It’s already been quite a year: 3,250 miles cycled across the United States, 400 miles cycled across South Korea, two weeks backpacking through Japan, and a 500 mile walk across Spain. I’m not really sure where the time went, but it certainly went by fast. I can still remember planning for all this stuff not even 7 months ago, looking at routes, booking multiple international and domestic flights, taking apart bikes and boxing them up. It was a ton of work, but absolutely worth all the effort, uncertainty and aggravation. They were all amazing and fascinating trips.
Over the last week since getting back from Spain, we’ve been trying to catch our breath while simultaneously looking ahead at the rest of the year. And there’s a lot of it left.
We had originally planned to spend another month in Europe in France hiking the GR10 in the Pyrenees. But after spending 2.5 months overseas, we both wanted to come back to the United States for multiple reasons. We were tired of not understanding anyone, we missed American food, our shoes were worn out, and we were actually a month too early to have a safe, snow-free traverse of the 550 mile GR10 route (we didn’t have ice axes or spikes).
Our attention was focused at home anyway, or least my attention. I had beeen thinking about the Appalachian Trail a lot. It had been six yeas since hiking it, and in that timeframe, I hadn’t done any type of backpacking in the North East since.
During many days on the Camino I often found myself remeniscing about the AT and its mountains, forests, and rivers. The green tunnel was on my mind and it brought back a lot of great feelings, memories and stories.
I asked Carolyn at some point half way through the Camino, “Do you want to hike the Long Trail this summer?”
She said, “Yeah.”
And so it was decided.
The Long Trail spans the entire length of Vermont, some 270 miles from its border with Massachusetts to its border with Canada. It was the first long distance trail of its kind in the United States, acting as inspiration for the Appalachian Trail. About 100 miles of the southern most portion of the Long Trail actually coincides with the AT.
I tried to thru-hike the Long Trail in 2009 the summer after I graduated college. It was mostly a failure. It was tough and kicked my butt quite hard. I only managed about 75 miles of hiking, skipping sections to visit friends and then getting dropped off at different points further along. I’m not sure if it was ever my intent to hike the whole thing through. It was a confusing time in my life, and all I knew was that I wanted to do something different; to try and have some kind of adventure before heading off to the next two years of studying and taking tests in graduate school in Seattle.
But I remember the trip quite well and with a lot of fondness. Especially the peace and quiet of Vermont. Not a lot of people hike the Long Trail, and I was very much alone for days on end without seeing anybody in northern Vermont. It freaked me out a little bit and it was scary some of the time. I remember camping alone at night without getting any sleep, wondering what was out there with me rustling the leaves and cracking small branches. I wouldn’t think twice about that now. These vast, empty spaces are something I cherish and embrace. It was silly to be afraid- but that’s what happens when you are unfamilar with something.
I was so out of shape then, too. I spent too much time drinking in college and too little time taking care of myself. And the Long Trail punished me immensely for it. It is a very physically demanding trail, with a lot of steep ups and downs, with rocks and roots and boulders to navigate through. But the abuse was well worth it. I remember Camels Hump and Mt Mansfield, just a few of several peaks that bring you up out of the tree line. As you stand up there, the world opens up around you. Valleys and peaks spread into the horizon for what seems like forever, making you feel insignificant and small.
It was a powerful moment having those wide open views up there all alone by myself. If my 22 year old self could have known what the following years would bring, he probably wouldn’t have believed it.
And to be honest, I’m not sure I believe it either.
I am really excited to hike the Long Trail. Carolyn has not done any backpacking in New England, and I’m looking forward to sharing these mountains with her.
As always, I’ll be writing about our journey through the Green Tunnel of Vermont. I am hoping for clear weather, not too many mosquitoes and flies, and good times.
We will start soon.
