(believe me my feet know the miles....but I simply will not allow mileage to be my central focus) I will let you know again,in time, or you may look it up. Right now I am busy having fun.
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