There is a point where you lean, there is a point where you break …

Honestly, for a donations -based shelter where shelter owners do not have other forms of significant/obvious income, the beds in the Deli de Deli Albergue yellow hostel were fantastic. It is clearly a love job. But yes, there are many things that I do not agree with everything they believe. However, I still recommend that people stay, since it is a kind of «iconic» experience.

Somehow I was the first to wake up in our liter, which was wild. But, I still feel exhausted, even after zero yesterday. In fact, I feel exhausted in general. After overcoming Killington, and seeing the sign of «500 miles to Katahdin» … That was the first time I really wanted this to end. I am sure that constant malnavitation and low energy do not help. It is sad that my body is failing me. It is curious how there is a parable between «Got My Trail Piers» and «My legs are strong but my body is dying.»

All that to say that leaving the shelter was a difficult question. I went to breakfast: cottage cheese, eggs and cheese on rice. I don’t like cottage cheese, so I gave it away, but I lowered the rest. They also made a great coffee. On the table, Re-Met Bridget, who was a lieutenant who met on his first night on the path, and sat down and heard what others planned to do today. Peanut and Tode were taking a zero in the Delicatessen store, and Plinko/Woodworm was going to start up the long path instead of AT. I really didn’t want to concentrate on Rutland, so I decided to move on.

But, a business order. For the path, I have been using the Shokz OpenFit 2 headphones, which have been great. I constantly used them to run, and I love how I can listen to my environment while they are still on. Just a problem … use a patented load case. And one of the pins in the case is permanently embedded, which means that it has been increasingly difficult to make my headphones load. Finally, however, it seems that the case has finally breathed its last breath. So I went to Walmart with the hope of finding a new pair. Unfortunately, they were out of the model I had, but they had the old Air Openfit, so I only went with them. I can already foresee problems with the tactile controls accidentally beaten by the error network, but what should you do when your technology fails you?

He filed a guarantee claim and obtained a near Pricochopper sandwich, before returning to the shelter. I missed bus 9:15 … So I took my time talking to Plinko and Wormwood a little more, picking things about things. Especially Plinko. It was a great help in the days of paths that I could not avoid almost feeling that it is partially a mentor. He asked about his food strategies, his hiking strategies, mentalities, all those good things.

Leaving aside all this thought, then I went to catch … the bus! The Deli de Alambres yellow shelter does not bother to provide ferries, since Vermont offers a very cheap bus that goes from the inn in Long Trail (where I went out with my friends two days ago) directly to a bus stop just one block from the shelter. I got on and the driver and I started a conversation about how my walk is going. And, this dear reader, is where I have to admit something.

I am quite burned with the path. Maybe extremely burned out of the way. I did not expect the path «to change me» or anything, but at least I expected it to spend a great time at all times. And it really was! … to the middle Atlantic. And although New England provided a small impulse, there are still really hot conditions and the errors to deal with. And then there is the deal with the completion date. In fact, I am now earlier than expected, even with the whites often standing in the distance. So, I know I can take it easy, right? The problem is … I can’t even gather energy to sleep outdoors. The open air sometimes feels like a coffin of insects, rain and heat, and something in me wants nothing more than a month in which I can sit inside and watch a movie, or something. But that is me just wanting another extreme.

I think the best thing I can do is try to take some good near or zeros and then walk in better conditions. I know my thoughts about this change constantly. There are days when I am approaching (usually when there is a good coffee on the road …), and there are days when I can’t even walk another step (like today). I should throw this final date through the window … and let the path end when it ends. Trying to force something is not helping. If I get to Shaw’s, and one day I am out of my goal, of course, I will take an extra zero or something. But it is useless to think about all this when I still have the 450 miles more difficult. (By the way, since this was written about three weeks ago … I could have different opinions and better strategies to manage exhaustion 😉)

They left me in the inn on Long Trail, I took a look and remembering how I felt when my friends were close. Then, I started. Up, and up, and up … and then down and down. Back to Morgan, a MA/VT section hiker who is walking with his dog! I am not sure if I wrote about the first encounter with her, but it was at the Rock Pond shelter the night before Killington. He had given a little with some coatings and inconsistent breach, so I helped her find her way, and we walked together for about an hour. It was good to talk … And this is where I realized something else. Partly why I am so out of that is probably because I have not yet found my «tribe.» Of all the long paths, the AT is one of the tranamilias, but I have not been able to find one that matches my rhythm and also be good matches for me as people. There have been a few moments, but then I burn and want to get ahead, or I have a stream of energy and I want to walk, and they are left behind. For a social path … It has been a lonely walk.

I know that the true bubble is about three weeks behind me, and there is a very small mini bubble one week behind me. And given how far my end date is, I could wait a week. But sitting for a week will probably bring that other feeling back. The feeling that I am not going to get to «on time», which it really means on time. All this is very fun. I shouldn’t be worried about any of this. The path is so simple. Just walk forward. But it’s me. This was something that was supposed to work. *sigh*.

Morgan and I separated in the Gifford Woods State Park, where I was going to triple zero. Actually, he had come beyond his planned walk, and he needed to kill some time before his trip caught her in Norwich, so he was going to spend a little R&R here, watch some movies, go to the city on the bus. That sounds so good …

However, I am advancing a little ahead, because I want to reach the whites for the weekend. While I don’t think anyone is necessarily waiting for me for something important, it is still a destination close enough to Boston that there is the possibility that something magically happens this weekend if the time comes. In addition, being ahead of the mini bubble or other hikers, makes it more likely to get a work for stay. Yes, even with all this complaining that it is a lonely path … There are still some prominent aspects. The camp selection is one of them. So many marbles to roll in the head … (if you can’t say, this has been in my mind for a long time).

Wow, we are already in 1300 words for this blog post … What suffering! Sorry for that, but I thought it is better to let people enter my true mental state instead of pretending that everything on the road is Hunky Dory.

Then, I began to fight to walk during the day. The humidity was on the roof, it felt as if I was walking through the soup! Cabalized by the lovely Kent Pond, and then back, up and upwards. This is where I found some more problems … I ran out of water. I thought there would be a source due to some larger comments and recent rains … but it was dry. So my normal caffeine photo I have around 2 pm was not there. That probably also contributed to the saddest feelings that I can normally dodge.

Unfortunately … hereinafter! I took frequent breaks not to let my heart rate get too high in the heat, but when I arrived at the Stony Brook shelter, I was beat. He drank as much water as I could fit in my belly, and then grabbed more for the road. I probably overloaded in the water since there are reliable sources on the road, but today it didn’t matter. I just wanted to get anything like I could in my system.

The rest of the day became a monotonous slog/blur. He was being attacked by errors at all angles. I was going through a rough land, just wondering when everything was going to end. I grabbed some water for the rest of my day, but what should have been a 10 -minute stop became 30, since I could no longer move. It turns out that, although today I made 15 miles of 15 miles, I still almost made 5K in Vert. I didn’t even plan this in advance … so he kicked me in the back. That, and I’ve been fighting to eat.

I know I have been going through ketosis recently. My clothes smell sour. But whatever happens, I just can’t get enough calories. A lot of fried potatoes, frozen foods, ramen, packets of tuna, nuts and nuts. None of that feels good down. And yet, I can still feel weaker every day. I know there is no real way to «lose» on a walk, and yet it seems that I am losing.

Then, I ended the day in the unofficial «shelter» of lookout, which is a private property cabin reserved for hikers. Inside, I returned to Marky-Mark, who camped in Greenwall the day I was there. Huh, it seems that everyone has surpassed me before. I guess that means that now I go to the average rhythm. I went up to the top to get some spectacular views as I had dinner, but I could not enjoy it for a long time … even about 30 feet high, the insects were still vicious! So I did my best and went to bed.

I was not feeling it today. It’s hot again. Maybe I should wait. I think I will launch this birthday plan on the drain and discover another way of spending it. Who knows more?

(Title lyrics by: Time to Say Goodbye, Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams)