I have been home on the farm for a week, and memories from the trail bombard me continually as I re-adjust to my life at Cape Trib.
As I wake up at 3.00am to visit the toilet, I revel in the fact that I am walking from the bedroom to the bathroom, and not crawling out of a sleeping bag, into the freezing cold and peeing behind a bush. Each night at around 3.00 am for the last 2 weeks I have given thanks for my new circumstances. Comfort is something that many people take for granted. I probably will in time too, but at the moment, I appreciate each night as it comes.
I am still wearing my trail clothes as nothing else fits me, apart from the new pair of jeans I bought in Boston - extra small size. Everything else falls off me. I no longer have a bum (or butt, as the Americans would say) to hold them up and I still haven't had a chance to get to town to go shopping.
Friends in our community are asking me ' did you enjoy your time in the US?'. I still don't know how to answer this question. There was so much deprivation during our 6 month hike that 'enjoy' is not the right word. Not yet anyway. Maybe in 6 months time I will be able to say that I 'enjoyed' our time hiking for 177 days. What I answer is to describe a specific situation on the trail to them so that they can get a glimmer of understanding of what life was really like. Each time I am asked, I provide a different example of deprivation. I don't have to search for examples - they pop into my mind. Everywhere I look a stimulus provides another memory or story of our adventure where we have been pushed to the limit.
It is great to catch up with friends in the community after 6 months, and to find out the latest news. I have some idea of what I have missed through following my Facebook page on my mobile phone, with postings about the Cape Trib news. I am really enjoying linking up with the young women in the community again. Digby says it is a 'mother/daughter' relationship. They are great company and it makes me think about the young women I met on the trail, especially my 'warrior princesses', Scatters and Stucco, who by now are back in normal life too, and going by names of Kate and Carrie. They are both powerful role models and how I envy them and wish I was as confident and strong and fit when I was thirty. I laugh when Carrie tells me that they think of us as their heroes.
Walking the trail gave us time to re-examine our lifestyle to see what we wanted to keep and what to change. We decided that we did still want to live at Cape Tribulation, and to continue running our farm business, but we realised that we were not taking time to smell the roses. One resolution we made was that we would not only work, but also play and enjoy life. So we are going to be taking more time off away from the farm.
As we sort through our photos, I find myself wanting to share my experience - to stand up in front of people and speak about our experiences. Maybe I have a new career waiting to unfold as an after dinner motivational speaker!!
I promised myself that I would cook nutritious meals when I got home, after eating all that rubbish and preservatives. Looking through the recipe book tonight for a chicken recipe to make from scratch, I found Chicken Pot Pie. This was the trail name for a group of young people hiking the trail, who we met many times over the 6 months. I stopped cooking the recipe and started wondering - where are they now? What has happened to Tiny Dancer and Salty, two members Chicken Pot Pie. They were 'yellow blazers', and would walk a bit of the trail, then get a car ride to cover some of the distance and then hike a bit more. All the time Digby and I would be steadily walking, every step of the way. They would appear, disappear, then reappear. A completely different approach to the trail and to life. Just do the good bits, and skip the bits you don't want to do. And yet they were so fit, so keen, so young and good fun. What a pity that they would not be able to call themselves '2000 milers', the group that walks the 'whole trail'.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
The Aftermath
I have made several promises to myself.
I have spent the last 6 months eating completely processed food - instant oatmeal for breakfast, instant rice and pasta for lunch, salami, peperoni, peanut butter and crackers for lunch, and 'health' bars for snacks. Burning 6,000 calories per day, but only able to carry and eat 3,000 per day on the trail.
I need to bring the appetite under control. I have a dream that the 10 kg that I have lost, will stay off, at least for a few months, so I can enjoy my new skinny persona.
Resolutions
1. No more cans of lemonade.
2. No more desserts. I eat my last dessert in Millinocket - homemade rhubarb and strawberry pie, and a blueberry cheesecake. Both delicious.
3. No more breakfasts with 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 3 pancakes with maple syrup and butter.
4. No more potato chips - this has been my favourite way of bulking up the calories.
5. Nor more 'Little Debbies', 'Honey Buns', 'Moon Pies' - or any other bulk packed processed cakes so full of a preservatives, that would 'embalm' me if I died on the trail.
6. Only eat FRESH stuff, nothing out of a packet or bottle except for wine and yoghurt.
7. No more mayonnaise or salad dressing.
I have spent the last 6 months eating completely processed food - instant oatmeal for breakfast, instant rice and pasta for lunch, salami, peperoni, peanut butter and crackers for lunch, and 'health' bars for snacks. Burning 6,000 calories per day, but only able to carry and eat 3,000 per day on the trail.
I need to bring the appetite under control. I have a dream that the 10 kg that I have lost, will stay off, at least for a few months, so I can enjoy my new skinny persona.
Resolutions
1. No more cans of lemonade.
2. No more desserts. I eat my last dessert in Millinocket - homemade rhubarb and strawberry pie, and a blueberry cheesecake. Both delicious.
3. No more breakfasts with 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 3 pancakes with maple syrup and butter.
4. No more potato chips - this has been my favourite way of bulking up the calories.
5. Nor more 'Little Debbies', 'Honey Buns', 'Moon Pies' - or any other bulk packed processed cakes so full of a preservatives, that would 'embalm' me if I died on the trail.
6. Only eat FRESH stuff, nothing out of a packet or bottle except for wine and yoghurt.
7. No more mayonnaise or salad dressing.
Day 176 - 23rd Sept - The Birches - Katahdin - Millinocket - 5 miles
We are up early and excited. This is the day we have been walking towards since April 1st. We head over to the ranger's office to listen to the weather report on the two way radio - sunny day with winds at 5-10mph. Great day.
There are quite a few hikers waiting to climb today. We leave our big packs and take a day pack courtesy of the rangers' office. The climb to the summit takes 3 1/2 hours. Above the treeline, large granite boulders make it difficult to negotiate. As I wriggle up through the cracks, I worry about how I am going to descend these boulders. We reach a large plateau, it is quite windy on the lip of the plateaur and then it is protected. We arrive to find about 30 people on the summit. Captain Slick is dressed in his full regalia of formal dresss marine uniform. Stucco and Boss are there with us. This is great as they have walked with us over the last few months. The climb down takes 3 1/2 hours and it is not so bad.
We are picked up by Jamie who runs the shuttle to Millinocket. We share the trip with Masterchief and Backwards, both of whom are up in the air about their future plans. We have a private room at the Appalachian Lodge - a huge rooom with a bay window overlooking the street. We have dinner at the Appalachian Cafe which is packed with hikers.
At last - we have completed the journey! We climbed Katahdin, the climax of the whole AT experience. A towering mountain with huge plateaus above the treeline and a rock boulder climbing approach which is daunting. It was a fitting end to day 176 on the trail. How do I feel? Initially it was relief that I had made it, and that it is over. Now 12 hours later, it is disbelief that we actually achieved it, that we actually did walk the whole way - 2179 miles. This is a major achievement - and by tomorrow it may be exhilaration and pride. But at the moment I still can't believe that we have actually done it.
We have 4 days booked in Boston in a small apartment in Beacon Hill, the historical downtown area, until we fly home on the 29th - Boston - Los Angeles - Melbourne - Cairns, arriving on the 1st October.
There are quite a few hikers waiting to climb today. We leave our big packs and take a day pack courtesy of the rangers' office. The climb to the summit takes 3 1/2 hours. Above the treeline, large granite boulders make it difficult to negotiate. As I wriggle up through the cracks, I worry about how I am going to descend these boulders. We reach a large plateau, it is quite windy on the lip of the plateaur and then it is protected. We arrive to find about 30 people on the summit. Captain Slick is dressed in his full regalia of formal dresss marine uniform. Stucco and Boss are there with us. This is great as they have walked with us over the last few months. The climb down takes 3 1/2 hours and it is not so bad.
We are picked up by Jamie who runs the shuttle to Millinocket. We share the trip with Masterchief and Backwards, both of whom are up in the air about their future plans. We have a private room at the Appalachian Lodge - a huge rooom with a bay window overlooking the street. We have dinner at the Appalachian Cafe which is packed with hikers.
At last - we have completed the journey! We climbed Katahdin, the climax of the whole AT experience. A towering mountain with huge plateaus above the treeline and a rock boulder climbing approach which is daunting. It was a fitting end to day 176 on the trail. How do I feel? Initially it was relief that I had made it, and that it is over. Now 12 hours later, it is disbelief that we actually achieved it, that we actually did walk the whole way - 2179 miles. This is a major achievement - and by tomorrow it may be exhilaration and pride. But at the moment I still can't believe that we have actually done it.
We have 4 days booked in Boston in a small apartment in Beacon Hill, the historical downtown area, until we fly home on the 29th - Boston - Los Angeles - Melbourne - Cairns, arriving on the 1st October.
Day 175 - 22nd Sept - Abol Bridge Campsite - The Birches - 10 miles
We only have ten miles to walk on our last hiking day on the trail. We have microwaved crap at the petrol station for breakfast. A bear has been caught in the trap, last night. The trap is a huge drum on wheels and has a couple of peepholes. We lift the lid and see some black fur, 2 inches away from us. No eye looking at us thank goodness.
A mile down the road on the trail and we are welcomed by the bureaucrats of the national park. Having roamed the Appalachian mountains for 6 months as free-agents without having to book a campsite, we are now required to fill out a form to register for a spot at The Birches Lean To, with all sorts of threats if we don't. We dutifully fill out the form.
We walk along the river and have our last ford to cross. We are starting to feel sad - last river to cross, last hill to climb. At the park offices, there is a huge cake, left by another hiker. We eat the cake - a huge gooey concoction triple layered with cream and chocolate, and have grins all over our faces. Thankyou hiker! We buy a load of firewood so we can have a big fire to celebrate our last night with other hikers. In the late evening, Stucco and Boss arrive, plus a group of hikers we have never seen before, who must have been a day or so behind us for the last 6 months. We are counting down for our last day.
A mile down the road on the trail and we are welcomed by the bureaucrats of the national park. Having roamed the Appalachian mountains for 6 months as free-agents without having to book a campsite, we are now required to fill out a form to register for a spot at The Birches Lean To, with all sorts of threats if we don't. We dutifully fill out the form.
We walk along the river and have our last ford to cross. We are starting to feel sad - last river to cross, last hill to climb. At the park offices, there is a huge cake, left by another hiker. We eat the cake - a huge gooey concoction triple layered with cream and chocolate, and have grins all over our faces. Thankyou hiker! We buy a load of firewood so we can have a big fire to celebrate our last night with other hikers. In the late evening, Stucco and Boss arrive, plus a group of hikers we have never seen before, who must have been a day or so behind us for the last 6 months. We are counting down for our last day.
Day 174 - 21st Sept - Rainbow Stream Lean To - Abol Bridge Campsite - 15 miles
Our second last day on the trail before we climb Mt Katahdin. It is an easy cruising walk and we only have two small bumps to climb. We do not see any other hikers, and arrange at Abol Bridge early. We eat microwaved burgers from the log cabin store at the camping ground. The pinnacle of plasticity in American culture and we stuff it down regardless. I hate to think how many preservatives and other crap must be in this food, so I don't think about it, and just eat it, and enjoy it too!!
There is a problem bear in the vicinity. The campsite we select is the furthest away from the store, and last night the people camping on this site ending up sleeping in their car, because they had a visit from the bear. We have not met a 'problem bear' yet, but we are apprehensive. We take all our food bags, and our toothpaste to the store to be locked into the building for the night. Our campsite has no food smells to attract the bear.
There are coin in the slot showers - they are hot but there are no towells and no soap. They obviously don't have many thru hikers stop here. I scrounge the showers and find an old scrap of soap which the three of us share.
There is a problem bear in the vicinity. The campsite we select is the furthest away from the store, and last night the people camping on this site ending up sleeping in their car, because they had a visit from the bear. We have not met a 'problem bear' yet, but we are apprehensive. We take all our food bags, and our toothpaste to the store to be locked into the building for the night. Our campsite has no food smells to attract the bear.
There are coin in the slot showers - they are hot but there are no towells and no soap. They obviously don't have many thru hikers stop here. I scrounge the showers and find an old scrap of soap which the three of us share.
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