Date: 2015-08-21
To: Conclusion
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

It's been nearly a month since I finished my thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. For the first time since February, I'm writing one of these entries on a real keyboard, and not a tiny iPod touch screen. It's taken me a while to figure out what I actually want to say in my conclusion, because I still can't really find the words to sum up the experience. I think anyone that has read this far will probably have a good understanding of my hike and how I've felt about it. There were many times when I felt absolutely miserable, and I couldn't wait for the day to end. Right up until the last days I was counting down the miles and hours of hiking each day until I could collapse in relief at a shelter for the night. But I did enjoy it, overall. There is so much good about the trail that even the horrible days are overshadowed by the sheer wonder that is the AT. Almost every day I experienced incredible sights that others travel hours to see, I was constantly reminded about the goodness and generosity of strangers - hikers, Trail Angels, random townies. The community that surrounds the AT is one of its most unique and defining features, and it is without a doubt my favourite aspect of the trail. Without the community, the trail would still be pretty spectacular, but I don't think it would have any real character. It's the people who actually give it life and make it such an incredible experience. So, of course, I must add a huge thank you to everyone who helped make my trail experience a really pleasant one. Now onto the fun part. What did I learn? This is a question that has actually plagued me for a while. I asked other hikers whilst I was still on the trail what they had learned, so I could copy their answers (I'm joking...mostly). There is so much that I have learned from the trail, from huge things like how to actually hike a long distance trail to little things like how to stop feeling so dehydrated when hiking uphill (cheers BigBen). Also, how almost everyone likes the album Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (seriously I heard it at least a dozen times in different locations). From the very beginning, the trail has been a huge learning experience - learning about nature, learning about myself, learning about small town (and big city) America. Then of course, I also had the 8+ hours a day of podcasts, every day, for nearly the entire trip. The sheer breadth of my knowledge in world history (and a bunch of completely random topics) is a bit ridiculous. I can't say that I remembered all of it (or even 90%), but it was a bit like school - the important stuff tends to stick. I think the same is true for the AT. I'm going to remember the most important moments, and forget all the days where I was hiking in constant agony and yelling in frustration once I got to the shelter because I just wanted to cut my own feet off. Or the days where I was bored, despite the podcasts, and just felt like my brain was melting from the sheer monotony. Or applying sunscreen every 40 minutes because I was sweating it off too quickly. I'm always going to remember walking in a torrential downpour and booming thunderstorms, or being crammed into a shelter with my friends all huddling in sleeping bags, or the feelings of joy and relief when I finally reached a town and could cram myself with food and finally shower. I can't just sum up in one paragraph what I learnt from the AT. The only thing I can say is that its the single most valuable experience I have had in my entire life; including going to university, and all of my other travels combined. I really hope that other people are more inspired than put off by reading my journal, because I really cannot overstate just what an incredible experience it is.-Between the data collected by TrailJournals, and my own tallys kept in the back of my personal diaries, I've collected a few stats.SweetBlood's 2015 | Stats---|---Amount of Words Written on TrailJournals | 105,034Podcasts/Lectures | 1066 (minimum)Blisters | 35Showers | 48Bug Bites | 128 (minimum)Snakes | 17Bears | 0 (+2 at the zoo)Moose | 3Boots | 3 (pairs)Shirts | 2Socks | 3 (pairs, +2 sock liner pairs)Paper Diaries | 1 1/2Cheapest Month | May (VA, WV, MD, PA, NJ, NY)Most Expensive Month | June (NY, CT, MA, VT, NH)Total Number of Days | 147Number of Zero Days | 11Number of Nero Days | 25Average Miles per Day | 14.91Average Miles per Hiking Day | 16.11Average Miles per Week | 104.36Number of Days in Trail Towns | 11Number of Nights in a Shelter | 58Number of Nights in a Tent | 37Number of Nights in a Hotel | 17Number of Nights in a Hostel | 28Number of Nights in a House | 7Longest Day | 26.70Shortest Day | 2.4