Date: 2019-04-11
From: Damascus 

To: Mount Katahdin, Maine 
Miles today: 17.2

Got up this morning and ate a big breakfast provided along with the Woodchuck Hostel stay. Before leaving, I visited briefly with Ranger. We had yo-yo¢ed (passed each other again and again) a week or two ago but hadn¢t really spoken, and now we¢re at the same hostel. He was waiting for his wife to fly in and they were going to hike together for a bit. Ranger, a former Army Ranger, is an incredible guy with an even more incredible outlook on life. His life experiences are many for his age and his reason for hiking the AT is powerful. If you¢re interested, check out his self constructed website at movewithapurposelife.com and if you feel inclined, reference our relationship and send him a note of encouragement. I hope to spend more time on the trail with Ranger in the future. Headed out at 7:30 with a stomach full of coffee, milk orange juice, blueberry waffles, scrambled eggs, tator tots and fruit. By 8:00 we completed our walk through town and entered the mountains. The AT runs through the middle of Main Street Damascus. Ben was with me and we began to climb hard and did for about three to four hours. For a minute I thought that we were back in Southern North Carolina, as there were no switchbacks, just straight up. I also read and heard that Virginia will be flatter, as I recalled with contempt. I was leading and stopped briefly to make some journal notes and Ben continued on telling me that he¢s sure I¢ll catch up to him soon. I finished and pressed on and realized later that I should have caught up to Ben by now. I continued on and ultimately realized that I was off the trail. I was on a trail, but not the AT. My first mistake was misreading fungus on a tree at a distance as an old faded white blaze marker, as this is how the AT is marked. The second indication was that I was off course was when I came upon horse dung on the trail and the third was mountain bike tracks, both of which are prohibited.  I stopped and confirmed through GPS that I made an error and began backtracking. I ultimately found where I made the wrong turn at a creek crossing. It is at these crossings that other trails often intersect. I determined that as with all stream crossings, I slowed down to concentrate when stepping from rock to rock so that I don¢t break an ankle or fall into the stream. The error cost me a mile and a half round trip of walking, half of which was uphill. There is no one looking out for you and there are no excuses or timeouts on the AT. If you fall or error on your course, you have no one else to blame. You simply figure it out, fix it and press on, and I did. At about 1:00pm, and after a long strenuous climb with switchbacks, I rounded a curve and Ben was sitting on a log eating lunch. He barked and asked where I¢ve been. I explained the error and he went on to tell me how concerned he was that something had happened. The whole time after correcting my error I kept telling myself ¢that¢ll get your mind right.¢ This is an expression I used regularly in my former professional life and it certainly fit the situation. I stopped and made myself eat although I was extremely fatigued from the climb. We then pressed on. I ultimately recovered mentally and it was a beautiful warm and sunny day on the trail. Ben and I trekked 17.2 miles and are stealth camping near mile 488 northbound on the AT. The mile and a half route error is chalked up to adventure and experience and doesn¢t count. Today marks one month since I set out and hiked the 8.8 mile approach trail to Springer Mountain thus beginning my AT adventure.