Date: 2006-07-15
From: NH25A to Warren

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 0.0

The first thing about today is that it is 'Thistle's' birthday. 'Phatt Chap' and 'Fejj', who run the hostel here (at least in the absence of 'Ratpack' who is currently off hiking the PCT) treated Verity to a quart of ice cream.The hostel is a wooden two level shack, with a common room downstairs, bunks upstairs. A marquee tent provides overspill accommodation outside with six more beds. That's where 'Thistle' and I are.We are zeroing here today. One little snippet we picked up from one of the NOBOs was that Duncannon didn't escape unscathed from the recent flooding along the Susquhanna. We are sad to hear that Doyle's had to be evacuated and closed to hikers for several days. I could still imagine thru-hikers wading and if necessary canoeing to get there if that's what it took.LATER:Over the day we've been looking at our options. The conclusion is: we're done!If we were travelling any other part of the AT, there wouldn't be a problem. Whatever mileage we had the energy for then that (with a few compromises) is what we would do. But we are at the start of the Whites and you can't afford mistakes in there. It's a simple but brutal calculation really: x miles to travel in a day; y thousand feet of climbing and then descending; z hours/day of walking in your legs (make that z/2 for steep gradients); w lbs of food, water and gear on your back. x will need to be 8 miles plus. y will typically 3,000 to 5,000 ft per day. It's the value of w that suggests our set-up this year hasn't been right; for Verity it comes in at around 33-35 lbs; for me it's 40-42. All our winter gear in the middle of a heat wave.When all these variables don't add up to making it to the next shelter, not just today, but tomorrow and the day after, then it's not viable. For me, that's the rub. First day out of town, well rested, then I'm well up to it. The second day is alright, but then it's rapidly 'downhill' in terms of energy after that. Hence my loss of leg coordination and falling all over the place two days ago.I've been putting a lot of strain on Verity. On top of her own problems, she spends too much time waiting for me to catch up, and making sure I negotiate a difficult climb or stream crossing. I love her for it (well, I love her anyway) but that's not fair. She would be OK about carrying on, and is equally OK about stopping now when we can still say we've been enjoying it. Nothing much fazes her.So today has been strange, a bit uncomfortable mixing with the other hikers if I'm honest. A great bunch of people as always and we talk as if we are one of them but we know we are not. Apart from their physical condition, their youth (in most cases), the lightness of their packs (usually 20lbs or so), what marks them out is that they are on a mission. You see it in their faces, hear it in their voices. I remember what that was like three years ago, where every day you considered all sorts of problems and uncertainties but your resolve to keep going forward wasn't one of them. Commitment and focus are total. Sportsmen would probably describe that as "being in a zone" and I haven't felt that this year. If I were, then my list of problems earlier in this note would probably seem quite surmountable.