We're in Pearisburg VA now (627 miles from Springer, GA)!
After leaving Damascus it rained for 5 days straight. Needless to say the trails were muddy :) We were sliding around like two awkward penguins pretending to know how to skate in the mud.
Our wildlife sightings have gone up! We are now seeing countless cows everyday, haha! Still no bears, but we have seen some very friendly deer:)
We met a hiker who summed up the Appalachian Trail experience quite beautifully. On the AT one eventually becomes "comfortable with being uncomfortable." We are mostly at that stage now. In normal life, one is in a state of constant equilibrium. However in trail life there's always something out of whack. For example, it's either too hot, too cold, too wet, too buggy, too hungry, too full... We live in a world of extremes, and yet once you embrace this mentality then you can easily ignore all of these uncomforts and you truly become "comfortable with being uncomfortable."
Everyone is hiking the trail in a different style. "Hike your own Hike" is the best trail slogan for the AT. We've met hikers who are spending years on the trail hiking <10 miles a day just experiencing life. We've also met someone whose hiked the trail for the 9th time, and another who is running the trail (30+ miles a day). And for some it can become another beer fest. There's a few who participate in the suitcase challenge. Where hikers dress up in suits and dresses and hike 24 miles while drinking 24 beers (carried in a suitcase) in 24 hrs. Needless to say not many actually succeed in this challenge, but it was hilarious meeting them along the trail in various states of delirium:)
Were hoping to be in Harper's Ferry the weekend of June 18th. So if anyone wants to visit just let us know through the blog or by email!
Happy Trails,
Amanda and Becky
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