Date: 2016-07-09
From: Consultation Mt

To: Rt 9 Bennington, VT
Miles today: 7.4

I was up at about 5 this morning listening to the rain hitting my tent. I noticed that it was actually just the remnants of the storm coming down from the trees when the wind was blowing. The cold front that past in the night caused the morning to feel much cooler than the usual hot days I¢ve been experiencing lately.I managed to do my stretching routine, get my bear bag down, pack up, and start hiking by 6 am. It had stopped raining but the vegetation along the sides of the trail was still wet. I struggled to see the path in front of me, blinking my eyes to try and get them to focus. I felt like I wasn¢t awake yet. I didn¢t have any coffee or ¢wakeup¢ time to get my mind going. On top of this due to the thick cloud cover it was fairly dark out. The trail and forest had a sinister wet, mossy, remote feel to it. My hike this morning was not fun. The trail wasn¢t too bad, I mean it had plenty of rocks and roots to step over, but the lack of sun combined with the aches and pains in my body had me feeling less than enthusiastic. I¢ve been hiking since February 5th - Just over six months, although I have taken a few breaks here and there.I¢m tired. Physically and mentally. My legs, toes, and both feet hurt. I don¢t have much interest in getting to know other hikers other than to get information about where I can find the next water source. If I wasn¢t pushing a timeline to get to Katahdin before its closed on October 15th I would most likely take a week or so off to rest up and recharge. I need to find a way to increase my ¢get up and go¢ without taking too many days off from hiking. So here¢s my ¢Green Hat¢ list. I used to teach my clients that the green hat allows you to come up with many potential solutions - no matter how crazy or practical they may sound. The purpose is just to get as many ideas down as possible in the hopes that you might discover something valuable in the list. Here goes¢¦Ideas on how to recharge my batteries & recommit to making it all the way=========================================================================Go walk in a pool (this is great therapy for my foot)get a massageFoot reflexology Go see a movieeat a nice dinner at a real restaurantgo visit my parents in Maine for a few daysgo home quit (hey these are just green hat ideas, ok?)clean my clothesstay at a nice hotel stay at a hostel, hang around and enjoy resting and talking w other hikersgo shorter distances, 6 - 8 miles a dayslackpackhire a sherpa to carry my gearGet someone to rent an RV and meet me at days end at road crossingshike with less gear/weighttry new shoesget new sock linerstry mole skin type cushions around my toessoak in a hot tubgo home and soak in OUR hot tubHug my wifepet my dogeat a rice crispy treatdrain my legs (Legs up on the wall)write a page on why I want to finish the ATwrite a page on how horrible it will be if I quitget some new audio booksdownload some podcasts so i can listen when i don¢t have coverage to streamfind some new music to listen to while hikingUPDATE:OK, so I already started on a few of these. I¢m at a laundromat, I went to the YMCA to pool walk and take a nice long hot shower. I¢m going to go to an Indian restaurant tonight and go shopping for dinners I can pack on the trail that don¢t need to be cooked so I can try out hiking without my stove. UPDATE 2:My foot is feeing SO much better. It may seem crazy that walking in a pool can help but it¢s awesome therapy for me. I¢m going to try and do more pool walks when I can fit them in. The nice Indian place was packed and I settled for choice number 2, a Colombian place which is where I am now. The music has too load bass for me but I¢m doing my best to ignore it so that I have a chance of getting a decent meal, time to go shopping, and also get to bed before hiker midnight at 9 pm. I¢m going to continue to build upon this list while I¢m hiking tomorrow. Thanks for staying with me - especially during the tougher parts of my adventure.