You’ve all won the chance to come hike with me!
I’m currently right outside of Woodstock VT, and will be in Etna NH in about 3 days, so if you’ve ever wanted to come spend some time hiking with me in the woods, let’s see if we can make it happen!
Let me know! I’d love the company to help me get over this mental barrier
The best part of hiking the AT? The trail deja vu (or however you spell that).
I realize now how helpful having Finn with me was to helping me pace myself. Sure, having him with me made a lot of things more difficult (I.e. Finding rides/rooms/resupply) but he really did help me pace myself.
Basically, I’m starting to feel that all too familiar tension in my hip again. My guess would be from doing big mile days all week, through mud, and uphill. I knew I shouldn’t have tried days in the teens (including a 16.7 mile day) when I was starting back out, but did I listen to my brain? Nope. So now I am resting up and taking a zero that wasn’t planned (after taking another zero that wasn’t planned).
Am I bummed out? Absolutely not. I got to spend time with my dad, I have a salad and a panini to eat, and also, am watching baseball in a nice motel room.
Am I nervous about moving forward from here? Absolutely. I’m going to spend time today stretching and resting my hip, but am nervous about proceeding into the last stretch of VT & the first part of NH. But hey, I’m relearning that old lesson that if I want to be successful, I have to listen to myself and take my time.
This is the last bit of the trail and also the part I’ve most been looking forward to, since I know it will be wicked tough, (especially considering I’m not the biggest fan of some of NH’s mountains where you’re up on a peak that is super steep & one wrong move could be super not good for you).
I plan on trying to slackpack at some point in NH (and maybe even Maine) so I can cover more ground, and not have to worry about my pack weighting me down. I’m pretty sure I could do a few big mile days (like, big-big, maybe 20 or so) if I just had a day pack with lunch and water in it, so we shall see!
All I know is, I never want to feel as weak as I did when I came off of the trail last year. To be told “oh no, you can’t lift that” or “just take it easy and rest, we will take care of it” (especially at work) was the absolute worst. So, if it means “only” doing 10 mile days, I will “only” do that. I’m about to be facing actual mountains and don’t want to miss out because I pushed myself to hard too soon.
Good news? The hammock setup is really a lot better than my tent. I used it a few nights this week & each time I woke up feeling rested. It is an adjustment, and I’m still trying to figure out how to perfectly set it up, but hey, it has already paid off!
Helllooooo everybody! I’ve missed you all & I apologize for the radio silence!
So, let’s get into the details!
As of today, I am back on the trail (have about 2 days left of MA & then I’ll be in VT). I took some time off (okay, about a month and a half…but who is counting?) I felt the need to go back and work the spring Connects season at the job I love so much, and hopefully get my camp fix. Well, I’m happy to report, it worked!
Taking the time to be with family and friends (and dogs, lots of dogs) has set me back, but also refueled my want to finish this trail.
But Hannah, what changed?
Well, when you listen to yourself, good things happen! Additionally I met some new friends via work that really helped me appreciate myself (not like I didn’t before, but their perspectives challenged how I view myself). These three lovely ladies have a sisterhood focused on the importance of recognizing your worth & building you up so you realize how worthy you are.
Now, I did just meet them (so hopefully they don’t mind being featured here), but they all individually helped me realize different things about myself, which was then multiplied when we all hung out together.
Don’t get me wrong, I knew I was worthy of great things before I met them, but I left those conversations feeling validated with who I am and what I’m doing, and re-energized, enough to the point where I can be out here on my own, about to face the toughest 3 states of the trail.
So, shoutout to the Worthy Crew, thank you all for letting me into your world!
But wait, there’s more!
These last few weeks at home allowed me to reconnect with the more fun loving side of myself, and I owe that to all of my friends and family. I hadn’t realized that I had gotten to the point of taking myself so seriously, that I couldn’t cut loose and let myself be silly/carefree.
Here’s the amazing part, you ready? I hope I can finish the trail this summer (lord knows I want to move on to the next adventure), but I no longer am stressing. I’m sure part of this is due to being closer to home & my support system, but also I want to actually enjoy myself. I didn’t realize I had reverted back to the “go go go!” Mentality that I had last year. Sure, I still have that drive, but I’m also going to take the time and count how many frogs I’ve seen today (25), or take the time to laugh at the fact that some random hiker saw me dancing like a fool, and the proceed to slip in the mud & fall (landed on my ribs, no good, but I’m okay).
So after today, I now have 620.4 miles left.
Which, by the way, is INSANE.
Tomorrow I’ll do either 13.9 or 17.2…if I do the 13.9, I’ll be at the shelter right before Greylock, if I do the 17.2, I’ll be at the bunkhouse on the top of Greylock. It doesn’t look like TOO bad of a day elevation wise, but this is also the book of lies, so who knows!
Tough things from day 1:
1) taking all that time off destroyed my trail legs (though I was belaying and stuff all day during my time off, so it could be worse)
2) I have a sinus infection right now, which is making it challenging to breathe/not feel dizzy/the list goes on.
3) Massachusetts is MUD CITYYY. Which isn’t bad & I’m kind of having fun with it, but hiking in wet shoes all day is already becoming an issue.
4) somehow my pack is WICKED heavy.
GREAT THINGS:
1) I wasn’t the only hiker on the trail today
2) I got an ice cream that was pretty good
3) I wrote a poem I feel pretty good about
4) I hiked further (farther?) than I meant to today, which was tough in the moment, but now tomorrow I can choose a shorter day or longer day.
5) I had a friend offer to join me next week, so hopefully she will!
Hello everybody!
Just wanted to fill you all in on my journey and the changes to the plan! I’m currently home for a mini trailcation, which (if everything goes well) will be the last trailcation I take before finishing the AT!
I have 3.5 states left to go & will be starting the last 639.8 mile leg of my trip next Tuesday afternoon. I’ll be heading out of Lee MA, and would love to be in touch with those of you who’ve said they’d like to hike in VT/NH/ME with me! Of course if you’d like to hike that last bit of MA with me, that’s fine too, but with my mid-week start date it might not be the easiest thing for you to get out there & it could be tough logistically.
MA should take about 3-4 days to finish & then I’ll be on to VT. I figured out that I should basically be finished with this hike in about 2 months so that’s pretty cool & very surreal.
*I need to find a black lab/black shepherd stuffed animal to bring with me when I summit, if anyone has any leads on said item, please let me know!
The other update is that I am currently awaiting the arrival of my hammock setup & am so happy to be making the switch. Sure, it’s a little freaky to be making a major gear change this late in the game & with not the most experience, but good news is if something goes completely wrong, I can use said hammock as a tent, or just sleep in a shelter. I think I can manage, it’s not my first time hammocking, I just hope I have everything! (Good news is I have some time to test out my setup before I leave)
Heading North 