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Since I last have wrote, I have taken a bit of alone time on the trail and have really gotten some miles under my boots. Here's what I got...
Thoughts while Walking Alone:
- When someone says "Go for a walk, and clear your head." I found this to be the exact opposite. To be honest I don't even think it's possible to think of nothing. So in the absence of thinking about the things that stress you out ( which these days it's the terrain, weather and food supply) I have had some time to reflect on more creative aspects of my life and other random ideas. Z
- "I have everything, because I own nothing." Granted I do own some things; a backpack, some boxes of clothing, a couple bikes, a computer and a round bed. However when your belongings are limited, responsibilities minimal, and emotional unattached to most, it's easy to enjoy the simplicity in almost anything. From the smallest comfort (soft ground for sleeping) to the biggest luxury (dry clothing) it's amazing how your perception and senses have changed. Knowing that I am a product of the Gen-Y, I will savor this feeling while it lasts.
PERCEPTION: I have been leading a fairly non conventional life for the last year. Housing with friends, sleeping in hammocks, and living out of a duffel bag. Now I'm housing in the forest, sleeping in a tent and living out my backpack. With that said, all of my amenities are all around me (water source: stream, housing: flat ground, entertainment: environment). And with a little bit of planning you are able to get anything you want. All of sudden the enjoyment you would have received at the end your day from an ice cold beer, is as enjoyable, if not more, than a hot cocoa. Your medium-rare, slightly salted and peppered, steak is now replaced with instant mashed potatoes and beef jerky.
SENSES: I kinda feel like a super hero. Only in the sense that my senses have been heightened for better or worse. Eyes: I am now looking for particular angles of rocks as I step on them, leaves floating in the streams I grab water, imprints in the mud as my friends hike ahead of me and eyes glowing in the dark as I night hike (to be explained later). Smell: not only walking behind smelly hiker (including myself at times) can turn a head, but also the smell of trees blooming, camp fires in the distance and exhaust as we approach roads. Most of these smells certainly bring joy and comfort to whom are in the trail and would probably not be as recognizable had they all not have some sort of significant meaning (food, people, town, etc). Sound: trickling water in the distance, the gushing of wind coming down the mountain, murmur of chatter as you near a group of people and creaking of trees against each other and red squirrels squeaking at each other as they fight in the branches. Taste: I don't care how bad you cook, I bet your worst attempt at ramen noodles would taste like a $10 meal given 2 days on the trail - especially when food literately runs through your family's veins. Touch: every pointy rocks you step on towards the end of the day, the temperature of the wind when your dropping trow in the middle of the woods, to the twigs you set your tent above.
Marathon Hiking:
In running a marathon is 26.21875 miles. In television, a marathon is typically the sequential broadcast of a single or a number of related television programs. Well in hiking, it's carrying your house, water, food, clothing and other amenities on your on your back for over 26 miles. In my over achieving situation I went the extra mile... or extra 6 miles. My hiking day started at 10:30am. The intent of today's hike was to get as far as possible as the promise of rain was likely. So, Sno (a friend within our hiking group) and I started out with full packs, energized bodies and music blaring (Sno is famous for hiking playing 80's rock on his portable speaker). Well before you know it we were 18 miles in and stopped at a shelter to gather some water. A this point in time we checked in with each others mental and physical states and decided we would attempt to go another 8 miles to the next shelter and earn our "marathon badge". Fast forward, to 11pm and we were just outside the shelter with our headlights on and we're eating dinner on the leeward side of a mountain (where the 30mph, cold wind, was not blowing). We were eating here because at this point we decided to go an additional 6 miles - crazy, I know . P.s. never buy the 89 cent can of Buffalo Chicken Spread at a dollar store - not worth it.
So we hike on in the dark. Note that we just hiked 26 miles (the farthest I have ever hiked yet) and are about to night hike (the first time I would ever hike not during the day). So as we walk along the Appalachian Trail, approaching the base of Roan Mountain we are still rocking out to 80's music. Sno walking in front and me behind him, I occasional check the surrounding area to see what the landscape is like. Well on one of those scenery glances I see two large eyes, glowing in the dark several, several feet tall... Over the sound of the radio, I shout to Sno "eyes left, eyes left". Saying this while walking forward and looking left, Sno stops and looks at me puzzled. Once he realizes that I am looking at something of significance, he also glances over. Not saying, but I am pretty sure it was a bear. Regardless of whatever animal it was, we started singing whatever song was on the radio, LOUD, and started walking a little faster. Meanwhile I am checking behind us every couple of seconds. Needless to say I saw nothing. However, this same occurrence happens another 3 more times. Lets just say there is a fine line between "ignorance is bliss" and "knowledge is power".
Adding to the story, we have had 3 miles to go when reached the big incline to the top of Roan Mountain. With every step we take, the wind increases and the temperature decreases. At this point the the switch backs (trails that constantly crosses back and forth in order to minimize the the steepness going up the mountain) are becoming nothing but connecting boulders. The sound of Sno's radio is now masked by the whooshing of the wind and every inch of our bodies are sore and cold. Finally we reach the camping area (flat small area) by 2:30am, set up our individual tents and pass out from one long ass day.
How do you top this experience? Well easy enough for us we did not have to wait long. We slept for 3.5 hours and got back up on our feet. With the wind still gushing and temperature we set forth for 18 miles. Why? Cause at the end of the tunnel was a hostel... And it's a place that harbors warmth and dryness. Anywho, we summit Roan Mountain within the first couple miles of our hike and begin what we thought was the descent. Little Did we know, we had 2 more ascents to go, before our hike for the day was over. Not to go into much of the details this is what we faced. Wind gusts on top of a grassy bald (no trees) up to 50 mph with a constant 30mph wind, 35 degree temperature, 99 percent humidity as we were walking through a cloud/fog, sore feet/bodies from the 32 miles the day previous and to top it off, a full intestinal track... Let's just say this was the worst weather I have ever EVER encountered in my life and may be just be most epic I may ever encounter on the trail (or I would like to think).
Ok enough story time for me. Back to getting some midday sleep for me as I enjoy my zero, in my tent as it's raining and will continue to rain for the next 48 hours - and thus why we decided to hike 50 miles in two days (to avoid walking in the rain on top of the horrible conditions we were already in). Sometimes there is method to the madness.
