Trails Can Be Muddy!
The Appalachian Trail is a 3,200km (2,000 mile) path that runs from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The path runs mostly through the woods and passes through Maryland about a 40 minute drive from where I live.
I grew up hiking this section of trail. My first backpacking trip with my dad was on the Maryland section of the AT when I was around 9 years old. When I was 13, I did a week-long trip on the Virginia section of the trail with my friends Schulyer and Eric. I was somewhat surprised that my parents gave me permission to go on this trip with no adult supervision, but they agreed as long as there was no hitchhiking. I promised and then promptly tried hitchhiking for the first time. It was pretty great.
Over the years, I completed the Virginia and Maryland sections and most of Pennsylvania as well as bits in North Carolina and New York. The AT has come to feel like a second home, especially the section between Harpers Ferry, Va. and Gathland State Park which I have hiked bits of on day trips or short overnights perhaps 30 times or more.
This spring, Barbara and I are planning to hike in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York as we usually do. There are 46 mountains in the Adirondacks that are over 4,000 feet above sea level and if you climb them all, you can join a club officially organized in 1948 called the Adirondack 46ers. The cost to be a member is $10 per year and it offers no privileges except to say that you are a member. I began climbing these peaks in 1969 with my dad and finished 40 years later in 2009, claiming my sequential number of 6495 in this exclusive club. It is all on the honor system. You have to report your mountains and the dates you climbed them but there is no way for anyone to check that you actually did it. Of course, what would be the point of lying about such a matter? Not withstanding the insignificance, it is one of my proudest accomplishments (right up there with raising two incredible human beings who also love the wilderness.)
My dad is a 46er as is my sister and her husband. Barbara was with me on most of the peaks I did in later years but not the ones I did in my childhood and so to support her in finishing her mountains, I need to haul my sorry ass up those mountains one more time.
These mountains are not technically difficult. There is little rock scaling and no technical equipment needed. Just a sturdy pair of boots, a day pack and a will to walk up and down steep, rocky, often muddy hills for up to 12 hours at a time. For those so inclined, the rewards are sweet air, sore knees, and when the weather is favorable, occasional majestic vistas of some of the most beautiful parts of this lush, green world.
Which is not to say that they are easy. Neither of us is in the ideal physical condition for this kind of exercise. Barbara has recently come off of 12 weeks in a boot after breaking her foot when she stepped on a black walnut while running and me… well, I have no excuse. There is also the knowledge every year there are those who come to the mountains ill prepared and get into trouble. Wander just a few meters off the trail and one can become disoriented and lost leading to an unexpected night in the woods or worse. One needs to be properly prepared and it decent physical shape.
To prepare for the trip we have committed to a long day hike on the Appalachian Trail every weekend between now and then. Our first hike on President’s Day was 13.5 km, and we plan to increase the distance each week. Nothing on the nearby AT can compare to the steepness and rockiness of the trails in the Adirondacks but we will be better off for the training even if we are never completely ready.
Part of the preparation is mental. ‘Through hikers’, those who hike from Georgia to Maine more or less without stopping, speak of the ‘green tunnel,’ the mind-numbing effect that comes after long distances on the trail when the eyes take in only a narrow path weaving its way through the forest. One can sometimes go into a meditative state while one’s feet pick their way among the rocks and other obstacles. The trail is beautiful but can also feel monotonous particularly to a mind habituated to the constant stimulation of the internet, social media, and text messages. Part of the experience is simply to forget all one’s responsibilities except for the task of putting one foot in front of the other for hour after hour. It requires full attention if one doesn’t want to slip on a wet rock and go flying.
The hikes also remind me of just how important it is to get into the woods. Even though I walk for an hour almost every day, nothing compares to getting into the forest, where some of the sounds of humanity begin to fade. I am looking forward to seeing spring unfold over the next few months as we return to the same stretches of trail again and again. I do not take for granted these old feet and knees are still able to rack up a 15-mile day with a bit of soreness but no real pain.
There is something magical that happens in the Adirondack mountains somewhere between 3,800 and 4,000 feet above sea level. The trees become smaller and the deciduous give way to fir and pine. This magic can only be experienced when traveling by foot. Knowing that the only way back to civilization is a 6- or 7-mile hike back the way you came is part of the magic. It is that magic along with the sure knowledge that a day will come when I can no longer make it up these enormous hills that calls me back to the mountains year after year. Hope to see you on the trail!