One Quarter of the Trail Completed
Starting mile 547.7
After pushing hard yesterday I figured I would take it easy today. I slept in and didn’t hit the trail until just after 8 am. The morning started with a nice climb. It’s gotten to the point now that a 500-foot climb in the morning is no big deal. I would say that I’ve got my trail legs now.
Today ended up being a boring day of hiking. Thru hikers go through a few different stages as they hike. The first stage is physical. Every day you get progressively stronger. Miles come easier as do climbs. I’ve past this phase of the trip. Now I’m in phase two, the mental stage. This stage usually starts once you’re in Virginia. The novelty of walking every day has worn off. Now it is your job. Some days you’re not going to want to move, but you must.
Today was one of those days. I kept moving forward, not because I really wanted to, but because I needed to. I wasn’t going to have any great views today and I was going to have a bunch of pointless ups and downs. The only semi-interesting thing today was that I hit the quarter way. I’ve now done 25% of the trail.
I wish I had more to say, but it was one of those days. I still got 17.9 miles in with 4,300 feet of elevation gain, but my heart was never really in it today.
Ending mile 565.6.
Comments
One response
Congratulations on achieving 25% of your hike my friend.