Date: 2013-04-18
From: Route 606

To: Sugar Run Gap
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: scattered clouds

This journey has been different than I expected. At the same time, it has been far more than I ever expected. Through the years, whenever I envisioned a hike on the A.T., I would imagine six or seven days of hiking followed by a quick half-day in a town to resupply. Overnights in hostels or towns would be few and far between. Central to the experience would be lots of solitude and time for reflection. I had some comprehension of the number of other hikers that I might meet on the trail, but I expected that many would be quiet and slow to warm up to conversation. My actual experience has been very different. This journey has been a very communal experience. It has been all about people. We have stayed in homes or hostels far more than I expected, but every lodging choice that Hoosier has made has resulted in meaningful interaction with people. That has been the case again here at Woods Hole Hostel. Meals begin with everyone holding hands and sharing their trail name, hometown, and something they are thankful for. Today, I sat at the dinner table with a man who is visiting from Sweden for a local Bluegrass Festival, and with a father and his daughter who are from Camden, Maine and are hiking a section of the AT together. Last night, one of the beds in our room was occupied by a thru-hiker who is here on a 6-month visa from London. After breakfast, and before we began hiking this morning, I joined 20 other thru-hikers on the grass outside the hostel for a session of yoga and stretching. What a hoot! A first for me. While I was stretching in a yoga pose I heard someone calling " Mommm, Mommm." I was surprised because I hadn't seen any children. But then I realized that a dozen or so lambs were following one of the workers who was carrying their morning breakfast. The lambs walked all around me as they headed for the feeding trough and continued to sound to me like they were calling for "Mom".Every hiker must hike their own hike. Some choose to avoid groups and stay mostly by themselves. But it seems that the vast majority of thru-hikers come by themselves and then quickly pair up with someone else and move in and out of groups. Groups are constantly changing as hikers come and go, and leap-frog back and forth with each other. Even when part of a group, it is rare to hike together as a group. The group sets a goal for where to stay that night, and then everyone hikes at their own pace, taking breaks or lingering whenever they want. Thus, long days of hiking provide everyone with plenty of opportunity to be alone and think or be involved in off-and-on conversations.Staying in crowded shelters, bunk-bed housing hostels, or stuffing 4-5 people in a hotel room bring people together. Our current group has stuffed 8 hikers and packs into a small minivan (imagine the stench) so we could stay together. It is a paradox that while groups change and evolve constantly, the group bonds remain very strong. Every day is a gift, and friendships are valued and grow quickly. Grr expressed it this way several weeks ago, "If the Appalachian Trail were just trees and rocks, I would get off. I've seen enough trees and rocks. But this experience is all about people. It's all about the A.T. community, and that keeps me going." Some sections of trail are fairly forgiving. They do not require a lot of focus when hiking. The first 10 miles of our day were like that. There were lots of streams and creek crossings. Some sections of the trail are challenging and require a lot of energy. The hard climb during miles 11-12 was like that today. The climb did reward us with a panoramic view of the valley. Some sections of the trail are tedious and require patience and focused concentration. That describes the last miles of our day. We had to navigate over and around large rocks. We had to be careful of where we placed our feet. Slow progress at the end of the day can be frustrating. It is then that I have to choose to relax and not fight the trail. Yesterday Hoosier said that his entire hiking day felt like the last 6 miles of a hard marathon. His legs were just heavy and dead. Today, his legs felt better and stronger until near the end of the day. That is an improvement that we are both thankful for.