Date: 2018-06-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Many of you have asked about my feet and shoes. Well it took awhile into my trip, but finally after 69 days, 400+ miles and a total of 4 pairs of shoes, I have that issue resolved!  I am no longer taping my feet like a hockey player every morning before I get out on the trail. And although my calluses are strong and protective, they were formed in my previous shoes so it always feels like I¢ve got something stuck to the bottom of my foot.The weather has changed. The trails are no longer a flowing torrent of cold water, rather they¢re hot and dry; the perfect place for salamanders and snakes to lie still, warm themselves and surprise both prey and hiker alike. The temperatures are well above freezing both day and night, in fact I¢ve recently slept on top of my quilt and have seen more and more people hiking with as little clothing as possible, especially the men as the temps are hitting the upper 80¢s so early in June. The wind isn¢t a biting 40 MPH that freezes tears and frosts breath before it even gets past the boundaries of my beard. Instead because of all the trees now having leaves and unless you¢re hiking a ridge, very little breeze gets down to the trail and when it does, its warm and probably blowing in an afternoon rain storm. The warm weather has also affected the available water supply along the trail. Perhaps its just certain parts of the trail, but here in VA the springs and streams are bone dry meaning that sources are separated by 10 or more miles, that means ¢camel up¢ when you come to a source.Because I¢m a notoriously slow hiker, I¢ve travelled with at least 5 different groups of people. Even people my age seem to out pace me day after day, so when I want a day off or a lower mileage day, they don¢t and before you know it, they¢re gone and I¢m running with a new group. But all of these people, no matter the age or the sex, are great people. Though here for various reasons, we all have the same goal, and thats to thru hike the Appalachian Trail by the end of 2018. Everyone out here has to deal with the same weather, the same trail, the same water, the same creatures and injuries. And while everyone does it differently we all do it together and we are all each others support day in and day out. The obvious reward is that we witness the miracles of creation every day in every thing we see and touch. Things that the average person can only see if they hike through a forest for several days without coming in contact with anyone but another hiker. All the while we¢re creating friendships and lifelong memories with people of different back grounds, ages, races and nationalities. We help each other up when we trip and fall, nurse each others wounds, encourage each other when we¢re having a bad day, provide a hug when we¢re having a really bad day and even trade a few sheets of toilet paper for a packet or two of mayonnaise with someone who¢s in need. All of this done with people whose real names we don¢t even know but know by a moniker given to them because they somehow distinguished themselves on the trail and were most likely laughed at while receiving that name.Like everyone else, I hike all day long, go to sleep and do it again tomorrow. One day runs into the next. The campsites and shelters become indistinguishable from each other. Recently my favorite part of the day seems to be going to bed and I normally sleep like a rock. The support system that I mentioned earlier has been incredibly helpful. In fact, I believe that if not for my fellow hikers and the encouragement of them, my wife, friends and followers of my journaling, I might have ended this attempt several weeks ago. They say don¢t end your hike on a bad day, that you¢ll regret it very soon after ending it. But honestly, I¢ve not had fun out here for over a month, I¢ve even taken several days off from the trail to refocus and it hasn¢t really worked out. So while Cathy was visiting me last week, we continued our talk about me ending my attempt at a thru hike and perhaps approaching it as a ¢section hiker¢ sometime in the future. This way I can spend as much time out here as I want and complete the trail whenever I do. With that, my summiting McAfee¢s Knob on June 15 with Cathy at my side, was my final hike as an AT thru hiker. I returned home to Michigan with her on the 16th and have been adjusting to my former ¢normal¢ life all week. Ironically, I¢m writing this while sitting alone on the beach of northern Lake Michigan, waiting for the sun to set just minutes from my campsite in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park; so I¢m still hiking and camping.Thank you to the many who followed my journal faithfully and encouraged me to keep going, you¢ll never know how much that help me push on. Please continue to check this site as I will be back from time to time with a new story or two, information of an eventual photo gallery and hopefully daily entries when the Lorax returns to the trail as a section hiker.The attempt of the Appalachian Trail thru hike is the hardest thing I¢ve ever attempted in my life. In total, I¢ve completed nearly 630 miles of which I¢m proud and I¢m glad I could share it with you. I hope I kept your interest and you all enjoyed it.