6 The First Goodbye (Poplar Stamp Gap to Tray Mountain GA)

Physical adjustment

The body is capable of adapting to enormous stresses from the trail but only if you let it adapt gradually. I am convinced that overuse injuries are really not from high cumulative activity (the integral of activity for those who naturally think in calculus) but rather a high rate of increase (derivative of activity). Thus, starting gradually in terms of pace and mileage is critical. For me, walking with other people helped. 

There are a number of other practices I have been incorporating to increase my likelihood of making it out of Georgia (the next big checkpoint): I stretch quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes, and hip flexors multiple times a day; I do band and bodyweight PT exercises to strengthen the non-walking muscle groups; I do dynamic stretching before starting; and I roll out every morning and evening. It’s pretty dorky. I introduced Hannah and Sam to the rolling ball, and they may have gotten hooked. This works out well for the rolling ball too since its love language is quality time. I take calcium and vitamin D because they say bones like that. These preventative activities will hopefully improve the long term experience, but they by no means eliminate the little pains that stack up by this point.

The backpack contributes much to these physical complaints. 31 pounds (for me, including starting food and water) of extra weight changes your center of gravity and makes each step higher impact. Then there’s 66 miles (so far) of rocky and steep terrain. My muscles are somewhat tight, but the tendons and ligaments bearing the extra use and responding to the uneven surface are annoyingly tight. Especially IT bands are quite tight and lower left peroneal (typical for me). My right medial calf tightened today, inheriting some persistent tightness from the hamstring. I’m excited for some hypothetical day when my body releases some of the extra tightness.

On my own

It’s not just me. Everyone I’ve been hiking with can feel the miles in their knees by this point. Though the two oldest people I’ve been hiking with periodically, retirees Carol and Bruce, seem to doing great. They are amazing. But Hannah in particular is pretty beat up. Compensating for her blisters resulted in some painful knee inflammation. Thus, she and Sam are heading to a hostel today and then taking a day off. I had a final day with them hiking to Unicoi Gap (what a fun name!) Then, they will hold back, and I will keep going.

Though we dearly wish we could continue hiking together, it is not to be. In the planning process, the sadness of leaving trail friends I’ve only known for a few days had not occurred to me. Yet the trail gives and takes away. There are many more people to meet. Hannah and Sam could not have been better partners to begin this journey. They gave me much to think about and engaged in my favorite topics of conversation. They brought so much life to my first week. 

Adding to the social loss, I am forging ahead of Sean, which means getting ahead of Magic Mama and the red Sprinter van. At the same Unicoi gap where I said farewell to Hannah and Sam, I told Magic Mama I couldn’t thank her enough (after enjoying a delightful chili cheese dog and Coke). Maybe I will see everyone again. Maybe our paths will diverge.

A cold sad shower

So I pressed on independently in the mid-afternoon. Climbing up and down a series of steep mountains, a cold rain began to fall. Everything just felt dreary. Being wet, hiking alone, and those tired tendons made it easy to feel ungrateful. Hannah, Sam, and I had started the day listing what we were grateful for, and we had much to share. There was perhaps less to be grateful for in the afternoon, but I remembered there were still many things I could list: the rain will replenish the water sources. The cooling air felt refreshing for the afternoon’s climbing. I reached a shelter where I could stay dry without even setting up a tent. In this, you can choose to be positive or not. I think being positive is essential to be successful out here. In the shelter, there was a new crew of people. The negativity and smoking drove me crazy, and I wanted to get out as quick as possible. Even still, I was glad for a dry place to spend a wet night.