Date: 2015-05-02
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

First off - thank you for the messages and well wishes many of you have sent me. Very encouraging!We started off the day by going to breakfast and we ate with Not Yet. We did laundry, ate a lot and wrote/read/watched TV - a very relaxing day, overall. The ankle is doing alright, swelling seems to have calmed down a bit. My arms are actually sore from having used my poles as crutches and supporting my body weight. We never really use our arms out here. I have had time to reflect a bit on the cause of my injury; this time of retrospection also coincides with our two-month mark. Of course, accidents may occur randomly, but I feel that we pushed our physical limits this past week. I read Awol's book ("Awol on the Appalachian Trail") and he too had sustained an ankle sprain after putting in huge miles for a few consecutive days/weeks. I remember reading this passage and thinking that Awol had been somewhat careless and senselessly competitive; he should have listened to his body! Well, I pulled an Awol. To be fair, we wanted to get to Waynesboro by Friday before the post office closed for the weekend. Still, it is hard to find your limits and, more importantly, accept them. There is a fine line between maintaining a steady, strong pace and overexerting your mind and body. For the last couple of weeks, we have been arriving quite late at the campsites/shelters. By the time we set up the tent, get water, cook, eat and clean up, it's getting quite late and dark (also, we assume here that eight o'clock is hiker midnight). There is little time to relax. That is not to say we don't have an enjoyable time talking with other hikers or other things like that; still, I feel that I require a quiet, solitary period where I am lying down and reading my Kindle. This is a particularly restorative moment for me. During our section hike, I managed to get through quite a few books during our month-long expedition, but now, I've only gone through a few though, in my defense, one of those books was quite long ("2666" by Roberto Bola±o). I guess, as we progress through the miles, we need to make a particular effort in achieving a more sound balance between performance and resting. At this point in the game, I find that thru-hikers seem permanently tired. I guess that is also evidenced by the increased incidences of "blue-blazing" (taking shortcuts off the established Trail to avoid a difficult section) and "slackpacking" (which usually involves paying somone to shuttle you to and from town while you hike with a light day pack). There is also "yellow-blazing", which is basically skipping sections of the Trail by car, the yellow color refering to the yellow stripes on the road. These practices are, with varying degrees of severity, considered cheating, although there are some completely legitimate reasons to do them.Shrugs and I have thus far been "purists". Sometimes, a shelter has a southern and a northern path to reach it, which meant you could technically "skip" a few meters/yards of the Trail if you didn't leave the shelter by the same path you took to reach it. To Shrugs' great annoyance, I insisted on basically walking every inch of the Trail. I took a certain pride in being a purist - it was always somewhat comforting (and, in a way, satisfiying) to see strong, competitive guys slackpacking while we were struggling with our heavy packs. We maintained a certain level of authenticity. Well, due to having to reach civilization and a medical professional unexpectedly, we yellow-blazed around 18 miles of the Trail (we have no intention of going back to the point where we left it). Other hikers told me that these were extenuating circumstances and our "cheating" was very acceptable, which I agree with. Still: RIP our purist ways.Many hikers have stayed in Waynesboro for a couple of zeros though we anticipate that our stay will be a bit longer. I know for certain now that we will lose many of our friends. I had made a similar comment when we were zeroing in Daleville, but, in addition to a sense of sadness, watching others get ahead had also stirred my competitiveness and a sense of restlessness. Now, our forced hiatus will seperate us from our bubble definitely. It's surreal because we have seen these people consistently for two months or nearly 900 miles and, while I'm sure that we will meet many other fun and interesting people, it's a bit odd to continue without the familiar faces. When you read about past thru-hikers' experiences, you often hear that the AT is really a big family. There is some truth to this. Like family members, you are, unless you actively try to avoid people, somewhat "stuck" with the same hikers, for better or for worse, although most of the time it's for the better. Most hikers do look out for each other and are supporting each other. We are connected through this unique experience and have even forged a common identity - the AT thru-hiker - a distinct group with its shared lore and collective memory. There is an implicit understanding between hikers. We, for instance, don't need to articulate the vaguely defined reasons we had that motivated us to leave "normal" life for 4-6 months to encounter hardship and risk injury because most have gone through the same thought process. Thru-hiking is, as a consequence, an abstract concept for non-hikers (they ask over again questions like "Is it safe?", "Have you seen a bear?", "How do you wash/stay clean?"). Illustrating the daily life of a thru-hiker is a tricky task where I am often unable to accurately represent each nuance. It is akin to describing a color or recalling a forgotten melody. Enough AT philosophy for now. I wish the best of luck to our fellow hikers - if our paths do not cross again, happy trails.- AxonP.S. I light of recent events, I have changed our motto.