This morning I woke up at my standard time when I’m on trail, 4:30 AM. I made my hot mocha and laid in my quilt before getting packed up as quietly as I could. If you’ve been reading this blog for a long time, you can probably imagine how incredibly cathartic and beautiful it was to start that simple routine. It’s been so incredibly long. These daily rituals are some of my favorite parts of the trail. And it’s been very uprooting and humbling to take two weeks off from hiking after spending five months on trail, averaging 27+ miles per day. And here I am, back out on trail, waking up bright and early to get the miles in. It feels so good to be back.
My goal for the day is to do 20.7 miles. Which might seem a little ambitious, but I really don’t think that it is. I have enough time in the day that I can take 12 hours to go 20 miles if I need to. I think in order to make it through the hundred mile wilderness appropriately without carrying too much food, I need to try to attain fairly substantial mileage. Obviously, I’m not planning to be back to marathons right away. And if I begin hiking today and I feel worn out 15 miles in, I’ll just call it. I’m only going to go as far as I feel comfortable. But I think that if I go really slow, take my time, and take a lot of breaks, 20 miles isn’t going to be too crazy.
Views from the top of Chairback Mountain. What a way to start the day.
The morning began with a very steep half mile climb up to chairback mountain. Which was absolutely beautiful and a great way to start the day. The sun had come up a while earlier, but was still filling the sky with gorgeous vibrant colors. I’m so looking forward to starting my day with the sunrise and ending it with the sunset. That’s one of my favorite aspects of hiking every day. Getting to rise and sit with the sun.
The sun rising up over Chairback Mountain.
I did forget that after chairback Mountain there is a ridiculously steep descent. I’m talking a rock boulder scramble. Lowering myself down a lot with my hands. And having to go as slow as humanly possible. I have no idea how I did this in 2023 when it was pouring rain. Today it didn’t feel particularly ideal when the rocks were all dry. But after I got through that, I was back on some fairly standard trail. And I’m hopeful that I’ll maintain a pretty decent pace today. It’s generally downhill for the next few miles. I’ll drop down toward Gulf Haggis Road and then cross the west branch of the Pleasant river. I’m assuming I’m going to have to ford that, though not expecting it to be deep. Then I recall a very long but gradual uphill before some much less gradual uphill begins.
If I can even maintain a slightly better pace for a handful of miles today, that’ll set me up for success. I don’t need to be averaging 2+ miles an hour for the entire day. But it would be nice to not take 12 hours to do 20.7 miles. It makes my brain explode just thinking about it. It was taking me 13.5 hours to do 40 miles on the PCT. Oh how times have changed.
A lovely little pink lady slipper.
Yesterday afternoon, I finished Free Outside by Jeff Garmire. Which was a really awesome book. Considering the fact that I’m currently attempting the calendar year triple crown, it really hit close to home. And was super fun how easy it was to envision all of the areas he wrote about. He did a good job talking in detail about the various sections of the trail. And obviously, I’ve been to every single one of those sections. He had some vastly different experiences because of weather and also his speed. It was fascinating though and very inspirational.
After I finished that book yesterday, I decided to start another book. I actually downloaded a ton of audiobooks when I first got injured. Sometimes I like to do things like that because I think it puts out good energy towards your goals. I told myself that I wanted to start getting back into audiobooks when I resumed hiking. So I downloaded about five or six for whenever I did get back to hiking. And I’m in a real kick now. This next one that I started was 127 hours: between a rock and a hard place. My brother actually got me the book for Christmas a couple years ago and I’ve seen the movie that stars James Franco. But I figured the book would be way better, and oh boy was it. I think this has to be one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read in my life.
Over the course of last night and this morning, I finished the entire thing. If you’ve never heard the story, it’s a crazy one. The author Aron was an avid outdoorsman, endurance athlete, rock climber, mountaineer, and everything else. Truly a spectacle prior to this event. And because of this, he put himself in a lot of wild circumstances and frequently did dangerous treks and similar experiences solo. During this one circumstance, he was rock climbing and dislodged a large boulder. He wound up falling, and the boulder got caught between him and another rock face. Trapping his hand and wrist under this boulder. He was there for 127 hours before eventually freeing himself by amputating his own hand at the wrist, with a very dull, small pocket knife.
Obviously, I knew all of those broader details already. But it was the nitty-gritty specific stuff that brought tears to my eye. The story has been told time and time again so apologies if I spoil anything for you. But regardless of whatever details I provide it’s still definitely worth listening to or reading. Aron had a dream prior to giving up all hope, during which he envisioned himself balancing his son on his knee with his one hand. And said that after that, he just knew he was going to make it out. The circumstances surrounding the whole event was undoubtably divine, and the timing of everything was absolutely perfect to ensure his survival. And after losing his hand, he went on to pursue even more incredible and challenging endurance events than he had done in the past, truly thriving.
The reason that I downloaded this book though was because Poet showed me his signed copy of the book. When Scott Jurek did the Appalachian Trail FKT he attempt years ago he actually got paced and crewed by Aron, who wrote this book and lived through this crazy story. Scott Jurek’s team stayed at the hostel and spent time with Poet and Hippie Chick. And before leaving, Aron signed a copy of this book and wrote a blurb to their family. Which I just think is the coolest and most random thing ever. And inspired me to listen to the book, which was honestly life-changing. It’s not every day you listen to a story that moves you to such an extent.
After I finished that, I had made it to gulf haggis road, the bottom of my descent. And I was shocked to see Mike’s car! Mike is the Shuttle Driver who I saw a bunch of times at Shaws and who drove me to Otter Pond Road the other day. He was actually meeting a southbound hiker for a food drop and had no idea I was going to be here. While I stood there, he gave me a cold soda and we talked for a little bit. The mosquitoes on the road were crazy though! I hadn’t experienced any bugs yet for the day. So after I finished my soda, I hightailed it out of there and threw on some bug spray. What a delightful surprise though.
Getting ready to do my first river ford of the day.
Not long after that, I had to ford a river which was super shallow. Then I began a very long, but gradual climb. And I could tell that I was making much better time today than yesterday. Even with a really slow going climb and descent on chairback Mountain. I believe I had gone about 7 miles by 9AM, which doesn’t seem like a lot by my previous standards. But I felt pretty solid, considering my recent circumstances. And it also felt like a pretty good indicator that I would definitely be able to hit my mileage goal for the day.
Less than 84 miles from Katahdin!
I wound up, stopping to take a short break not long after that. I didn’t really feel like I needed it, but I need to retrain my brain. I never want to sit down or take breaks. Luckily my body is a little more tight and sore, so it’s easier now. And I know I need to be stretching and trying to rest intermittently. But I’m just so “go go go”. While I sat there, I ate some snacks and drink some water. And then decided to start up another audiobook. This time I would be listening to Mud, Rocks, Blazes by Heather Anderson. I downloaded two of her books but I think I only downloaded this one for off-line use apparently. This book is about her 2013 Appalachian Trail self supported FKT. I know she did it in about 54 days but I definitely didn’t fully appreciate the struggle or challenges that she went through. Over the course of the day I would listen to and finish the entire book, which was an emotional roller coaster.
Obviously starting an FKT on the Appalachian Trail going southbound would hold exceptional challenges. Maine and New Hampshire are the two most difficult states to make significant miles in. And when you start an FKT, you have to try to sit around one particular average every day. I think most southbound FKT attempts result in initially falling behind, and catching up as the trail goes on. That seems to be the opposite trend for northbound Appalachian Trail attempts. It was pretty interesting to listen to her immense amount of self-doubt throughout her journey. She spent a lot of time thinking about quitting and she was very uncertain of whether or not she would make her goal. She was really just trying to beat the 58 day current men’s self supported time. But at the same time, she really wanted to get as close as possible to Scott Jureck and Jennifer Farr Davis’s supported times.
The forest today was so lush and beautiful.
I definitely cried listening to that book too! Sometimes when she narrated in the third person and spoke to herself, I’ll be honest, it felt like she was talking to me. She spoke so kindly to herself at the end and was obviously incredibly proud of herself and the mental journey that she went on. An FKT attempt is an unbelievable physical feat, but it is an emotional journey, just the same. In many ways, she went out with the goal of self discovery and rebirth. I definitely want to download more books under the same theme as the last few that I’ve listened to. Because they were all so ridiculously good and really moved me.
After I made it up toward the top of my gradual climb, I reached the next shelter. I stopped off just before there to grab some water. There wouldn’t be another water source until I made it up and over white cat mountain and descended to the next shelter. Which was only 7 miles from this current water source. But with how slow I’m moving it actually might be a while. Especially because I figure these steeper portions of trail might be a little more technical and slow going.
Heading down some rock steps.
I was pleasantly surprised, though, that the next handful of miles went by pretty quickly. I did a really good job getting close to maintaining 2 mph. Which I think is killer right now considering the state of my body and where I’m at with healing. Most of the people who are out here without injury are probably sitting around 2 mph. That made me feel really good. And I know I’m just going to keep getting stronger every single day, especially if I keep up with the physical therapy.
Perfect little steps made of stone.
When I got up the first really steep climb, I decided to take a break. The terrain and state of my body hasn’t made it very easy to eat and walk simultaneously. So if I want to eat, I need to take a break. This little mountain was a perfectly great spot though. I even had some service! I ate some sacks and did some stretching which made me feel really good. I’ve been doing some of the same stretches that I used to do throughout the day for my IT bands. They’re actually the same recommended stretches for your hip flexors and piriformis muscle.
As my hip flexor is starting to calm down, I’ve been feeling some of the symptoms that I was experiencing on the PCT. Which I’m assuming was the root of this injury. It’s been nice to talk with my physical therapist about these different sensations. Because little did I know, piriformis issues, often coincide with hip flexor tendinitis, and other injuries. So what I thought was tightness in my hip and butt cheek when I was out on the PCT, was likely feeding into all of this the whole time. And because I didn’t know what was going on, and I wasn’t doing any physical therapy, things just began compiling until I got hurt. I think every day I’ll be able to get stronger and certain things will feel better. Hopefully day by day I’ll be able to figure out where everything started. And from there I can prevent this from happening again in the future.
Over the course of the afternoon I got to enjoy many more stunning views.
After sitting there for a little while, I continued along and began my descent. I actually wound up dropping down to a designated campsite that had a privy. For some reason I didn’t even remember that this was here. And I hadn’t looked at the map well enough to notice earlier. I stopped to use the bathroom and did some more stretching. Then began making my way up the next very steep climb. At least once I got to the top, I knew I had some downhill and the following climb would be a lot more gradual. In 2023 when I was hiking through this section, I stopped for the day right before white cap.
The next climb was quite steep, but it was over quickly. Up top I had some snacks before continuing down. Then the next couple of miles were nice and gradual. I made my way up a slow climb and then rode along the top of that for a while. Before eventually continuing down. I remembered that this section before white cap wasn’t too difficult. I also remembered that because of all of the rain we had gotten in 2023, we were walking through a river all evening. It was more like a swamp which covered the entire trail. Even though the trail through this area is very easy to follow, the deep water made things a bit more difficult.
Up on top of white cap.
When I got to the base of white cap today, I looked at the tent spots that I had stayed at in 2023. They looked a lot better today, as they were completely dry. In 2023 they were not great spots. Then I began making my way up the climb, which only went on for about a mile or so. When I was at Shaws Hiker Hostel a couple weeks ago, Rope Bunny had complained about the blow downs on white cap. But then a friend of mine named Woods sent me a video of men clearing out the downed trees just last week. I expected the majority of blow downs to be gone. And think that will be the case for the majority of Maine and New Hampshire now that hiking season is progressing. Early on in the season, trail maintenance is usually at its worst.
The cleanup job on whitecap was even better than I imagined. There wasn’t a single down tree that I had to navigate around. Fresh sawdust covered the whole trail along with loose pine. It was clear that a team had come through here and cleaned up everything. Which I really appreciated, especially in my slightly injured state. Climbing up and around down trees is just not an ideal motion for me right now.
The climb up white cap was a lot better than I imagined. It wasn’t that steep and didn’t get particularly rocky until way up at the top. The top of the mountain is all loose rock, but was really beautiful. There hadn’t been any views the last time I was here. This time around the sky was bright blue, and I could see far off into the distance. It was a really nice way to wrap up the day. From here I still have a handful of miles to go. But it’s quite literally all downhill from here, at least for today.
Up near the top, I ran into a southbound hiker. Then as I continued down, I ran into another southbound hiker going up white cap. She recognized me and we talked for a minute or two. She seemed really nice, but I felt bad that her backpack was absolutely massive. Lucky for her she’s heading in the direction of Shaws Hiker Hostel. Poet will definitely be able to help her out, whether she knows that yet or not. The other day I watched a hiker shed half of their 50 pound pack weight in a matter of minutes. And not by eliminating any creature comforts at all. Just by trading out a couple very heavy items, like an old heavy sleeping bag and a 5+ pound backpack. Along with a multitude of incredibly unnecessary gear items.
The climb down white cap was wildly steep and took me a while. I definitely would rather do a steep climb than a steep descent. I just took it nice and easy. But by the time I got to the bottom, my knees were sore. That was very slow going, but would prove to be the last difficult portion of the day. Soon after that, I passed by a shelter, which was empty. But I wanted to go a bit further. Tomorrow at 11 AM I’m getting a food drop at Joe Mary Road from Shaws. The next shelter along the trail would leave me with just shy of 12 miles to do in the morning. And even at my newly slow pace, I should be able to do that by 11 AM.
The next three or so miles were probably the easiest part of the day. But oddly enough my feet were quite sore. Even when I was doing 30+ mile days earlier in the year, my feet hardly ever got sore. Though I have been doing absolutely no walking or standing recently. So I think my body is just a little shell shocked. When I was just under 2 miles from the next shelter, I sat down briefly. Then continued along to the shelter. I got there super early and it was empty. But the bugs have been quite bad so I set up my tent by there.
Over the next hour or so I was surprised just how many small animals I heard nearby. It was probably some of the noisiest forest I had experienced in a long time. I had seen a massive rabbit when I first arrived. Then there were squirrels running around all night long. None of that really bothers me. But when I hear branches break or leaves rustling off in the forest, I usually try to tune in in order to determine what’s making the sound. So it was more distracting than anything.
Having the Korean inspired beef mountain house meal for dinner.
Inside my tent, I made dinner and did my stretching. Then got some writing and video work done before calling it at night. I’m only 11.8 miles out from Joe Mary Road as of now. I need to be there by 11 AM tomorrow, but hopefully earlier. So I plan to wake up and get going a little earlier tomorrow. It’s hard to say whether my pace will be slightly quicker, like it was today. Plus the terrain over that section of mileage is a lot easier. But I can’t bank on my speed anymore. And I hate to make someone wait for me. So I’ll get up and out early just in case.
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