Eyes open, the post office chronicles and routine

It’s been quite a while since my last post and overall, well, I’m alive.

Let’s take this back to Waynesboro Virginia, where I last left it.

The group I was with thought Shenandoah Aquablaze would be a fun side quest before heading back to Damascus for Trail Days. The Aquablaze lasted less than a day and in horrible conditions. The river was too low and the people I was with disappeared early in the morning and I couldn’t keep up. The water level was only a few centimeters deep in some points, requiring us to get out and walk along the river. The planned route was 21 miles of which we covered 9 miles throughout the day. My legs got so sunburned that they broke out in blisters, and by the end of that day, I was mentally broken. No more side quests, no more fun. Continue walking and finish the trail.

After the Shenandoah debacle, our group returned to Swift Run Gap in the Shenandoahs. We started heading up SOBO back to Rockfish Gap. All day my mind was furious. I was doing the trail and the others were burning yellow, laughing, having fun jumping miles. I mean, I came to hike the Appalachian Trail, not skip it all and falsely claim to be a hiker, but enough is enough. My mind was heated and I just wanted to walk. I ended up leaving them behind and it took me 2 days to get back to Rockfish Gap. Returning to Waynesboro, there were the yellow flames returning to the city. That’s it, I’ll skip the trail days and stick to the trail, no more side quests and no more nonsense.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Mind focused on the trail I began to develop a rhythm. Wake up, eat, brush your teeth, pack your bags, walk until 2 pm and try to cover 15-20 miles by then, rest and drink as much as possible but efficiently, walk up to an hour before dark and check the weather forecast for the next day. This allowed me to steadily ride 20 to 35 miles, day after day, into Massachusetts, where I would slow down for about a week before getting back into my rhythm.

I’ve had 2 zero days since Waynesboro and have been very tired, but the end is close to 500 miles.

The post office makes me postal

During this period, some people have sent me resupply packages, often giving them 2 weeks or months to arrive before I arrive to pick up the package. Out of 8 boxes I have shipped only 2 have arrived. Food, gear and shoes have not arrived and some packages are showing «in transit» for over a month at this time. In Rutland, Vermont, Postmaster ‘Curtis King’ told me he opened my package because he was curious to know what was inside. He then taped the box shut, labeled it with a different address, and shipped it the day before I came to pick it up. WHO DOES THIS!!! His eyes were covered in glitter, he stumbled and slurred his words. Beyond disappointed with the post office along the AT. I strongly recommend not sending replenishment packages through the post office.

The postal tirade is over.

Lessons learned

I have learned a lot on this walk. Very different from other hikes.

1. Walking alone is the only way: I tried walking with other people, I went on the tram and I only had a couple of people that I enjoyed and would have liked to walk with, but things happen.

2. Stay away from social media influencers – they only care about the views, they will skip miles and count it as a hike, I’m not a purist after hiking with these people and that bothers me a little. They plan their route angels and mileage around that and I found myself stuck on low mileage days or caught in avoidable situations. Generally frustrating.

3. Trail Angels – This is tough because I love Trail Angels who love hikers. I don’t know what it’s called Trail Angels who only show up to see a hiker who will be passing through that day, usually a social media influencer, but this has happened several times this year. A trail angel sets up shop at the trailhead, offers you a refreshment or meal, asks you to sign something, and you’re on your way. As soon as the person they were waiting for arrives, they attend to them. Here comes all the food, drinks, gear and all that, but it’s not for you, it’s for those hikers and once those hikers leave, they pack up and leave. Now I still appreciate Gatorade or anything else because it’s unexpected, but when I do trail magic I do it for everyone and on a whim without knowing what to expect or who I’ll see. Maybe I’m seeing this as a bit salty, maybe I should be grateful to these social media people for bringing up these ‘angels’. I don’t know, but a BIG shout out to those who leave coolers for everyone and to those who show up because they like to do it.

4. HYOH: Everyone has heard the phrase Walk your own walk. Not everyone agrees, I’ve seen people skip to hike with others, end their hike for hiking with the wrong people, make other hikers manage the entire day around theirs. That HYOH has never been as pleasant as this year to walk ALONE. I control what I want to do, I go at my own pace, I poop in the woods alone and I don’t have people watching me. Yes, it’s happened again, I just seem to encounter strange trams watching each other defecate. If you do, I’ll keep it to myself.

5. Nobody cares, you do. Every time I open my phone out of airplane mode I look for a text, a call, something. Nothing. People are always on their phones, texting, calling, FaceTime, etc. No one contacts me and you know what, that’s great, I know who I won’t see when I get off the road. They don’t surprise me, but it makes me realize that everyone was fake before coming here. Big changes are coming when you return home. Too bad I had to walk a lot to realize that, but here I am.

6. Pain is weakness leaving the body: A high school teacher told me this years ago and I have felt a lot of pain leaving my body during this walk. The mindset about life has changed and looking forward to it after the hike, life will be very different. This hike was exactly what I needed. There are no details on this, but I appreciate that the trail provides clarity when the busyness of the world clouds your vision in everyday life.

Final thoughts

I haven’t posted here for a while and mainly because I discovered a lot of things. I’m also having a hard time sending Trail Correspondents recordings on time because I’m working all day, from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. It’s work, physical, mental, emotional and everything in between.

I have nothing to prove and no people to impress, this will be my last post until I’m done because that’s all I’m focused on right now. Finish and come home to change every aspect of my life.

Writing for the trip has been difficult and I knew having time to publish would have been difficult. I guess if it takes you 6-8 months to walk instead of 4 months, you’ll probably be fine.

PipSkweek out to Katahdin

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