“The Trail Will Teach You”

Forecast

That’s a pretty common trail saying but Forecast was the first one to say it to me so I’m gonna credit him. Like most clichés, it’s trite when you first hear it but reveals it’s depth when you start to live it. I’ve never been much good at learning a lesson the easy way, so it took me almost 2,500 kilometres and a couple weeks basking in the punishing glory of the New Hampshire AT to finally start listening to what the trail was trying to teach me – although outwardly my hiking style remained unchanged (I just kept charging ’cause I guess that’s just what I do), my internal experience underwent a noticeable and positive shift. I was able to let go of my preconceived notions of what I thought thru-hiking should feel like, and enjoy it for what it actually does feel like (knee pain and all). A dream deferred is a tricky thing, but as I walked I was able to reconcile the gap between what I thought wanted out of a thru hike when I first started fantasizing about it at the age of 25, and what I came to understand that I needed from it when I finally got out there and did the thing almost a decade later.

(Forecast, if by chance you end up reading this – miss ya man, hope the rest of your time on trail was amazing)

The Stats:

Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi

Gorham, NH: 3,040.0km/1,900.0mi

Total: 2,488.8km/1,555.5mi

Days: 87

Mileage per day: 28.6km/17.9mi

Zero mileage days: 10

Mileage per day, net of zeros: 32.3km/20.0mi

Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi

Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi

The Details: