It's the Smiles Not the Miles! ~Appalachian Trail 2013

We hiked in silence, thinking about nothing and everything! We talked all day, confessing things we thought we'd never say out loud. We tried to make sense of life, only to find that there was no sense to be made of it. We hiked, and hiked, and hiked...up and up to a beautiful mountain-top meadow and a breathtaking view. Then down, down, down, to a bubbling brook or a small mountain road; only to be faced by another mountain face just telling us to turn around! Over time, we learned that it was all a mind game, and that each person has their own hiking speed and mentality...making it a tester of our ability to communicate with each other, and accommodate!

We started "northbound" in Hanover, NH, doing 7-15miles a day for the first week! We tried our best to avoid injury- but of course it still found us: Kelsey twisted her ankle, not badly at first, but once the tendons were stretched, it just kept giving out. And then the famous trail blisters...!

So, we planned our days according to how both of us was feeling, and what kind of terrain and weather we were going to be given. We did a 20.8miler (in a lightning storm). We felt very achieved afterward, but since we didn't really have anywhere to be, there was no reason for us to push our bodies to limits they'd never before experienced...

Most of Vermont was pretty tough with all the ups and downs, but after a couple weeks we had some pretty strong "trail legs"! We met quite a few AT through-hikers (both north and southbound), and also many Long Trail hikers. Prysm and Mudslide were some friends we made on our first day out, and then ended up hiking with them a couple weeks later. Prysm is a southbound through-hiker, and Mudslide is a FlipFlopper (GA->WV, ME->WV). It was fun hiking with them for a little, but they both hit the trail intending to hike it alone, so they weren't all about the accommodation thing. 

We stopped in a few towns, mostly only when we needed to restock our food supply. We went a couple weeks without showering, but found other ways to keep ourselves clean. Eventually, it really wasn't us who stank so badly, it was our gear! I swear!!! 

We hiked through Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, with a short stop at home in the middle. The emotional rollercoster took us by surprise, and, at least for me, posed as more of an obstacle that the ups and downs we had to get over physically. Fir the last week on the trail, we had conquered the hardest part of CT, and decided that we wanted to fully enjoy the last part of our hike. That didn't include dreading the next 18 or 20miler, or come into the shelter completely dead, not wanting to lift a finger to make dinner of set up our beds, etc... We decided that if we saw a beautiful meadow, mountaintop, or lake that we fell in love with, we'd stay until we were ready to go on! 

Now we are back home, packing up for our next adventure! We fly off on Monday, Oct. 14th, landing in the amazing PARIS!! 

I'll write again soon! :)

~Iolani