“Finish this.” That’s what my sister said to me the day Warthog and I started hiking the AT. Two little words, but such a provision of fortitude. It reminded me of the challenge a Spartan mother issued her son as he left for war: “Either come back with your shield or on it.” My sisters’ words have been both an encouragement and an expectation, fueling me on some of my difficult days. Holy cow, these last few days have been difficult. First, my stomach was still recovering from being ill. Then the sickness spent two days working its way through my intestines (causing all kinds of urgency on the trail). As if that wasn’t enough, my heel situation started to get borderline dangerous. It’s been quite a week. Honestly, even though we just got back out here, I’m looking forward to a couple of days off.
Now, none of our family or friends would ever think less of us should we need to come home early. I know that. In fact, they’ve all made it explicitly clear that they would happily pick us up should we reach that point. But I cannot stress enough the strength I get knowing that our loved ones are all cheering us on, supporting us, praying for us, and overall are hoping we are successful in this endeavor. It’s the all of the people back home that have been absolutely critical to our motivation. Tomorrow we will get to see some of those people. Mom and dad Warthog are coming along with his sister.
We had a full day ahead of us, 13.9 miles. Partway through the day we came to a gap with trail magic. The trail angel didn’t have any snacks left, but the chair and the drink were still very much appreciated. The man had a hostel in the north for 15 or so years. He never charged anyone. I think he just really enjoyed having hikers around. He was a cool person to talk to.
They were easy miles today. I’m glad for that, because my intestines (not my stomach) started rolling. It literally sounded like a water bubbler and felt as uncomfortable as it sounds. I hit three different points of urgency today. The most dramatic moment was right after lunch. We were at a shelter, but it didn’t have a privy, so I had to run for the woods. Run, being the operative word. I didn’t think I would make it, I barely did. However, it was an awkward spot on the hill and halfway through my foot slipped, my right cheek landing firmly in the spot that I did NOT want it to land in. Irrefutably, that was the lowest point in my day. You would think my experience is unique, it is not. Whatever illness I had, it is making its rounds. I know several other hikers who have fought it and others who have had similar urgencies while hiking. Some equally as embarrassing as my story above. It happens. Even more, we all know about it when it does. Out here, delicacy must be left at the trailhead. Information is exchanged so you can feel normal and more importantly, so you can get better. You have limited resources, but one of those resources is other hikers. Whether they can offer a supply you aren’t carrying or important advice to help you through your issue, they are a resource. So you learn a lot about each other and your ailments. Honestly, I love it. I think the more information shared, the better. I don’t think Warthog agrees. My opinion is it peels away facade, allowing us all to see we are battling the same things so we can battle them together. We are stronger as one, not divided.
Pepto seemed to help, either that or I had gotten it all out of my system. We had about six more miles to push until we would hit our campsite for the night. When we did, we had expected to see GQ, Kyle, Jordan, and Brak. They weren’t there, so we figured they had pushed on to the shelter that was 1.3 miles up. We wanted to hang out with them, which meant another 1.3 miles for us. I’m glad we did. We got there just as they were starting a fire. We all visited and had a nice evening. I knew we would get out of sync since we were getting off of the trail for a few days tomorrow, so I just enjoyed visiting while I could.
We are staying up later because the day is lasting longer. It was 8:30p or 9p before we were going to bed. I’m so excited for tomorrow. Just a couple of miles and then family!
-ansel