One Month as a thru-hiker...

I guess that makes me a Journeyman backpacker...maybe not. If you've hiked the trail, eaten on the trail, gone to the bathroom on the trail (Well, off the trail), been lost on the trail, bled on the trail, cried on the trail and you've kept on going, then I think that makes you a journeyman.

It's been challenging in many ways, but most of all humbling and it makes you appreciative of those things you take for granted on a daily basis like clean water, accessibility to food, communications, soap, a comfortable bed, etc. And I still have 5 and a half months to go.

Every day is still a physical challenge but now it's become a mental game as well. When you wake up in the morning, you know you have to go on now matter how you are feeling. Some days it's easier than others, but in the grand scheme of things you have to weigh all the good days against the bad days and see where you stand. It's all about the cumulative feeling of experiences that determines whether the trip is worthwhile or not.

For me it has been very worthwhile.

So tomorrow, I walk again, into the woods and contemplate the next 1900 miles and decide where I want them to take me.-