To give you a better idea of what it’s really like,
here’s a day in the life.
6:15--wake up and blink at the sun that’s knocking at my
hammock. Attempt to go back to sleep.
6:45--decide to stop ignoring my bladder and get up for
the day. Wiggle out of my bag and hammock. Grab a striped maple leaf and pee. Lower my bear bag and bring it over to the
shelter where my pack is. Yawn. Stretch my stiff feet.
7:00--lay everything out in the shelter. Start packing. Dump out my foodbag. Set aside snacks and lunch for the day; put
those in the front pocket of my pack.
Eat an obligatory carnation instant breakfast and granola bar. Change into my damp hiking clothes. Gather and treat water from near the
shelter. Finish packing. At the very last minute possible, shove my feet into wet socks. Shake out my boots and look for any brown recluse spiders that may have set up camp. Put my feet into wet boots.
7:30--start walking, following the white blazes of the AT.
7:35--walk into a spider web. Wipe it off my face.
7:37--walk into another web. Wipe it off.
7:38--walk into a web again. Ignore it.
Keep walking.
8:00--think about my intention for the day. (One day, when
I was alone, starting late, and attempting a long day, my word was
“steady.” Sometimes I focus on a story idea, some aspect of my future, or my relationship with food. Some days I decide to look at shadows and color and try to be as present as
possible. Other days I try not to think
at all.) Walk.
9:30--come to a landmark (a road, a blue-blazed trail that
probably leads to a water source, or maybe a labeled gap) and look at the
guide. Calculate my miles (at least 4 by
now). Take a water and snack break. Walk some more.
9:38--trip over a root. Keep walking.
10:02--take a picture of a colorful flower or fungus. Continue walking.
10:28--pass a bunch of striped maple and take it as a sign to pee. Check my guide again. Start thinking about lunch. Drink some water and eat a snack. Walk more.
11:15--daydream about lunch. Trip on a root on my way uphill. Realize it's getting hot and I've sweat more than usual. Drop my pack and gulp water. Decide to stop at the next water source. Walk more.
11:47--come to a stream. Mix my chlorine water treatment drops and let them sit. Fill my water bottles. Dump in the treatment; shake. Eat lunch. Calculate my mileage (2 miles per hour is a good pace). Decide to walk another 10 miles for the day, to the next shelter.
12:15--walk.
12:53--meet a person headed the opposite direction. Say hello, ask where they are headed. Tell them about the water sources that have and haven't dried up and warn them about that fun rock scramble they're about to do.
12:54--keep walking.
2:00--walk, snack, drink, pee, walk.
3:00--walk more.
4:00--walk. Trip over more roots and rocks as I get tired.
4:12--check the guide and time every few minutes. The shelter should be here soon. Feel dehydrated and fatigued. Walk anyway.
4:46--come across a side trail that leads to the three-sided shelter. Silently celebrate. Introduce myself to people in the shelter.
4:47--drop the backpack and read the shelter logbook. Look for entries my friends have written. Write an entry of my own. Give my feet a welcomed reprieve.
5:00--unpack, decide to sleep in the shelter tonight rather than the hammock. Lay a sleeping bag out on the wooden platform. Swat at bugs and change into a long sleeve and pants to get them off my skin. Find a rock and attach to paracord. Throw it over a branch, 10 ft off the ground and 4 ft from the trunk, and leave it there for now. Grab the mini stove and pasta and start dinner. Chat with whoever else is there.
5:45--eat. Rinse out pan, stuff in food bag. Tie it to paracord and hoist it into the tree. Tie a bear-proof knot at the base of the tree. Relax.
6:00--start to feel bored. Maybe I could take a walk? (Just kidding)
6:05--chat more. Check out the water source; treat water for the morning. Grab some striped maple leaves and check out the privy.
7:30--slip into dry socks. Journal. Work on a letter or poem.
9:00--break out the headlamp and fight sleep, despite the person right next to my elbow trying to go to bed.
9:30--give in to sleep as the mice scurry along the rafter above my head.
10:00--dream of walking.
9:38--trip over a root. Keep walking.
10:02--take a picture of a colorful flower or fungus. Continue walking.
10:28--pass a bunch of striped maple and take it as a sign to pee. Check my guide again. Start thinking about lunch. Drink some water and eat a snack. Walk more.
11:15--daydream about lunch. Trip on a root on my way uphill. Realize it's getting hot and I've sweat more than usual. Drop my pack and gulp water. Decide to stop at the next water source. Walk more.
11:47--come to a stream. Mix my chlorine water treatment drops and let them sit. Fill my water bottles. Dump in the treatment; shake. Eat lunch. Calculate my mileage (2 miles per hour is a good pace). Decide to walk another 10 miles for the day, to the next shelter.
12:15--walk.
12:53--meet a person headed the opposite direction. Say hello, ask where they are headed. Tell them about the water sources that have and haven't dried up and warn them about that fun rock scramble they're about to do.
12:54--keep walking.
2:00--walk, snack, drink, pee, walk.
3:00--walk more.
4:00--walk. Trip over more roots and rocks as I get tired.
4:12--check the guide and time every few minutes. The shelter should be here soon. Feel dehydrated and fatigued. Walk anyway.
4:46--come across a side trail that leads to the three-sided shelter. Silently celebrate. Introduce myself to people in the shelter.
4:47--drop the backpack and read the shelter logbook. Look for entries my friends have written. Write an entry of my own. Give my feet a welcomed reprieve.
5:00--unpack, decide to sleep in the shelter tonight rather than the hammock. Lay a sleeping bag out on the wooden platform. Swat at bugs and change into a long sleeve and pants to get them off my skin. Find a rock and attach to paracord. Throw it over a branch, 10 ft off the ground and 4 ft from the trunk, and leave it there for now. Grab the mini stove and pasta and start dinner. Chat with whoever else is there.
5:45--eat. Rinse out pan, stuff in food bag. Tie it to paracord and hoist it into the tree. Tie a bear-proof knot at the base of the tree. Relax.
6:00--start to feel bored. Maybe I could take a walk? (Just kidding)
6:05--chat more. Check out the water source; treat water for the morning. Grab some striped maple leaves and check out the privy.
7:30--slip into dry socks. Journal. Work on a letter or poem.
9:00--break out the headlamp and fight sleep, despite the person right next to my elbow trying to go to bed.
9:30--give in to sleep as the mice scurry along the rafter above my head.
10:00--dream of walking.
Wow, Laura! You are rocking it! Where are you on the trail these days?
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember it well. You did, however, forget two things:
ReplyDelete1. Nearly impenetrable downed trees laying across the trail (from the terrible storm in early July) that you have to climb over, under, through, or around to get back on the trail, and
2. an entry for 11:45 p.m. --- three night hikers arrive at shelter and keep you awake while cooking their supper, ask if they can use your bear hang, and expect you to shove over and make room in the shelter.