Put me in a canoe...

Current Location:  Caratunk, Maine

Accumulated mileage:  1450ish

Well... still in Maine!  It's a big state... what's a girl to do?!  (Maine actually has the second most miles of any state on the trail... just FYI).  Actually, I find myself at the Northern Outdoors Center in Caratunk after a few rainy days, ready to take a break... for the night at least!

Today we crossed the Kennebunk River in a canoe... it's the official way to cross because fording the river can be really dangerous and there is a man there who takes you across... works for me!  It was a funny way to move along the trail though and I thought about all the different ways that I have moved along these miles.  Mostly I've moved on foot but I also took a car one day when there was a trail closure due to bear activity.  I did a few miles up Wildcat Mountain in a gondola... so just add canoe to the crazy, random list!

It's hard to believe that I am here in Maine.  It's hard to believe I am so very close to the end of the trail.  Although I have just 151 more miles to get to Katahdin, I also have about 450 other miles to make up (some of which I am planning to do after Katahdin)... but it is so wild that I have done this crazy journey and come so far.  It is so unexpected and I often tell people that I am an accidental thru hiker... I never meant to walk this far, it just happened!

However, I know that it is exactly where I need to be and exactly where I am meant to be.  I am still learning, still growing, still struggling.  I have come far, but I have far to go.  I have thought a lot about things that I know I need to do differently... about how very selfish and self centered I tend to be... about how much I need to change the way I interact with people and be less judgemental.  But those are thoughts for another day... for now... I am still in Maine, still on this crazy journey... still happy and peaceful and moving forward.  I am blessed.

Living

Current location: Stratton, Maine

Accumulated miles: 1400 something

Oh Maine... Maine is kicking my butt!! It is beautiful and good and I am loving it... but they have some serious mountains here! When they say Maine is one of the hardest states on the trail its no joke!! Although I feel good and know I can walk up those big hills, its still wearing me out!

It seems there are two groups of hikers at this point on the trail... first, the ones who want badly to be done and are moving up the trail with the single minded focus on the end. I get it. Its definitely tiring and walking day in and day out wears out your body... and is tedious. Then there are those who are dragging it out, extending these days... not ready for it to end.

I think I fall somewhere in between... I am tired, my body is sore, and sometimes the walking is tedious... but I am also still enjoyng the journey and not ready to see it end quite yet. Of course, I know I have some skipped sections to make up, so I havent walked quite as far as some people... but after more than 1400 miles I am still in love with the journey... and amazed that I have been blessed to be on it!

Its crazy... this whole idea of walking a long, long way... all the way up the east coast really... and I still sometimes wonder what it is that motivates me to walk... but even on cold, rainy mornings I can see the beauty of these moments... and really that is what the journey is about for me... simple beauty.

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Maine!

Current location: East Andover, ME

Accumulated miles: 1340ish

It's crazy... but I have walked to Maine. INSANITY!! I don't even know what to say about that, so I'll leave it at... I stinkin walked to Maine!

The last few days on the trail have been tough. We did the "hardest mile" on the trail, which was actually a lot of fun rock climbing and scrambling... but it has been rainy and COLD and today there was a good bit of ice on Old Speck Mtn and it snowed on top of Baldplate, while the wind howled. It's been hard, no lie, but beautiful. Today we slack packed 10 of the 15 miles, which mean we left our packs and walked... it was unexpected and WONDERFUL and now we're staying at a hostel... while it is supposed to be in the 20s tonight in the mountains... ahhhh!

Hard days... but hiking is amazing... so I thought _ would tell you the things I LOVE about being a thru hiker... here goes... beautiful sunrises and sunsets over lakes and mountains, dessert at every meal (even breakfast), mornings in the mountains when I get uninterupted prayer time (daily), hiking with my friend "SweetCheeks" who makes me laugh every day, feeling accomplished when I haul myself up a big mountain, the beauty of nature, the changing leaf colors, unexpected friendships, eating anything I want, clean sock day (!), climbing huge rocks, no tv or phones, knowing I can walk 20 miles any day I choose to, and (among other things) the simplicity of living in the mountains. I'm blessed

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details....

It is interesting to me how foreign a concept it is that I live in the woods. Funny, because it's just my current life... and while I love it, I don't think its all that interesting! None the less, I have promised for a while to do a little accounting of what my days (and eating!) on the trail looks like... so here you go!
630 am- Get up, take down the tent and pack up... and eat breakfast! Usually, pop tarts and a granola bar.
730 or 8- start walking (for some reason usually uphill =))
after 5 miles- snack time! usually crackers and pb and craisins, then more walking!
after 5 more miles- lunch! pb or cheese bagels, a granola bar and a candy bar
then more walking until 530 or 6- arrive at the shelter or campsite. set up tent and get water, hang my pack... eat a snack (candy bar usually!)
then, dinner time- ramen and tuna or mac and cheese, cookies, and crackers or a snack bar.
around 8- hang the bear bag and bed time!

See? THRILLING!!

Oh and in case you wonder... here's what I ate on my zero day in Rutland- 2 chicken chimichangas for breakfast, a banana muffin, 2 donuts, an iced coffee, a chicken bacon panini and chips, a salad, an italian sub, a pb brownie, and 2 ice cream bars! seriously.

For the sake of full disclosure I will say I have lost a significant amount of weight... but I don't reccommend eating tons of candy and walking 8 to 10 hours a day as a diet plan. wait. Yes I do!! hahaha

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a quest

Current location: Gorham, NH

Accumulated miles: 1350ish+

All along the trail people talk about the White Mountains of New Hampshire as both the most beautiful and most difficult days of hiking. Arriving in Gorham last night I have now finished the Whites and I am so sad to see it end. Definitely hard and a solid butt kicking every day, it was also insanely beautiful and far and away my favorite part of the trail thus far. It rained and was cold at the beginning of the week, but ended with amazing views and sunshine climbing over Mt. Washington and Madison and beyond. AMAZING.

It also had me thinking about a lot of things this week in the mountains... but one quote has weighed heavy in my thoughts. Before the death by falling down a mountain of my kindle, I was reading a Ruth Haley Barton book. One paragraph spoke to me and I think says volumes about where I am on this path I am walking (both on the trail and in life)...

"Unlike a trip designed to get us somewhere as efficiently as possible, a quest requires us to leave familiar dwelling places for strange lands we cannot yet envision, without knowing when we will return. The journey requires a willingness to say goodbye to life as we know it because our heart is longing for something more."

Yes please! I am both longing for and receiving much more than I can express. =)

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icing

Current location: White Mountains National Forest, NH

Accumulated miles: a lot. seriously.

The other day I was walking and thinking about the fact that I may just walk all the way to Maine. Crazy. I am about 130 miles from the border. I never thought I would walk this far... insane. If all goes well, and my body doesnt complelty fall apart I just might make it.

I have been thinking about why I came out here in the first place... what was I looking for? I know I was looking for peace... for a place to reconnect with who I am and who I want to be... with the things I have lost sight of and desperately love about who I am. I have found those things and more while walking over huge mountains... getting in likely the best shape of my life... and making friends for a lifetime. I am blessed.

Now what? Now the idea of getting to Maine... of more laughter with friends, amazing views, big mountains conquered... and continuing to find peace is all just icing on the cake. I get to have today... and I only get one shot at today... no reruns... so I want to experience the rest of my time out here as icing on an amazingly wonderful cake. I'm blessed!!

I have been keeping track of my food intake and soon I will blog it... along with what I do every day (hint: eat, walk, sleep) but for now... thanks for your love and support... I'm headed to sleep tonight knowing this experience has been NOTHING like I thought it would be... and I'm blessed by that. =)

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