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Happy Trails!

A few weeks hiking the Appalachian Trail, pt. 1

By Hannah Marie. Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
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I wrote about the new season in my life in a previous blog and this week I have been taking my zero day (whenever I don’t hike at all) spending time with my grandparents and setting up job interviews. I think I’ve finally gotten my “trail legs” so I think the next several days should be easier. I cannot discount the fact that there have been so many beautiful scenery spots and even more VERY tough hills.

Yes, you read that right. Almost everything that my dad and I have hiked so far has been considered hills, meaning that we have not yet ascended to a “mountain-like” elevation. That is coming up in the next couple days! These experiences that included hills were extremely difficult to climb and left me sore for days! We’ve experienced a few downhills that we can trot down and also some places that I call “rock gardens”, when the path is full of rocks and boulders that are *slightly!* difficult to get over. We also have seen some animals and I ate some early blackberries off the trail.

Each day our goal was to cover around ten miles, which we completed successfully in the first few days, despite very hot temperatures on Day 2 and Dad nearly overheating. However, he is still Superman because he continued plodding on then and ALSO on Day 4 whenever we decided to continue on for eighteen miles to reach a shelter—one that didn’t contain a black snake and copperhead!

Each night we try to find a camping shelter (a three-sided building), a spring or creek, and a privy. This makes it easier to relax, take some time to sit, and enjoy talking with other hikers. It is neat to hear everyone’s perspectives on hiking, reasons for taking their trip, and trail names, which are given by other hikers, usually to emphasize a part of their hiking personality or physical description. For instance, I’ve met people like Crocs, Smokey the Bard, Gandalf, and Camel. The majority of people I meet are NoBo, or North-Bound (hiking the full trail from Georgia to Maine), but others are section hiking like me or SoBo, South-Bound (Maine to Georgia).

I initially brought around 30 pounds of gear including food/water, but am going to try to lighten this by a few pounds this upcoming week. I have just the essentials when it comes to clothes, good trail running shoes, a set of trusty poles, and lots of snacks. One of the things that always sounds good on the trail is pizza, so we’ve gotten that a couple times in a hostel and on our “Nero” day (near zero miles hiked).

In the evenings I like to explore the area, take pictures, talk with incoming hikers, or journal. I have a couple books on my phone, but only am able to charge my phone 1-2 times a week, so I leave it on airplane mode most of the time. I have been journaling about my experiences on the trail and writing some short stories for my blog, as well as scenes for the manuscripts I’m currently working on. I hope to send out some of my writing for editing in the month or so after I get back, so it’s a good thing to have a place to scribble. More and more of my art has been completed by pen, which is a bit more difficult to work with than pencil, but smears less. In future blogs I’ll include more things we’ve seen, but right now it’s just some fun sketches.

The Appalachian Trail is walked by the majority of hikers from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is easier to give hikers time to get their hiking legs this way, but the old trail started in Maine. At this point, I will probably cover a good distance, but won’t even scratch the surface of the entire 2,190ish miles of the AT. One day…

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About the Creator

Hannah Marie.

Storytelling Through Art.

My goal is to show experiences in a meaningful way through short stories and hand-drawn sketches.

Find me on IG too! @Hannah_Marie._Artwork

—Hannah Marie.

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