Even though we had all that time in camp, neither of us wanted to get moving at 6a when our alarm when off. We slept in for another two hours. Amazingly, we were so very tired still. I’m convinced it’s because we allowed our bodies to relax a little. It’s almost as if they need to keep moving all of the way to Katahdin before we can break. Otherwise it hurts to stop.
For lunch we stopped at a field that had recently been mowed. We pulled out our gear that was still wet and laid it out. Everything we need for these six months were displayed on the lawn. I brought a log out of the nearby woods to sit on as we ate. Warthog and I watched an interesting bug crawl through the grass towards me. It stopped about five feet out. We couldn’t quite make out what it was. He guessed a moth, but it didn’t have any wings. Later in the lunch I checked on the bug. Amazingly, this time it did have wings! The ends were slightly curled. In that short amount of time this creature went through a sort of metamorphosis and unfurled its’ wings. I felt honored to be in that moment, to see something most people won’t even comprehend. I sat amazed. It may seem small and almost unimportant. However, the way we are designed, all of us, fascinates me. Even moths.
Photo Above: River crossing with the help of a steel rope.
We were shooting to cover fifteen miles today. Embarrassingly we didn’t make it. We only covered twelve and a half. I won’t feel bad though. It was for good reason. Some people out here say, “Don’t let hiking get in the way of your hike.” I agree and disagree with that. It can’t be to an extreme. You have to have some things you pass up in order to actually finish this thing. However, these last couple of days, we’ve tried to be good about losing a mile or so for the adventure if we need. To a point anyway. For example, we were invited to join a group that was out just for some hilltop yoga. I was tempted to join. I thought it would be an awesome moment to carpe diem or seize the day. We did not, we walked on because of our late start. I’m okay with that. I can do hilltop yoga at home if I want I suppose. Later in the evening, however, we hiked into a small town. This town has a bridge that is famous for hikers and locals to jump from. It’s maybe twenty or so feet above the river. This is what we sacrificed the two and a half miles to. The opportunity to jump off of a bridge. This I cannot do at home. This I decided I had to do here.
The bridge has lines painted on it where it is okay to jump from. When we arrived, a local man, Randy, had just jumped to show hikers it really was safe. He offered to do it again if we needed to see it with our own eyes. There was a group of us all peering over the edge down at the rushing river. “Is it safe?” “Any chance we will touch the bottom?” “What’s the best side to jump in?’ Nervous questions. Earlier in the day I told Warthog that “absolutely I’m jumping in! You will never get the opportunity to jump from this bridge while hiking the AT again (unless of course we hike this trail again). You have to!” Then we arrived and I saw how far the drop was. My stomach twisted a bit. Uhhh… that’s pretty far. Maybe not. Warthog didn’t care. He wasn’t going in. As we walked away from the bridge to Randy’s house (he let’s hikers camp on his lawn and offers food or soda to any passing through), determination set in. I will not let fear hold me back. Internally my body was trying to stop me, externally I was forcing myself to get ready to jump. We left our packs at Randy’s house. I took off my socks and shoes, I put on my sandals. Let’s do this.
Wonder Woman, Snow Monkey, First Ascent, and I walked to the bridge. Warthog, Free Fall, and her dog, Mogwai, went to the rocks below to capture it all. I was the first to go. I climbed over the railing and spent about five minutes building up courage. After one false start, the next countdown was it. I jumped! I want to say I was real cool about it. I wasn’t. I crossed my legs to try for a clean water break. I plugged my nose so I didn’t flush it with river water and held my breath. I was still falling. Shoot, I should take another breath… still falling. Then a weird noise escaped from my mouth. It was sort of a gurgled “ahhhh!” in anticipation of the impact. I think it was the sound of fear escaping. I remember thinking, “Oh, I hope no one heard that.” Then, water. Then I was up for air, still slightly panicked (I’m not that cool). Then I swam to the ledges. When I was back on solid ground, the reality of what I just did hit me. I know it wasn’t all that special because a lot of other people do this. But to me, it was pretty awesome. I’m pretty awesome. I said yes to life, didn’t let fear hold me back, and I leapt. I may not have been Rico Suave through the thing, but I did it anyway. I leapt. I am incredibly proud of myself
Wonder Woman and Snow Monkey jumped together after me. After them was First Ascent (a hiker we’ve been leapfrogging for a few days now, him and his significant other Free Fall plus their dog). Then, the craziest thing happened… Warthog decided to jump! He had refused not out of fear, but because of the cold water. I think he was inspired by the moment. He ran up and stepped off like a champ. A feeling of celebration filled those little ledges as we all stood dripping, smiles stretching across our faces. We were proud of ourselves… we should be.
After jumping, we walked back over to Randy’s house. He had grilled up hotdogs for the hikers. We grabbed a dog and soda for a snack. We visited with him and bit. It was getting late, so we thanked him and said we needed to keep moving. We were going to be short our miles, but didn’t want to be as short as we would be if we had stayed in his lawn. We continued through the town, turned on Podunk Road, and climbed into the woods. A couple of miles in we came to a stream with some sites near it. This is what we called home for the evening. Once everything was set up, we went to bed – still wet and flying high from the adventure earlier in the day.
-ansel