We walked all the way through Vermont since last I spoke with you: in one side, out the other, just one 20-mile day at a time. We have over one quarter of the Appalachian Trail behind us.
In Vermont, the trail winds along small town roads, cuts through cow pastures, and then goes through the Green Mountain National Forest along the same path as the Long Trail (America's oldest ridiculously long hiking trail).
It is neat to see how much cooperation goes into making the Appalachian trail possible: right-of-ways, multiple parks and agencies working together, and just local folks saying, "Sure, you can run a trail through my field, just don't let the cows out." If the trail happens by a house, sometimes folks leave coolers at the end of their driveway with treats for hikers, this is referred to as "trail magic."
My mom keeps asking me: "Are you having fun?" Scientists believe there are at least 3 degrees of fun:
1st degree fun is pure fun while you are doing it. Examples: eating ice cream, waterskiing
2nd degree fun is positioning yourself for first degree fun, sometimes there is some work involved. Examples: paddling out to catch a wave, skinning/hiking up to ski down a mountain.
3rd degree fun is not any fun at all while you are doing it, but later it's fun to talk about and you may have learned something from it. Examples: near death experiences, being arrested, studying for the bar exam.
Hiking the AT, for me, is long periods of 3rd degree fun, punctuated by brief moments of 1st degree fun, like stopping in a town to eat ice cream, catching a beautiful view, seeing every color of leaf carpeting the forest floor, or having the time to have conversations with my husband that I may have never otherwise had. Example: me:"if you could morph into any animal to finish the Appalachian Trail, what animal would you be?"
Him: after thinking for a moment: "An eagle, so I could just fly the whole thing."
Honestly, Didn't I offer to fly the whole thing before we started!? Boys.
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