Honeymoon Phase

Alex and I have joked that the honeymoon phase of our thru-hike is over. We have had some rough days over the last week! Mentally and physically.

There was so much excitement within the first month of our hike, it was easy to brush things off and accept everything that was thrown at us. There was the excitement of starting, the newness of the territory, trading out and perfecting our gear, dialing into our trail food needs. So much new new new! Even the bad weather days were a new and even rewarding challenge.

This past week, we let things get to us a bit. I had two days of not feeling well that made for some uncomfortable hiking. I just felt sluggish and slow while Alex felt fit and ready to go. I had the feeling that I was dragging us down, but luckily Alex was energized, motivating, and helped me push through it. We also had some days of hot sun and brutal climbs. In the previous weeks, we felt rewarded at the end of a climb by the views at the top. This past week, we found ourselves feeling unenthusiastic by the unchanged view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. How could we already be so jaded? We have been doing so many steep climbs and steep descents, we were craving some flat land and started taking every ascent personally.

To cap it off, a few days ago we got unexpectedly poured on during the last 4 miles of our hike. As the rain came down, the temperatures dropped quickly. We hustled to our destination and set up our tent in the rain – not fun. By the time we got into our tent, we were soaked.

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It stopped raining overnight, but the temperatures had dropped enough to freeze all of our wet clothes solid. We spent the morning trying to dry out our clothes and tent, but the temps weren’t high enough and the sun wasn’t strong enough. We were cold, wet, and cranky. Add to this that we had shopped like fools during our last resupply and did not bring enough food to fuel ourselves. I don’t know what we were thinking, but we were at a major calorie deficit and we both were starting to feel the hanger.

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As we packed up all of our wet stuff, we grumbled about what to do next. We were planning on another day and a half of hiking before hitting the next town, but the misery we were feeling at that moment made the thought of hiking on feel unbearable. We packed out from our campsite and decided to talk about it on the way. And when I say talk about it, I mean just vent all of our frustrations. Which we both fully did. We really just wanted out of the woods.

Then, we hit a stroke of luck. Not one mile from our campsite, we stumbled upon a cooler on the trail with the word “magic” written on it in Sharpie.

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Inside were bags of hard boiled eggs, carrots, saltine crackers, and apples. Never have I been so enthusiastic about eating some stranger’s food I found in the woods. It could not have come at a better moment! This unknown person completely turned our day around. As we both swallowed down a couple of eggs, we couldn’t help but laugh. It really was just that simple, we needed food.

Everything really went (figuratively) uphill from there. The weather warmed up and we were able to dry out our stuff. We spent the rest of the day talking about our expectations on the trail, what we wanted to get out of it, and how we could avoid (and deal with) low days. Bringing enough food is a good start. Being more patient and flexible is another. There was definitely something cathartic about being so frustrated and letting it all out, then bouncing back and reflecting on all of those feelings. I suppose there will be a lot more days like that ahead!

The next day was a beautiful one and we had a short hike into Erwin, TN where we would stay at a hostel and resupply for the next few days. The trail even provided us with some beautiful new views into a gorge!

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When we got to the hostel, we found that a couple of friends we had made on the trail were also staying there. The little cabin Alex and I reserved had a little kitchen, so we ended up hosting an impromptu dinner party. We made salad, baked feta, steak, and pasta! It felt like just what we needed, a little slice of something that always brings us joy – cooking, eating, and enjoying time with friends. It was a great way to ground us a bit after a tough week.

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We are feeling refueled, reenergized – this week we leave North Carolina and enter into Tennessee!