Day 176: DONE

If you thought my blog fizzling out meant that I was no longer on the trail, guess again!

In the first half of the journey, it was clear that I was barely capable of thru-hiking and blogging simultaneously, and the online account of my hike quickly fell behind my actual progress. But as the hike went on, the miles grew longer, and my health deteriorated, I was barely capable of just putting one foot in front of the other. Attempting to maintain a blog (and most off-trail relationships) became impossible under the conditions.

So, I focused on the hike. I had (green) tunnel vision. On bad days, I woke up, forced myself to move until I couldn’t any longer, and collapsed into sleep again. On good days, I cherished the positives of the hike and attempted to fully engage with the things — and people — that I loved out there. Either way, I had nothing left for the outside world. And eventually, I made it to Katahdin.

So my thru-hike of the A.T. became much more isolated than I expected. It was immersive in a way that Morocco, Spain, and the Dominican Republic never were. There were advantages and disadvantages to this detachment that I am only beginning to understand, but one obvious effect was a three-month hiatus in the blog. I’ve been home for a few days now. The trail is already starting to feel distant, dream-like.

To keep it close, I’m going through my journal from the trail and picking up where I left off. Some posts will be directly quoted from journal entries, while for others, I only have a few quick notes that I will use to help me recall and recount the hike’s events. I am also happy to write posts answering any questions I receive, so if you’re curious about any part of the thru-hike experience, get in touch via email, facebook, or instagram and ask away!

I’m immensely grateful to all the people on and off trail who helped me succeed on this beautiful, difficult journey. I would say it was the adventure of a lifetime, but who knows… PCT 2020?