“2000 Miles”

AT Day 127 

Miles Today: 16.90

AT Mile: 2002.8

(Crocker Cirque Campsite)

I crossed 2000 miles this evening. But math on this trail is a funny thing. You’ll remember all the way back to around mile 400 when I was arguing with some old man about whether or not I’d “officially” hiked 400 miles yet, and more importantly, whether or not I cared about his opinion on the matter whatsoever.

But I add the side note because although I crossed the 2000 mile marker tonight, I hiked well over that many miles to get here. The Long Trail was the most obvious addition, but if you added together all the town walking, the wandering about camp, the short jaunts to get water, and whatnot, you’d have somewhere closer to 2250-2300 by now.

Whatever.

Who’s counting?

—

I thought that 2000 miles would feel more significant than it did, but in the end, I guess it’s just another mile marker. Last night I noticed that I was going to be crossing that point today, but when I saw 2000 drawn in the dirt with stones, it didn’t leave me overly moved.

By this point in a long trail you reach a point where there have been so many literal and figurative mile markers that it’s harder to get excited about every single one.

One thing that I can say however, now that I’m into the last 200 miles of trail, is that this finally feels like the end of the journey. That feeling will become more acute no doubt as the miles continue to tick by, but today was the first where that feeling of ending really started to set in.

If I make it to Katadhin (sp) this will be the first of the three long trails that I’ve walked from the official start to the official finish. On the PCT I was prevented -from walking to the northern monument because of fires. On the CDT it was snow that diverted me. On both trails I reached the Canadian border, but neither of them at the point that I’d been thinking about all summer long. So in that way the AT will be very different. That will be a big deal to me. And the fact that it’ll be the finish of my Triple Crown feels even more special to me.

—

Started hiking late this morning because I was sleeping too soundly when the sun rose and the birds started chirping. I couldn’t find my beanie that I normally use to pull over my eyes as a sleep mask, so I used my extra pair of hiking shorts and pulled them over my head to block the light. It worked well enough because by the time I woke up everyone else who was sharing that camping area was gone and back to trail.

I don’t worry about that kind of thing like I did early in the AT though. At the start of the trail I was all about having to pull big days, and if I had held onto that motivation through the entire hike, then I would be well and done by now. But I also would have missed a lot of my favorite experiences along the way, and so I don’t at all regret that I’ve slowed down and let myself sleep in and be comfortable getting to camp as early as 5pm some nights.

I’ll continue that way to the end.

I hope that it impacts how I live my life after the trail too.

—

Temperatures were mostly wonderful today. There was a moment or two where it felt a little warm or even close to hot, but nothing as bad as it was earlier in the week. I’m hopeful that the bad temps are behind me now, but I’ve said that before.

The last time I checked I saw a prediction for rain on Sunday, which is two days from now. That could change between now and then, but it’s better than the bad heat.

—

Although it’s been especially dry and Maine is in a “drought,” there are still rivers and streams here and there, and compared to the other long trails that I’ve hiked, I haven’t felt like this one is all that difficult in regards to water. A good example–this big river I came across about a mile before getting to camp. I hesitated as I crossed it, but decided to stop, drop pack, and take a bath before moving on.

I always feel that way before bating in rivers. They’re always freezing cold, but I also always feel incredible afterwords.

While I was there I also washed my shirt and wore my camp shirt the last mile to camp so that my hiking shirt could dry on the top of my pack.

As such, tomorrow I’ll wake clean, tonight I’ll get to sleep clean, and I’ll have all clean clothes tomorrow morning.

Although I haven’t been on trail long since my last resupply at the IGA, I’ll be going into Stratton for a resupply tomorrow. I thought that I was going to have to hitch, but the author named Emily whom I’ve mentioned several times is set up at the road crossing that leads to Stratton, and so she’s offered me a ride in and out of town. That saves me the stress of a hitch which is wonderful.

Growing tired, but nothing new there.

Less than 10% of the trail remaining.

Wormwood.