My life after life

I thought I would give an update to everything that has come to be since the trail.

Life after the trail is...interesting. You get off the trail on this amazing life high. Life on the trail for 4 months, in my case, was simple, challenging, and amazing. Everything life demanded of me was on my back. I looked out for me, and didn't have to worry about other people's ignorance and idiocracy stopping me from accomplishing and doing everything I wanted. I said it before, I'll say it again - my hike was grueling and exhausting, often painful, frustrating, at times monotanous, and the most amazing experience I have ever encountered. Every single day I think about when I will be able to go back and finish, and I wait with eager anticipation.

Now I have been off the trail for almost 3 months. Less time that I spent on the trail. And it's mildly numbing. My life experiences more variety than it ever did on the trail. I now have more human contact in a day than I had in a week out there. I have access to luxuries on a daily basis. To the "normal" person, my life should be better and easier.

While my life is more convenient, it's rough. Finding a job to pay for all the things that come with living in a permanent home has been exceptionally difficult. I seriously toyed with the idea of giving up my apartment and living out of my car/tent. I eventually decided that finding a roommate was a more acceptable solution, and while I am extremely happy with my new apartment, I still dream about how life presented itself on the trail, and I struggle to find a way to adapt that mentality to my day to day off trail living.

Part of what is so wonderful about trail life is the adventure that every day held. Also, each day held a uniqueness. Every day was special, and I can literally remember nearly ever single shelter/tentsite I stayed in every night for 4 months, and I can remember snippets of nearly every single day I hiked for 4 months - animals I saw in what state, what the trail was like, mountains I hiked, weather, and so on and so forth. Interestingly, I can hardly remember what happened a week ago, and can barely tell you what I did yesterday. Yet each day on the trail stands alone as a vivid and special memory. What a way to experience life!

I've been fortunate that my boyfriend, Matt, or Rocket as you know him through this blog, has helped generate adventure off the trail. We have found lots of smaller free adventures to experience, and that has helped so much with the overall transition. I'm so lucky to have someone in my life who loves life like I do, who seeks out new experiences like I try to, and who is constantly in search of something exciting to challenge himself with.

I'm adjusting. I'm loving my "new" life. Slowly my life is unfolding and molding into something that is amazing and makes me excited and proud. So stay tuned :) There is certainly more to come!

Last Post

Final pictures up: www.flickr.com/photos/theashface

Decided to do one last post, now that I am officially back in Philadelphia.

I finished my trip Saturday, 7 August on top of Mt. Washington. What an amazing end to my journey! HUGE thanks to my Aunt and Uncle who drove up to the top of Washington to pick me up. I spent a few days with my aunt and uncle and cousin, flew to Virginia to spend a couple days with my immediate family, and then drove back to Philadelphia.

Being back has been the most trying part of my journey, adjusting back to civilization. And most days I just think "I wish I were still in the woods." Life out there is simple and uncomlicated, and I believe that's how life is supposed to be. That's not to say I want to live the rest of my life in the middle of wilderness, surrounded by nothing but trees and animals, and live off the land. It just means that I'm in the middle of translating my life on the trail to my life off the trail.


So what did this adventure do for me? It has slowed me down, mellowed me out. It has given me back more patience than I knew I could have. It has caused me to realize that what we want, and what we need, are truly different, and has helped me to see the difference more clearly in my own life. I am in a process of paring down my life to surround myself with what makes me truly happy. The rest is just clutter, and I'm removing it from my life, bit by bit.

All in all, this summer was one of the most important things I've ever done for myself, and could not have been more perfectly timed in my life. It has opened up a whole world of possibility. I can truly do anything if I just put my mind to it. I plan to finish the trail as soon as I'm able, and look forward to more adventures on the horizon. Big thanks again to my family and friends that supported me.

coming to an end

It's funny, when faced with the end of a journey, how you suddenly truly understand the magnitude of how significant that journey has turned out to be. I'm sitting just shy of 2 weeks from having to get off the trail, and I feel like my eyes are more open than they have been the last 15 weeks. As odd as it sounds, it's quite a gift to see so clearly the truly life changing path I've been able to be a part of.

I'm in Vermont now. Absolutely beautiful. And absolutely muddy. So muddy it's dubbed "Vermud." It has quite possibly been my favorite state so far though. Views are good. We're getting back into real mountains. The people in towns are super friendly. It definitely makes me think the Long Trail will be my next distance hike I attempt. I certainly have plans for more adventures after this :)

We'll be in New Hampshire in just a few days, and then into the White Mountains. One of the toughest parts of the trail. It's a little nerve wracking, such beasts of mountains, but at the same time, I'm not scared or worried. One thing this trail has taught me - one foot in front of the other - and you can get to the top of the mountain. And then to the bottom of the mountain. Which obviously goes for anything in life.

I'm running out of things to talk about, and there will likely be no more updates other than photos. The trail is beautiful, often so beautiful and amazing I cannot even put it into words, and I encourage every single person to hike some section of the trail - any trail. A day, a weekend, a week, whatever you're capable of. When I was at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harper's Ferry, WV, there was a quote from Benton MacKaye about his vision for the Appalachian Trail, and its purpose:

"To walk. To see. And to see what you see."

And that about sums it all up.

Happy Trails.

Well, to state what's probably the obvious to anyone reading this - it's been hot. Like, really hot. And let me tell you, hiking in 95+ degree temps really is not fun. But, we're moving along quite nicely despite the heat and humidity. We've made it to Connecticut and expect to enter Massachusetts in another 2 or so days. I can't believe how far we've come!

Yesterday, Rocket and I headed out of camp pretty early - we were the first to leave. About half an hour into the hike, we hear the sound of running. We stop, turn around, and a fawn jets across the trail not 10 feet from us and up into the woods. Just as we were commenting on how amazing that was, we hear more footsteps, and a coyote runs across the trail chasing the fawn. What an amazing once in a lifetime sight to witness!

There has been some great trail magic, mostly water left at roads, which sounds wonky, but with the blazing heat and no rain in probably 2+ weeks, all the water sources are drying up and have been quite unreliable. So water left at a road crossing is one of the best sights you can see! We even came across some tea mix left at one of the water coolers left - amazing!

It's looking more and more likely that I will have to get off the trail before I hit Katahdin. I'm sad to think I won't be able to finish (this trip), but I'm still so grateful to even be able to get as far as I have in one trip, I can't really complain. And believe me, I am looking forward to coming back and finishing whatever I can't finish this time around. I've fallen in love with the trail, and all that it holds for me. It's exhausting and grueling at times, and each challenge leaves me feeling stronger and more confident and more in love with nature than before.

As usual, check out the picture updates :)

www.flickr.com/photos/theashface

3 deer 2 bears 1 porcupine

Lots has happened since my previous update (guess that's the obvious statement of the day, oops).

Boiling Springs, PA - Rocket and I unexpectedly stayed at a sweet resort, where they offer thru-hikers $125 rooms for only $25. We then unexpectedly zeroed there, meaning we spent one full day not hiking a single step on the AT. We swam, played ping pong, and ate pizza. Entirely too much pizza. We also visited the "bubble," a local artesian well (hence "Boiling Springs") which while the Bubble in itself was not super exciting, we were shown the spring by a little 8 year old girl, whose parents scuba dive in the Bubble to learn about where the water is coming from, etc, and she was a wealth of information. So for anyone who is curious, the Bubble is 52F, pumps something like 22 million gallons of water a day (or was it year?), and is fresh clean drinkable water right from the ground. Yums :)

Duncannon, PA - not much to say about this place, except that the 25 mile hike into town was one of my favorite parts of the trail. It traveled through various farmfields, and was quite pleasant. Rocket and I stayed at the Doyle, a very old Anheiser Busch Hotel that is probably infested with mold and bugs. Not any place I would recommend anyone not hiking, but there is a bar downstairs, and the rooms are cheap, so us hikers can't complain too much I guess.

For the past week, Rocket and I have been slackpacking. Slackpacking is where someone graciously takes all of your backpacking gear, except for your pack, some snacks for the day, and water. You hike all day, and are met at the end of the day with all your gear, or, in our case, a ride back to Rocket's mother's house and a shower, laundry, real food, real bed, etc etc. We took a couple planned zeros while we were home to relax and get some errands done. It has been lovely. Tomorrow we return to the trail for real. HUGE thanks to Rocket's madre for going out of her way so much for us this past week. Rocket and I were constantly changing our plans daily, but she patiently put up with us :) and we are extremely grateful for the break from the normal daily routine.

The hiking itself has been relatively uneventful. Couple of views, terrain has been mild, but the excitement of the week was the porcupine we happened upon at the end of one of our hiking days that we dubbed Porcupine Joe. Then, the next morning, we saw a mama deer and two baby fawns. Ten minutes later, we saw two bears! We startled them, they went running, didn't see where we were standing, and started running towards us! EEK! Thankfully, as soon as they saw us they bolted in the other direction. What a sight though :)

Also, the climb out of Palmerton, PA, which is reportedly the most difficult south of New Hampshire, was a crazy rock scramble, loads of fun, lots of blueberries and raspberries at the top of the ridge, and a hike I would definitely like to do again :)

While hiking itself gets monotonous, the adventure of thru hiking is still a blast and I'm lucky to not only be able to experience this adventure, but also to share it with Rocket. Even though sometimes he is grumpy, haha.

Haven't taken too many pictures the past little bit, will get up ones I have taken as soon as I'm able. In the meantime, check out Rocket's pictures!

www.flickr.com/photos/gcadventures

Changed my link, not sure of the old one will still work, so here is the current link to my photos:

www.flickr.com/photos/theashface

Everybody was night hiking

Lots has happened since my birthday. So I'll give some of the highlights as quick as I can :)

Finally got some night hiking in. Night hiking is exactly what it sounds like - hiking in the dark at night. It's a crazy experience, and I'm quite fond of it :) I've night hiked a few nights now, the most memorable night was about a week or two ago. We had a craazy thunderstorm during the day, and Rocket and I got to a shelter just as it was starting to wait it out. Hardly got wet, which was nice. Made dinner, relaxed a little with a bunch of other hikers. About 6:30 pm, it stopped raining, so me, Rocket, Stretcher (who has been hiking with us for a while) and another hiker Cowgirl all decided to head out for a few more miles. Unfortunately, just as it started to get dark, it also started to rain. And, of course, we were hiking along the side of a mountain, and it was a steep downhill to the left, and a steep uphill to the right, and absolutely no place to pitch our tents. So there we are, Cowgirl way in front, and Stretcher behind us (we had no idea he was even behind us until his headlamp came up behind us in the dark!), getting drenched in the pouring down rain, climbing over slippery rocks up a mountain trying to find a place to camp. Then we see the sign: "no camping the next 1 mile" Ack! Well, about half a mile later, we found amazing camping on a cliff, where Cowgirl had already set up her tent, and decided to forget the rules, and pitched our tents. Woke up to an amazing view of the clouds below settled over the town. So amazing.

A few days ago, Rocket and I were walking out of the Shenandoahs (which were quite boring, I must add...if you ever go to the Shennies, don't backpack the AT...do the side trails, they offer way better scenery, or so I hear), and we ran into a family with two daughters who were only 4 or 5 and 7 or 8, and they were backpacking! The dad was carrying most of the stuff; the youngest daughter just had a little purse, and the older daughter had a mini backpack. How cool to give your kids such an amazing experience at such a young age! Anyway, the daughters were excited to see a female thru hiker, and had something for me - it was a lucky bracelet :) A green rubber band in the shape of a rhino! What wonderful trail magic :)

Waynesboro was great. Took a zero day, my parents came down for a couple hours to visit. Got to swim in the pool at the YMCA, and had an amazing grill out with veggies and burgers. Shenandoahs were okay. The hiking itself was boring, we had only one good view. We camped in the woods most of the time and avoided the shelters.

Currently in Harpers Ferry, WV, where the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters is located. Got my picture taken for the thru hikers book. I was the 275th Northbound thru hiker to come through this year. Pretty amazing. Of course, if I don't finish the entire trail this year, including the section I skipped, I'm considered a section hiker, but hey, an entire summer out backpacking is as good an accomplishment as any right? :)

After all, it's the journey to Maine, not Maine itself, that makes this trip amazing and life changing.

New pic updates. And I remembered to actually add that video of Rocket this time :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48651563@N04

Trail Birthday

Finally got a trail name! To tell the story, I need to give lots of background story though...

So first off, most or all of you know that my boyfriend Matt (trail name Rocket) started hiking the Appalachian Trail 3 weeks ahead of me. We talked about hiking together, but ultimately we decided that this was our own personal selfish adventure, and we would both gain the most out of it by going at it solo.

Fast forward a month into my journey. There is a trail festival called Trail Days that occurs every year in Damascus, VA. Current hikers, previous hikers, outdoor gear vendors, etc all gather in this little town for a weekend of chaos. I ended up hitching from Erwin, VA on Friday, 14 May, to attend, and met up with Rocket. Saturday evening, Rocket and I decided to hike together. So Sunday, I jumped up almost 300 miles, which I will go back and complete at another time, to Pearisburg, VA.

Fast forward to the next day, we were planning on hiking 17 miles or so. But a couple miles before the shelter we were aiming for, on the other side of a river, is a house. The Captain's house. The Captain is an older man, who has rigged a zip line from the AT to his lawn, where he allows hikers to camp out (since there was only a couple of us, we actually got to crash on his couches), lets them shower, and just hang out. So I zip line across, the Captain meets me, and this is the conversation that occurs next:

Captain: I'm the Captain

Me: I'm Ashley, no trail name yet

Captain: 600 miles and no trail name??

Me: Well, actually somewhere between 300 and 350. I skipped ahead to hike with Rocket.

Captain: Well, then your trail name is Skip.

So my trail name is Skip. Not the best reputation to have on the trail, but it's okay because I plan to still complete that section. And because the name came from the Captain. Which is super cool.

PS, make sure you go to my flickr, because there is a SWEET video of Rocket falling off the zipline into the river the next morning. You will pee your pants laughing.

Okay, on to the rest of the week. I just had a trail birthday! Which is just a coolish way of saying I celebrated my birthday on the trail. And I must say - best birthday ever.

Rocket and I hiked 17 miles into Daleville, VA after getting up at 5am to hike almost 2 miles to watch the sunrise at McAfee's Knob, and split a hotel room with another hiker, Stretcher. We were all just hanging out after a fun dinner at the Mexican restaurant across the street, when Rocket says something about taking a walk, which I found weird that he would be taking a walk by himself but whatever. Because 5 minutes later he comes into the room with a birthday cake and candles singing. Omg. For those of you that don't know, cake is my favorite food. Yum yum. And I had not had any cake since I left. Wowzers! Then he pulls some sushi out. Then he pulls out my fuel bottle, refilled. And *then* he pulls out a new sleeping pad, one that blows up and is waaay more comfortable than my flat one I had. Way more than I ever expected. So Rocket and Stretcher, thank you. And thank you Bennie for not giving it away, after you talked to Rocket and he told you what was happening. You guys are all amazing :)

So basically, life is great. It's been raining a lot. Since Rocket and I started hiking together, we've had 1 or 2 days where it didn't rain. Most of the rain has been intermittent, but since it's so humid, nothing has a chance to dry out between showers. Quite annoying. But it hasn't got us down yet! We're averaging 17+ miles a day, cruising along quite nicely :)

As they say, "if you're lucky enough to be in the mountains, you're lucky enough"

Again, be sure to check out my flickr photo updates. And that video. :)