I spent my last week on the Appalachian Trail alone in Northern Pennsylvania, also affectionately (?) called Rocksylvania. It involves miles and miles of boulders and is littered with nothing but the rocks. My objective was to get reasonable exposure to this fourth toughest section of the trail.
I was successful in completing the plan. There were two cold, rainy days. Night temperature stayed at 35-40F throughout this week. I was very very tired all the time and my progress through the trail was very slow. As expected, I lost the trail on a few occasions in the piles of boulders but did not see any snakes or bear. Here are few interesting learnings from this section of the trail:
- After reaching the camp site after a long day, it is an effort to get water from a 500 ft. deep gorge climbing down half a mile. One quickly learns to save water by swallowing gargled water after brushing teeth and drinking rinsed water after cleaning the pot after the meal
- You will be surprised to know the amount of tissue paper one needs to wipe your you-know-what. As per the math, if there are 1,850 sections in a roll of tissue paper, you will not require a new roll for at least 1,850 days on the trail.
- All known muscles hurt all the time. And then some new unknown muscles show up abruptly and hurt as well. Suddenly, a very painful hot boil on my fat butt became just an irritation in all these other hurts.
- Try hard not to take a photo wearing a down jacket of a colorful bug crawling near your stove. After quietly melting the outer layer of the jacket, it has a potential to make a fluffy rooster out of an ordinary bearded human being like me. Never mind that the patchwork of duct tape on the expensive jacket becomes a talk of the trail.
- One can sleep like a log from 7 pm to 7 am. There is no concept such as “too much sleep”. In any case, in this jungle, even if your eyes are open, you feel like you are part of a black hole.
- Those fancy, humongous, stable-looking 5-ton boulders practice their meditation most of the times. But when you step on them, they suddenly become Karate teachers and move around so that you get the same balancing exercise that Karate Kid got from Mr. Miyagi
- Do not drink water after 5 pm. If you must go half asleep in the pitch-dark night, there is approx. 45% probability that you will pee on your own shoes
- Reducing weight in the backpack should be the single point agenda at the start of the trail. Reduce the length of the toothbrush, do not carry nail-cutter, no soap, no hand sanitizer, no deodorizer, no Selfie-stick, no extra clothes, no nothing, if possible. Leave your super hygienic body with sandalwood aroma back home
But the real story of my two-week practice run is meeting my amazing hosts and friends. I visited my cousin in Virginia and my college mates and their families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They fed me amazing food with the same affection they have for their children, they listened to my stories with curiosity, and they shared their happiness and day-to-day challenges. Spouses “burst the bubbles” of my so-called smart college mates with such funny stories that I could not stop laughing. Thank you for making me part of your family! I had a blast!
I also had an exciting time with many hikers that I met at camp sites and on the trail. I will write separately about their out-of-the-world stories.
I do not think that I ever mentioned to you about why I have disconnected myself from all of you on WhatsApp groups and emails. I have a practical problem. On the trail, I have limited battery power (due to battery weight). I need to use that power to navigate using my cell, check my pulse and ECG using the watch, and to send my whereabouts to my family using the satellite tracker. I will connect with all of you soon. Meanwhile note that when my trail starts in April 2021, I will be disconnected for more than seven months. May I still request you at that time to send me your encouragement and other messages please (even when you know that I may not respond!)?
