YOYO ATTEMPT?!? – The walk

YOYO THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL?!

What possesses someone to hike the Appalachian Trail not once but twice a year? I don’t have a logical answer for that, but that’s my intention.

I never wanted to do the AT, but due to recent circumstances, I switched from doing the PCT this year, which would have been my second hike on that trail, to doing the AT. A trail that I always told myself… no. Never!

I figure, in my own delusional way, that if I’m going to hike the Appalachian Trail, I might as well do it twice. For me there is nothing inspiring about the trail. My heart is on the west coast where the beauty is. The east coast, however, I haven’t spent too much time on so I might like it a little.

Find address

I have a house, I have 80 hectares, I have animals, vehicles and basically life. However, over the past few months I have taken a look at my life and realized that I am not happy. I have a lot, I have worked hard for what I have, but I am still not happy.

When I climbed the PCT in 2018, I was happy! When I started the path I became depressed and the path healed me. Now, there is no depression but heartbreak over a relationship that ended one day after an incredible day, out of nowhere, for no reason (or none was given) and completely dismissed by a stonewaller. That hit hard, harder than any depression I had ever faced and my life was shattered. All the joy, happiness and future disappeared in seconds.

Finding direction after loss

I lost everything, hope, dreams, happiness and, well, love. The only thing I knew that had helped me before in my darkest moments was hiking. I originally planned to hike the AT NOBO, PCT SOBO, and then float across the Mississippi River by 2026. I have revised that plan to reduce the stress on my mental health by doing one of the more difficult hikes. A YOYO in the AT.

There will be plenty of time to think, reset, grow, seek direction, plan my future, excel, break the limits of my mind and all I have to do is put one foot in front of the other, day after day until I get to Katahdin, then turn around and march back to Springer. Knowing that I won’t forget what I went through will haunt me all the way, no doubt, but I’m doing something meaningful in my life.

Post-trail life

Where will I go after the trail? Not on the way back (home), but I think I’ll figure it out on the way. I have no direction yet, but the trail provides it. I believe in that. I want a life that I am happy with, one that allows me to walk more, experience more, learn more, connect more and dissociate from the norms of society where we feel like we have to live a certain way, act a certain way and start over, that’s the only way.

The paths are for the broken, and the path does nothing but heal those who seek it. Follow the path and good things will come. Love others, love life and love yourself.

clay nemo

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