So really, good on the kid for pushing through this first month, and keeping up with two sort of endurance athletes. A popular saying on the trail is to "Hike you're own hike." Keep on given'r Pop Tart!
I think the best part of the trip so far is the fact that we have no clue whats gonna happen next, who we're gonna meet, and what we're gonna see. One shelter we slept at felt like a hippie drug den, the next night's shelter felt more like a senior's home, everybody was asleep when we rolled in at 8:30. We stayed for a night at a resort town that was hosting a get together for Nissan sports cars, with events like an exhaust sound off. There was a beer pong tourney too which we were able to infiltrate.
We're meeting tonnes of cool people out here. Surprisingly, most thru hikers start solo. There's a few couples out here but I think we were the only group of three we've seen. Most hikers though seem to pair up or form groups, which we usually mistake for long time friends. The two most interesting hikers for me are the two guys we've met who are finishing the "triple crown" of U.S. hiking (the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental divide trail, and the Appalachian trail). These guys are legit. I love hearing stories from the other trails. The PCT is a bit longer, equally as hilly as the AT but with more more weather variation (desert to snow) and better views. The CDT is apparently a beast. Super tough climbs, very rugged, 5000 km, and not particularity well maintained. One of the guys refers to the AT as "bourgeois hiking" because of the well kept trail and the frequency of towns, shelters, privys and water sources. I'm not complaining, but more intense hiking does interest me. My goal is to not sleep indoors (hostels, hotels) during the trip, so I'm not indulging as fully as possible. Some people (slackpackers) even have their packs driven to from hostel to hostel.
Some random thoughts cause I don't have time to make a nice cohesive post...
After a couple beautiful weeks weather wise we got lots of rain this week. Luckily most of it was during the night. We're still doing fine without tents, just relying on shelters.
We saw our first bear today! Or at least it's butt as it scurried away. We've seen a handful of deer, some (huge) wild turkeys, a few snakes, enough mice for a lifetime, and at night I've heard some coyotes and wild boar.
Also of note, I got pretty sick the other day. Puking and mad indigestion, not really sure what from. We took a half day (mileage wise) and luckily I was feeling better by the next day. Because we were in no man's land, not close to any shelters or campsites, it was a good chance to test out our emergency tarp, which worked really well. Thanks Anna for sending that down. And huge thanks to Killer for being super helpful during the ordeal.
Also I forgot my shirt at a shelter (a mouse had chewed some holes in it earlier so I wasn't heartbroken) so I didn't have a shirt for like 4 days, but was able to buy one at a dollar store.
Hiker problem: when it's really cold I have to wear all my clothes to bed, but then my pillow ends up being like 1 pair of socks...
I'm surprised how cold it's been. More so at night. There was a couple nights were it went down to 2-3 degrees Celsius. My sleeping bag is rated to 7 degrees... I guess I didn't really know how much altitude affects the temp. We're often at 4000 or 5000 feet.
Thanks to Connie for sending me an awesome package in the mail... even though there was some frustration connecting me and it.
Ok, that's all I got for now. Pretty excited for some Subway tonight for supper.
L8ter
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