We’re at mile 207 and taking a zero day in Gatlinburg, TN (which is an ~interesting~ place… lots of confederate flags etc). It’s hard to believe we’ve been hiking for just 17 days. Our flight into Atlanta feels like months ago.
The terrain is still really tough but we’re quickly getting into shape. It’s funny to think that I barely blinked at a 1000’ climb on the PCT, but 500’ feet on the AT is something you have to mentally prepare for. Honestly, I’m surprised the AT doesn’t have a more notorious reputation for it’s difficulty.
Not totally unrelated, two nights ago we had a bear outside our tents (maybe 10’-20’ away). It woke me up at 12:30am because it was crashing through the woods. As it got closer we could hear it grunting with a weird moaning bellow. We started making noise and it ran around us, headed towards the shelter, and then took off into the woods. The whole interaction lasted about two minutes. Still, it was unnerving as we were camping at a shelter where a hiker was bit last year.
Over the next week we’re going to step up our mileage quite a bit. While we’re tired, we don’t really have any nagging pains that can turn into serious injuries. We’ve been smart about zero days, given our pre-hike level of conditioning. Most people who drop out in the first 200 miles are hurt in one way or another.
Generally speaking, a thru-hike is a funny thing because while it’s a super fun experience that we are incredibly lucky to have, it is really REALLY hard. It’s easy to romanticize the trail (see photos), but the reality is that we’re hot, cold, dirty, tired, dealing with bears, itchy, smelly etc. Of course, this is by choice, so it’s absolutely not a complaint, but we definitely ask ourselves why we choose to do something like this. Thru-hikers are a weird bunch.
So, we move on tomorrow. Sooner than later we’ll be in Virginia, one of my favorite states, WITH TONS OF BEARS. Hope you all are well!