Course Change
Hello, folks. We are still alive!
We have officially concluded our Appalachian Trail season.
We walked for 630 miles, from Virginia to Vermont. It was absolutely glorious. We reveled in the fantastic parts. We strove and struggled through the tough bits. We will definitely go back in the coming seasons, and eventually cover the whole trail.
Why aren’t we going back this season, you ask? As with most things in life, a series of events led us in a new direction. Here is a shortish account of the events:
So there we were, hammering through some Vermont mud pits that people call a trail. It’s been raining for a few days, but it’s about to start RAINING. I have been losing ground against my injured foot for months, and it is being particularly grumpy. We decide it’s high time for a nice zero day, and happen to be passing a town. As we are standing there on the side of a road, the storm cloud that is rolling in is so dark, fast, and ominous that it looks like a wave from underwater. Only minutes before I thought the fury of Thor might drown us just from looking at it, our cab pulled up. One terrifyingly fast ride through the rainstorm later, we were in a hotel.
As we enjoyed the following day (no hiking), we considered logistics. There were some upcoming events that we had planned to jump off of the trail for, but we were about to head into some deep wilderness. Rental cars, airports, cabs, and even hotels were about to become very scarce. With my foot throbbing and my pack gazing at me menacingly, I thought “Why not ‘Flop’ back to Virginia, do some slack-packing near home, and come back for the northern wilderness after our events?”. Once we heard that the storm we narrowly escaped had rendered the trail impassably flooded, we decided to head back and knock out some of the AT in Virginia. We rented a car, and home we went.
After a few days enthralled in the pure ecstasy of sleeping in our own bed and having indoor plumbing, we popped back out to the trail-head where our adventure began. We planned to just rock out a casual 10–12 miles and head home for dinner, no packs required. My hiking poles had been misbehaving recently and I couldn’t get one of them out. Rather than fussing with it, I just gave up. No pack — what do I need poles for? It turns out that once again, I had been using them as crutches. My foot was completely shot after 2 miles without the poles. Home we went.
Days turned into weeks. We went to our planned events and even some bonus events — surprising family and friends in the process. We planted a garden. We did yoga and strength training. I rested my foot for our return to the trail.
Then we started thinking about an invite and a promise to visit our friends in Berlin. Krissy started looking at last minute cruises (the super cheap kind). Possibilities were discussed. Lo and behold, another friend will be in Europe around the same time! It’s a sign. Let’s just do it. So… we are doing it!
Reflecting on the Appalachian Trail:
When we started hiking, our primary goals were to decompress from the corporate world, reconnect with nature, and grow closer together. We did all of those things, and to a greater extent than I could have imagined. Finishing all 2200 miles in a single season was a distant secondary goal.
If I’m being honest — the first 500 miles or so felt like a long and wonderful hiking trip. As we pushed on further, it started to feel like a job. Rather than turn our positive experience into a negative one, we decided to be open to a course change.
The support that you all have given has been amazing. It has meant more to us than we could have expected. A place to stay, a ride somewhere, or just a comment on a video that Krissy worked so hard on. We cherished all of it.
There is more video content coming! Our currently published videos (Ep 1–5) encompass only around half of the AT journey. We will also be filming in Europe! Stay tuned, and thank you all!
