Date: 2015-06-14
From: Ohio/Wisconsin

To: PA309 Blue Mountain BnB
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

6/14, PA 309, 11.5I am back, mostly. One of the suggestions I received from my older brother as I returned to the trail made sense, even more so now that I am hiking again. This is a long journey and largely has become an endurance test with a heavy dose of challenge in cognitive emotional ways so he suggested I treat the remaining hike as a new adventure. While I did not follow through and remove my beard and hair I have taken a new hike approach to my daily goals, somewhat. When I left two weeks ago I was covering 20 plus miles daily over varied terrain. Today I quickly realized that my 17 mile "shortened" goal, was not short enough. My legs felt heavy and sluggish enough that I will need a few shorter days to recondition the physical losses of the largely inactive days off. But as I am prone to do, I am ahead of myself.Thank you all for the encouragement during this time away. I was glad to be home for the events of the past two weeks, but needed to get this finished. Even so, coming back to the trail was emotionally more difficult than I anticipated. When I have been off before for longer than a single zero there is a nervousness related to starting again. A certain level of physical comfort sets in that is again being discarded, and the desire to hike must overcome those comforts. After two weeks those comforts are intertwined with the high level of pleasure I have in my daily life. Many are hiking this trail to sort out their future, make transitions, and/or deal with where their life "is". That is not my case. My life, family and friends have blessed me with the freedom to do this, and their care for me and our relationships are a catch 22, making it possible and difficult at the same time. That said, I was a ball of nerves getting ready and heading to the trail this morning. Kathy and I woke at 5, showered, ate the continental breakfast at the hotel and headed out at 6:45. Due to a local event the nearest hotel was 40 min from the trailhead, and we needed to stop for a Gatorade resupply. A quick stop at the grocery in Hamburg and Kathy had me ready to hike back at Eckville shelter and on trail at 8:30. I remember trying the first few hundred yards of trail two weeks past and realizing it was not a good decision to keep going. Today I felt like I wanted to attack the trail and make my way quickly north, but my legs had other plans. I felt good, no back or foot issues anymore, but it was clear I was going to have to take a conditioning approach to hiking. I recalled the way it felt those first days in Georgia, and felt stronger than that so I took comfort in those thoughts. Nevertheless I hiked up the first incline with a little difficulty once again getting used to the effort required. Generally I would climb 1000 ft over the first three miles and then the rest of the hike was rolling up and down a couple hundred at a time for several miles. The rocks didn't go anywhere so the footing is still very uneven and at the high point of the climb I took in a great view at a boulder stand called Dan's pulpit where one could presumably preach to the world. It was clear, so the view was nice. The temperature by 10 am reached the low 80's and the humidity was high so keeping hydrated was a priority as I hiked and sweated heavily. Once up on the ridge though a slight breeze and the forest cover made hiking bearable but I kept drinking. I arrived at the first shelter of the day 7 miles into my hike after 3 1/2 hours. My pace was good, but by that time I was beginning to feel fatigue already in my legs. I met a hiking family from Alaska at my lunch stop and learned they are thru hiking as a post retirement trip with their daughter who is headed to grad school this fall. They mentioned they were heading to a BnB four miles further that was right on the trail where they were stopping for the night. I was still planning to add 10 more miles to my day so I bid them farewell as they hiked on while I finished my lunch. I took a 45 minute rest at lunch and strapped on my pack restarting at 12:00. It soon became clear that the recovery I was experiencing previously with a lunch break did not occur for my legs today. They still felt sluggish and a little heavy, like they do when I am nearing the end of a long day. I reviewed in my mind what I had eaten and drank and decided it was just my legs rebuilding after time off. Soon it became clear that I needed to plan a couple shorter days in this restart to get back in shape so I too decided to check in four miles further up the trail.I arrived at Blue Mountain BnB at 2:30. I was still moving at a good pace, just under 2 miles per hour, so it was difficult to call it a day but my legs were spent and needed to stretch and rest. I settled into my room, showered and laid down for a moment when the lack of sleep for the past few traveling days caught up with me. I left Wisconsin Thursday afternoon at 3, drove 750 miles home, slept about 5 hrs, repacked and had dinner with Erik. On Saturday Kathy and I were up and on the road at 6 am covering the 400 miles back to Eastern PA. In PA we placed a resupply and then were delayed getting into a hotel by full accommodations. Last nights sleep was short and not very restful, so I also have been battling a lack of rest today. Tonight I will rest and plan to be on trail by 7 in the morning. My short nap ended at 4:30 so I decided to catch you all up before I fix dinner. Due to the layout of the trail ahead I plan to hike 13 miles to the George Outerbridge shelter tomorrow for another conditioning day. From there, due to the lack of places to stop, I may need to do 20 miles so I am hoping my legs will be ready to cruise. That day also starts with the climb McGuyver warned me about last week, up 1000 ft over a quarter mile, so I plan to be rested, and my food will be as light as I can make it. It is good to be back on trail and continuing toward my goal and I have to remind myself of the saying out here that, "Last one to Katahdin wins!" I will proceed with patience resting assured in the knowledge that my mothers prayers, and yours, continue as well.Silverback