You gotta feel it
Treehugger, experienced trailie, calls an early halt to her CDT hike:
To complete a long distance hike, you have to be very motivated. You have to want so badly to hike that you don’t care about the heat, or the heat rash, or the cacti rubbing on the heat rash, or the fact that your feet hurt, and you don’t have an actual trail, or that you are being harrassed by Border Patrol daily, or that you almost stepped on a rattle snake, or that you are dirty, or that you miss your boyfriend, or that you have a pile of grass seed and burs in your socks, or that you haven’t slept in 48 hours, or that you hate hiking in a large group, or that your tent–or a rodent–keeps you awake at night, that you have to wake up before sunrise and hike beyond sunset. You have to really want it. And I guess I don’t.
Someone who didn’t know better would have done the grind for a couple of weeks. Contrast this with the perspective of Witch Doctor:
It’s almost 12:30am. We have been up all day and night preparing for our hike. We have all the gear we need. We have food drops ready to be mailed. Tomorrow I will be standing at the border, looking north, starting my next adventure. I can’t sleep. My mind is racing, and yet I can’t focus on a single thought. I am excited about getting on the trail finally, but worried that we haven’t planned enough. For the next 3000 miles, Lucky, Bams and I will be living the life we have grown to love. Solitude. Serenity. Sanctuary. It’s going to be a long 6 months…. but I am looking forward to every minute. Sunshine and Smiles!
