With all that being said, I am out here. While about 80% of my brain has been running in circles with my thoughts, there’s still the other 20% experiencing this hike. To say I’ve been distracted by my thoughts as of late is an understatement. 

But! There has been a lot more going on as well. I’ve been sharing the adventure, on and off, with about 20 or so different people. Everyone goes their own pace and that changes day to day but it’s been really fun to see a lot of the same people and have a family on trail. 

I had a couple of big weeks. I pushed my miles quite a bit, averaging around 14 miles a day. I had my first 20+ mile day on day 9, and have had two more since. My biggest day was 24 miles into town— motivated in large part by a margarita and shower. I’ve been hanging with a lot of northbound hikers that started in Georgia three or four months ago. They are all going a lot faster than I am, but have served as motivation to go a little farther each day as I really enjoy their company. I’ve still been hiking mostly alone, spending 10+ hours a day with my thoughts, but having friends at camp and at breaks throughout the day. 

I have been given many possible trail names but nothing has stuck yet. Some of those include Sweatpants, Purple Rain, Hopscotch, Rita, Sparkle Chaser, and Mountain Mermaid or M&M for short.... haha I’ll keep you posted. 

Pennsylvania has killed my feet. The terrain is insanely rocky, I most recently described it as walking on top of large pieces of broken glass, then proceeded to get the song ‘Walking on Broken Glass’ stuck in my head for the rest of the day. My gear has been great for the most part, I’ll do a post in a few more weeks about what I am loving and hating. I’ve definitely found my packing groove and am down to 40 minutes between waking up and walking. And I am still really stoked to be here.

The mood has been a bit somber as of late, as I think about everything going on back in reality. This has actually led to a lot of really important and productive conversations about systemic racism with family and friends, on trail with fellow hikers, and most importantly with myself.

I have come to realize that these bigger mile days tickle my competitive side, which is not the goal of this journey. Going forward, I plan to slow down and keep my mileage around 13 to 15 a day. I want to move slower and more thoughtfully, and increase my time at camp for reflection and writing.

Thank you all for your continued support and eagerness to hear about my travels.