Day 58/May 29

Miles hiked: Zero

I'm now home in Lee and taking a couple of days off to get ready for my next section, from Killington, Vermont to Mount Katahdin, Maine, which will be another 495 miles.

Here are some of my observations about the hike so far, after hiking 791.83 miles:

• First, I still don't like camping of any sort, either in a shelter or in a tent; you arrive tired, sweaty and dirty needing to set-up, whether it is in a shelter or your tent. There's no easy way to get clean before you try to get to sleep; yes, you can try to rinse off with water and get into some clean clothes for sleeping, but the fact is that I'm still sticky as hell, even if I use Dr. Bronners soap as part of the cleaning. That means, as a side sleeper that my legs stick together--yeah, it's probably just me, but that drives me crazy. And I've tried covering my legs with either silk leggings or my nylon running pants, but that makes me fairly hot and stick, too. Can't win for trying. While home I'm buying some loose leggings made by Calvin Klein; while I wanted 100% cotton, those seem impossible to find, so I will try these made of rayon, which is supposed to breathe as well as cotton. We shall see.
• Second, the people I've met on the AT are great--interesting, helpful and focused on the task at hand. There seems to be two main age groups on the trail, the Young Ones and the Old Ones. There aren't that many middle-aged thru hikers; they are probably too overwhelmed with work and family to find the time to be away for 5-6 months, which is completely understandable. The Young Ones hike fast and sometimes long distances, but the Old Ones tend to hike longer and will often catch or pass the Young Ones by the end of the day.
• Third, it's hard work hiking the AT. Everyone takes a tumble now and then, you just pray that it won't ruin your hike. The constant elevation changes will wear you down fairly quickly. Finding water can sometimes be a problem, which means that one often has to carry a lot more weight than you would like. Normally, I carry only a liter of water, usually good for 6 to 10 miles, if it isn't too hot. The distances between shelters or tent sites can necessitate traveling a bit further, or less, than you might like to do for the day, but you have to take what's available, not what you wish for.
• Fourth, it is hard to monitor your own health. It wasn't until I was home that I concluded that I was suffering from some sort of minor lung infection--confirmed when I started coughing up some phlegm. And while I thought I was eating a lot, especially in towns, my weight was down 9 pounds from 143 to 134! Perhaps a good part of that might have been dehydration, but not all of it. No wonder I was feeling a bit week just before I got off the trail.
• Fifth, hiking with a buddy helps the miles fly by and if you can share a motel room, reduces the expense of getting off trail. However, I'm perfectly fine hiking alone, too. Often I may hike with someone for part of the day, then due to our own hiking preferences, we may separate, but agree to stop at the same location for the night.
• Sixth, I think that unless I get injured or sick, I should be able to finish the AT.