This is another quick post before I head out for another beautiful day on the trail. It’s been a week, and I haven’t found an inner reserve of energy to write, edit videos, or even scroll news, social media, or other hikers’ videos. I might get there if I take a day off soon and can relax at a coffee shop or somewhere away from people.
Yes, people. I can’t believe how many people are out here even in mid-January. Thru-hikers, section hikers, lots of under-dressed college kids, and groups up from Florida, down from Ohio, and local to the area who just like sleeping outside in the cold and snow. The nerve!
On my first glorious sunny warm day I last posted, last Friday, I did what everyone told me not to: I pushed too hard. 19 miles. And then the rain came, and the cold came, and it slowed me down a bit. And seeing single digit temps arriving last Sunday night, my 3rd day of hiking was a mad dash over Blood Mountain and down into Neel Gap.
My knees haven’t been the same, feeling a bit like bursitis maybe? I spent this week at the Green Dragon Hostel, “slack-packing” a more reasonable distance each day, 10 +/-. The hostel shuttles us to and from trail heads and we don’t need to pack overnight gear or all our food. Thanks to winter closures of mountain roads, which change daily, we’ve been filling in 5e sections of Georgia out of order and sometimes hiking southbound.
”We?” you say. I was the only one at Green Dragon when I arrived Monday, but steadily the place has filled up with a cast of characters, most of them YouTube celebrities. “Metro” has been my daily hiking buddy, with appearances by “Atypical Hiker” and now “Alpha Gal” has joined us. Did I mention service dog Willow? I love all their company, but this introvert is in desperate need of a recharge!
One more segment of Georgia to complete today and tomorrow, then it’s off this hostel gravy train for a minute and back into the wild. I’ll be testing my knees with full pack again today, and hoping for the best. Ifn the meantime if you want to see video of me, best check out YouTube channel @MetroOnTheMove. I bet I’m in the background of a lot of his upcoming videos. I’ll get there myself eventually. 😅
Oooo…my knees are feeling some empathetic aches. Hoping you can work past this! 😘
Yay! He’s alive! Weak at the knees but alive! Go Benj go!
Wow. That is crazy that there are that many crazy folks in the cold, in the snow 🙂 Cold enough here in the OBX, you could have just stayed here for your hike..lol. Miss you and so nice to hear from you! Dave just had his knee replacement so send your bad knee feels to him and he will work it out in his rehab! Miss you!
I’m so excited to hear from you! I have been checking in with Jess to make sure you were alive during this frightening cold snap and snow we have been experiencing.
I am praying for you daily!
I purchased some foam core board for my map and will be assembling and mounting it this weekend so I can track you. I plan to hang it in a prominent place for anyone who visits will be able to view!
Send love and warmth to you!
WHAAAAAT!!!!! SLACKPACKING ALREADY? Next thing we’ll hear is you’ve hired a Sherpa. Keep a lookout for “Mojo”. Your fellow hikers must not have heard registration for the AT was down. Keep on Truckin’
Judging by the progress you’re making- your news must be holding up – just moved “Luscious” to Franklin on my map – IMPRESSIVE!
KNEES must be holding up!
Turns out escaping civilization means bumping into… everyone else who also wants to escape civilization.
Thanks for the update and keep on hiking!