Acceptance

So early in the morning I heard a rustling along the trail. The sun was barely starting to rise and the dew was still thick in the air. A couple of early riser hikers were coming down the trail, laughing about the way I had set up for the night. It was enough to wake me and get me started.

  I decided to skip breakfast for the time being and see about getting my things in order. It wasn’t long and my bag was packed. I grabbed the boots, turned them over to shake out any unwanted guests from the night. I was off to see how long it would take for the blisters to start.

  I knew that I would have to take it slow for the first few days. I had not been physically active for a few years and wanted to take it slow. I wanted to make sure I had a chance to enjoy the scenery around me. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t get huge blisters that would be infected, but mostly I just wanted to have some time to soak in the nature.

  Starting this early in the year the woods were still asleep. Spring was just around the corner and the trees had yet to bud, the plants were not breaking ground and the forest was bare. You could see through the trees as there was not much undergrowth. All in all the scenery was a little dull. The trees without leaves gave me the feeling that the forest was still in hibernation.

  The hills in Ga. are arguably the hardest section of the trail. They are not the highest sections of the trail, but you have just started, and your legs are not accustomed to the rigors of trail life. Also there are plenty of ups and downs in this section. I began to wonder why. Each uphill meant stopping several times to catch my breath, and let my heart quit racing. It was truly the first time I wondered if my body was going to make it. Each time the thought of a heart attack raced through my mind, I would stop to think of the man that inspired me in the first place. I decided that I would go slow, it didn’t matter how long I take. I would either make it all the way, or I could stop halfway and go to Maine and finish going southbound (doing this is called a Flip-Flop).

  The main concern you have going northbound is that Baxter State Park, the northern terminus, will close before you summit Katahdin. It is recommended that you summit by Oct. 15. that is when they will close the park to camping, and if the weather is too bad they will not let you hike the last 5 miles of the trail, to the peak of Katahdin. Many of the people that hike the trail will flip-flop somewhere in the middle so they don’t have to worry about the time constraint. I knew that I wanted to take it easy. I wasn’t going to worry about how many miles per day I made, and that flipping was always going to be an option for me. If you are going to hike the trail I recommend this mindset, it will make for a much better hike all along the trail.

  I managed to get about 5 miles in that first day. I stopped at least three times on every hill that came my way. I stopped at several streams to watch the water flow by. I stopped to watch squirrels frantically scurry up trees. I stopped whenever my little heart desired. I made it to the shelter about 3 in the afternoon and knew that I was finished for the day.

  I stopped and set my pack in the shelter, and went around gathering some firewood. Several hikers (OMG do I mean several), came by stopping for lunch or a quick snack. Many of them thinking I was never going to make it, since I had stopped when there was still daylight left to hike in. You would have thought I put a knife in their chest when I told them I only made it 5 miles that day. Yet later in the day when the chill set in, all the hikers that came through enjoyed the nice campfire I had going.

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Living for something more than the almighty dollar.