A Weekend In The Woods
Growing up in Central Pennsylvania, inevitably you’ll come across signs notifying you of the fact that you’ve found The Appalachian Trail. Billed as “America’s First National Scenic Trail”, the 2,175 mile-long trail runs from Georgia all the way to Maine in one continuous, winding path. Finished in 1937, the trail hosts almost 4 million hikers every year and two-thirds of the American population is within a day’s drive of the trail. That’s pretty amazing.
Yet despite all of the very interesting and life-changing information, I’ve never spent a moment on the trail myself. Sure, I had run on other mountains and valleys throughout the Susquehanna Valley, but for some reason I never spent even a moment—let alone days—on the trail. So when a group of friends asked if I’d be interested in heading out for a weekend of camping and hiking on the trail, I decided that now was as good as any to give it a go.
There are a few things that I found it hard to realize when hiking the Appalachian Trail. First is that everything weighs something. That may seem like a moronic statement to make but try hauling around even 3 days worth of food and clothes and you realize how quickly a lot of really small things can add up to a lot. Second is that you’re basically climbing mountains for the majority of your time walking, and even when you’re heading downhill you’re not all that excited about it because you know that inevitably you’ll be climbing back up sooner or later. Third is that Pennsylvania is thought of as worst part of the Appalachian Trail, and for good reason. While I only completed about 20 miles this weekend with a bunch of friends, the entire stretch was littered with rocks and boulders every step along the way. I was very thankful that I had invested a bit for a good pair of shoes.
So here I sit Sunday evening, trying to relax after enjoying a hot shower and having slipped into some comfortable, clean clothes. Overall I enjoyed my time on the trail this weekend, though I’m a bit sore and stiff from having walked a distance that I’ve rarely walked within a few days. You see some amazing things while on the trail and you meet some interesting people. In the end though you get to spend a lot of time with some friends, teasing each other and sharing some great memories. I don’t think I’ll be running back onto the trail right away, but eventually I think I might find myself out there once again sometime in the near future.
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 6:12pm. It has been filed under Personal, Events, Travel, Writers, Joshua.
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