Date: 2014-05-31
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It has been about 10 months since I summited Katahdin - wow! The year has been a good one and working half-time has been a true gift. I¢ve had Tuesdays and Fridays off all year, and I¢ve found that having these extra days has allowed me to spend more time outside, which is something I¢ve craved after all of those months on the trail. Let¢s see¢¦ what should I say about post-trail life? This is something that doesn¢t seem to get discussed too much in trail journals since the emphasis is on the actual hike. Before I left I felt fortunate to have a happy life here in Vermont, with a great community of friends and family. I returned to the same, so it has all been good. The longer away from the trail the more I miss it, however. When I first returned home I thought I¢d never even entertain the thought of another long distance trail, but as the months roll on the tough times fade into distant memories, and all the good times are what is remembered. I really miss the hiking community, and I feel fortunate to have connected with some of my hiking family this year. Facebook has been a great way to keep up with many of the hikers I know. In September Tommyhawk, Goat, and Just Maine (their friend Fred, who hiked the final 120 miles with them) made a trip to Vermont, and I met them for lunch. Maineiac just completed his freshman year at Green Mountain College, only an hour and a half drive from where I live, so I met him for pizza in the fall. He filled me in on a hiker gathering at Mudmouth and Yardsale¢s home in NH, so we had great fun at an early Thanksgiving feast there with Patriot and his wife Jan, the Triplets, Mudmouth, Yardsale, and Maineiac. In February John (aka Easy Rider) and I traveled to Maine to see our daughter and caught up with Tin Cup and his wife Jenna for dinner in Bangor. Then in April we traveled to NM to see our son and I made a surprise visit to Logan in Albuquerque. And lastly, Tommyhawk, Goat and Just Maine made a trip to VT last weekend. Our initial plan was to spend a night or two on the Long Trail, but due to unsettled weather the plans evolved into a bakery and brewery visit one day, and a 10-mile Killington dayhike loop that put us back on the AT followed by a barbecue at their friends¢ Chris and Darlene¢s home in Rutland. We realized that we no longer had anything to prove, so why hike and camp in the rain if we didn¢t need to?! I¢ve added some pictures to the photo section showing these reunions.Physically, I continue to feel pretty good. I just re-read my initial off-trail entry, and have to be honest that I didn¢t keep my weight within a 5 pound goal. I lost about 20 pounds, and have gained about 10 back, so I¢m still ahead on the weight situation. As this weight went on at first I was pretty hard on myself, and then realized that I lost the weight via 20-mile hiking days going up and down hills with a 25 pound pack on my back, and that¢s just not going to happen in my real life. I still walk quite a bit and I also do my best to go to some strength training classes at our local gym. I¢ve had great fun speaking about my adventure a few times, and have one more talk scheduled in two weeks. My first presentation was at a Green Mountain Club sponsored event in late February. I had a great crowd and the talk went okay, but I realized I had way, way too many pictures. Following that, our daughter was home for a bit and she helped me cull the pictures with a critical eye. I had too many pictures of food in the first grouping, and as Hannah said ¢mom, you already have plenty of food and shelter pictures!¢. When I spoke at the second presentation, I felt as though I hit my groove, and had a much tighter one-hour talk. I¢ve since spoken at our local library and to a girl scout troop, and will speak at another library in a couple of weeks. Each time I speak is a cathartic experience, giving me a chance to re-live the memories.I¢m vicariously following a bunch of trail journals this year. I¢m particularly enjoying Left Turn¢s and FlossiMarji/SquirrelJim¢s trail journals. Infinity¢s back on the trail (go, Infinity!), picking it up at Harper¢s Ferry, and I¢m following her as well. I met Professor T at one of my talks, and he¢s making fantastic time up the trail. I was contacted by Storyfoot and we met for tea in Burlington before she left on her hike in April. I also had the pleasure of meeting Ellie B at one of my talks, and she¢s blogging for Appalachian Trials, so I try to keep tabs on her as well. I¢ll admit it, I¢m also following a couple of Pacific Crest journals as well. Zippy, who I met with his partner Diddo in Maine last year, is almost 800 miles into the PCT. Mack, who I met briefly at Fontana Lodge, is also hiking the PCT and has a trail journal. Buddy Backpacker and his family are out there as well. I still don¢t know what I think about the PCT¢¦ those first 600 miles or so through desert conditions don¢t sound too appealing. Chino mentions the Colorado Trail, and after visiting southwest Colorado during our trip to NM in April, that 500 mile trail seems a bit more enticing.At some point during the past year, Goat posted something on Facebook, and Tin Cup responded with the question to him ¢so what¢s your next Katahdin?¢. I think that summarizes my post-hike status. What is my next Katahdin? I¢d never set such a big goal for myself, and now that I accomplished my goal, what¢s next? In Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rillke wrote: ¢Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart¢¦ live in the question¢ (thanks to Maiden Vermont director, Lindi Bortney, for turning me on to this quote). It truly is okay to live in the question, although my feet are itchy and I think about what might be next.In late March I headed out on one of my walks without my microspikes, thinking we were done with the ice, and slipped just a few feet from our house. I got up, realized my wrist was sore but thought I¢d walk it off, so Zorro and I walked on. About .5 miles later I came to the conclusion that something was truly wrong, so we headed back to the house and called the doctor. Turns out I¢d broken my wrist, which was a very humbling experience after all those months hiking through often sketchy weather injury free! During my recovery time in my bright blue waterproof cast, long-suffering Easy suggested I hike the Tour du Mont Blanc this summer. As he said, ¢you¢re in good health (well, except for the broken wrist), you¢ve got the time, so call our daughter and see if she wants to go with you¢. He also pointed out that I have itchy feet and need to be planning a hike of some kind! I told him that the Tour du Mont Blanc was on my 5 to 10 year hiking list, but I could certainly go for it this summer. I called Hannah, who took a few days to think it over, and she decided she¢d love to come along.So that¢s what¢s next for me. I¢ll be hiking a section of the AT with my friend Nancy in late June, and then Hannah and I will depart on our hiking adventure in late July. The Tour du Mont Blanc is a 105 mile hiking route that goes around Mont Blanc, starting in France and passing through Italy and Switzerland along the way. The views are supposed to be amazing, and what¢s really nice is that there¢s an extensive hut system. This means that we¢ll be doing the hike WITHOUT A TENT, STOVE, FOOD, AND SLEEPING BAG (caps intended). The huts provide dorm style accommodations, showers, dinners, and breakfasts, and there are opportunities to pick up lunch foods and snacks along the way. To me, this seems like the ultimate in luxury hiking, and I¢m all over it.I¢ll be posting a trail journal, and you can see the link to the left. I¢m not sure about internet connectivity in Europe along the trail, but I¢ll give it a try. Stay tuned, and thanks for following along!