0 miles! Pottsville, PA (209.7 total miles)
Ray and Michele have officially earned their trail angel wings many times over. Today I finally took my first zero and spent the day out of the rain, comfortable in their lovely home, resting my mind and body to continue my journey.
They were both working from home today till about 3pm, so it worked out perfectly for me to spend the day with them and the dogs.
I spent some time soaking my feet in an epsom salt solution and applying cold packs and Deep Blue balm to my feet, ankles, and a knees.
I also tried to stay off my feet as much as possible, and spent most of the day on their super comfy couch watching a marathon of Quantum Leap on SyFy, a show from the late 80s/early 90s that I’d never heard of but thoroughly enjoyed.
I took the very best nap of my life, ate as much food and drank as much water as I could, and spent some time researching what the trail in NJ and NY would look like, caught up with Turtle via text, and thought about ways to try to reduce my miles through the rest of PA in order to pace myself better.
Ray and Michele watched some Quantum Leap with me before we all left to go to a block party thrown by the Friendship Fire Company in Englewood, PA. It was my first block party ever, and this particular one only happens once a year on Memorial Day Weekend to kick off the summer.
They treated me to delicious food, including my first bleenies (a regional potato and onion pancake fried in lard), pierogies, and a bean soup (similar to pea soup with ham) cooked in a big cast iron cauldron over a fire. Oh, and a funnel cake as well.
We got back around 9:30 and spent the next few hours just talking about our lives and the trail and whatnot. I really loved our conversations, and their company and my time with them made my heart feel full. They have a lot of wisdom they shared with me, and great stories, and have helped me realize some things about myself and about my hike to aid me in moving forward, both on the trail and in life.
I learned it’s okay to rest, and that has been a very hard lesson for me to learn for several years. My body and mind are feeling strong again, but I am going back to the trail with a determination to slow things down and build up my strength rather than pushing myself so hard.
There are things I could have done differently if I had taken my time more the past couple of weeks. I could have stayed at the outfitter in Duncannon instead of pushing myself to do 20 miles into Carlisle and paying double for a room at the Quality Inn, for example. Little things that add up and affect the morale and the wallet.
We turned in a little after midnight, and I didn’t want the evening to end. I was having too good of a time and didn’t want my break to be over. It had been so nice, and unexpected, and a wonderful gift from two incredibly kind and generous people.
I’ve been trying so hard to make up for my last thru hike attempt, where I spent far too much time taking it easy, that I’ve been pushing myself to my max lately and not leaving anything left in the tank.
As Ray said today though, it is a guarantee that the trail will make me cry at some point. The highs are high and the lows are very low living that way, and I can’t afford to burn through my mental and physical resources. I need to leave enough in reserve that I can handle setbacks, especially when I don’t have anyone nearby I can call on to rescue me, which will be the case for most of the trail.
This is one of the things that make doing a flip flop challenging. You are starting halfway through everyone else’s hike. And if you are relatively young, and strong, the temptation to try to compete in a way and prove yourself is very real.
I knew this would be the case going in, had fallen for it before, and had told myself I would do it differently. Maybe it is different this time, because I caught myself. I chose to ask for help, I chose to get the rest I needed that was available to me. I am choosing to cut my miles and refocus on endurance rather than power.
I am not sure what would have happened if I didn’t have my friends here that made me feel safe enough to reach out when I needed them. What choice I would have made last night, how many miles I would have done today.
I do know that this rest day felt like a true vacation and retreat from the grind I was feeling right then. I don’t have a deadline, and it would be in my best interest to stop hiking like I do. Besides, post trail depression is real, why would I want to hurry that along, anyway?
Time to listen to my body more, get over the competitive nature I developed for five years working in sales, and get back in touch with why I am doing this in the first place. It’s not to arbitrarily hike 2,200 miles, it’s what I will learn about myself and how I will grow along the way.