Date: 2013-11-18
To: 4+ Years... UPDATE PART II
Miles today: 0.0

Dear Readers,Here is on more entry to give a little more of a real update, rather than just some philosophical ramblings about how my trail experience infiltrates its way into my new career on a daily basis.If you couldn't tell from my last entry, life is good. Really good. For the first time in awhile, it has balance. There's time for work and time for play. Now that I am no longer in the outdoor retail world, I have my weekends free, which is amazing! Two days in a row to play at the end of a work week continues to feel wonderful; I hope the novelty never wears off! And because of that, we've been able to get out for multiple backpacking overnights locally this Fall. The Ozark Trail tends to be our "go-to" destination, since we still have about 200 miles of it to explore. Did I mention I've switched to a NeoAir? Yup, I'm a convert, and a comfy one, at that!Will, Scout, and I have another long section hike on the AT planned over our spring breaks (the benefits of both working in schools!). We are doing about 50 miles NOBO from Erwin. And hopefully, we can squeeze in another trip over the summer to complete any amount between the NOC and Erwin, but that's probably not likely; w are hoping to get to the Rockies, Tetons, and Yellowstone, which I will gladly go to in lieu of a trip to the AT, just this once! This spring will be Scout's first trip on the AT and we are excited to take her and increase the AT miles Will's accruing! He's nearing 200, I think!We spent this year's New Year's Eve with Gangsta and her family (which includes 5 dogs and two little girls now!). That was really fun to see her again and I hope 2014 will include another visit together. But frequent texts and calls make it evident that we don't need frequent visits to remain close. We will always be trailmates for life and nothing can take that away! And, nothing can take away Mawgwet and Fwancine. Mawgwet called her this summer and Fwancine was thrilled to hear her voice on the other end of the line.This summer was spent at Camp Canadensis again, near the Delaware Water Gap. I was fortunate enough to get out for a few dayhikes on the AT. I did some trail magic while hiking up Mt. Minsi (south from DWG) and the first thru-hiker I ran into, Cascade, had read my journal! Small world. WHile there, I met up with Dutch who was working as a Ridge Runner in the area - we had pie at the notorious Apple Pie Bakery! ANd, Will and I were able to meet up with Storm (original member of the Packadivas)for dinner on a day off. It was good to be surrounded by fellow '09ers again.Believe it or not, some of my gear/clothes are still in existance. My OR skort, yup, I still wear it. Not all the time, afterall, it's a little tattered. But I do still wear it on occasion. And my longsleeved green Icebreaker shirt (that I had on in my summit photos), yup, that's still in my drawer, as part of my regular rotation, too! I still wear all of the pairs of Patagonia underwear and Smartwool socks I had with me, too! I also use my MSR bladder and still rock my Crocs (although I've had to replace the buttons that hold the heel strap in place a few times). Backpacking gear and clothes are expensive, but you can't beat the quality! I've still got my digital camera, too, although I don't use it as much now that we recently got a GoPro which is more fun to play with. Jennifer Pharr Davis came to the Alpine Shop a few months ago, so I got to chat with her and get a signed copy of her new book Called Again, which I devoured and thoroughly enjoyed. Not to mention, she was nice as can be!I also ran the Berryman Trail marathon for a second time this past May. I had a great race again, but unfortunately finished three minutes slower than my time the year before. Argh! That's okay, I had a good time and enjoyed training with another woman who I became good friends with through all of our training runs together. Speaking of, we've signed up as a 2-woman team for an upcoming adventure race, the Castlewood 8-Hour. It's running/hiking, canoeing, and mountain biking. And I haven't been doing a lot of training for it. Oh well, I'm sure we'll at least have fun, even if we don't set any records. I just hope I can move the next day! And, on the topic of mountain biking, Will and I bought mountain bikes this summer! It was my last big prodeal purchase before leaving Alpine Shop; I had to make it a big one, right?? It's been a fun and challenging new hobby for me and will be a great way to help stay in shape and get outside year round! We live less than a mile from Castlewood State Park, home to some of the best singletrack near St. Louis, so the bikes were certainly a good investment! That's a pretty good summary of the past year. Now that I've landed a career, we're finally able to really enjoy life on the weekends (and evenings when daylight savings isn't happening) and make plans for some fun trips this summer. We're pretty content with this lifestyle for the time being and hope to make the most of it while we can... before future thru-hikers enter the picture. Happy Trails,Wags