CDT Day 44 (7/1/23)

Miles 1017 (Red line 1212.9)- 1035.2 (Red line 1231.1) (18.2 miles)

Verbatim

Today I woke up late and did three easy miles into Breckenridge. There have been plenty of locals on the trail these past twos calling Breckenridge “Brek”. That comes across as so completely “cool kid”. I tried calling it “Brehh” to the local who gave me a ride into town. He did not approve. hahaha

I ate a bunch of pastries from the city grocery, and now I’m sitting in the local library charging my things. Nathan & I have been texting. He’s hoping to meet me tomorrow evening some fifty-five miles down the trail. I don’t know if I can do that! But I’ll try, especially as the trail goes over some of the highest peaks on trail in these next miles. Good to strive! haha

I just brushed my teeth in the library bathroom and it feels amazing. There’s a mental shift in the way I perceive my teeth to feel when I’m able to watch myself clean them. It takes a big difference. Having clean teeth is something I worry about on trail.

I’ve sat here and searched the web. I’ve been looking at lightsabers online because I want to buy them for my friends. I’m noticing right now how lovely of a trip this is for me. I’m really out here for the hiking and to accomplish a set of goals. There’s little partying or laughter. It’s just me sitting in a library because there’s nowhere else for me to be.

I’ve had fun thinking about Christmas, a time when I can rest in comfort and have a reason to be home in Maine. It will be a time when I can wear my new sweatshirt, cuddle with Fez, hang with friends, and exercise within reason. Christmas will also be a time, for better or for worse, when my 2000+ mile trails (this was me assuming I’d hike the AT in the fall) will be completed. I’ll have finished two sets of three+ year goals. Gradschool and the triple crown. It will be nice to be warm and rested and easy! Maybe I can start work at Rainbow or travel to Spain. I can start a new set of triple crowns.

I started reading a book here in the library! Oh to read. It is very wonderful. And more wonderful still to go and have one’s own adventures. I am thankful to walk these trails and to be walking now in such mountains as Colorado. -How bout that love of voice. haha. I just read from Two Towers, and can feel the shape of Tolkien’s prose.

I’m tempted to buy another book while in town. It’d be fun at least to look in the bookstore. It’s a challenge to keep my mind engaged by things I want to be thinking about. Without people to crush miles with the walking can be pretty lacking for stimulation.

The problem with a book is weight and time. Time spent reading is time spent not walking, and the book is weight in the pack. A heavy pack sucks.

I’m sitting here at a pizzeria and a husband and wife just chatted me up briefly. They encouraged me and said, “I saw that man writing in his journal and thought that man has a story to tell”. Then the women said, “If you write a book I’d love to read it”. Aw thanks! Here I am writing, and now you’re in it!

I’m reflecting on the difference in “outdoorsmanship” between the modern day and something more antiquated. Today people go run to run and hike to hike. We regard it as something grand and crazy. Something people should be applauded for. Something to do to burn of excesses; calories, time, anxiety.

People used to go outside for reasons. To feed themselves, not to burn off food. And Aragon (I was really on a LOTR kick since the library) isn’t hiking just to get to Canada. He’s trying to save Merry and Pippin!

I just ate six slices of a large veggie pizza and packed two away in my cook pot. The Vargo Bot is the best. I’m am efficiency. Let’s go hike! haha

I SAW A MOOSE TODAY! A young male with brown velvet beginnings. We stared at each other for a while. :)

Post Note

Let’s talk town days. Town days are really overwhelming! The energy required of a town day is something completely different than the energy of a trail day. On trail the objective, and the approach to accomplishing said objective, is clear. Make miles. Walk miles. Maybe make a certain amount of miles by walking said amount of miles. In town it’s completely different! Town feels something like this: OkI’mintownIneedtoresupplyfornextsectionhowlongisnextsectionagainhowfardoIhavetowalktogettogrocerystoreohgodIhavetopooprightnowandcan’tbecauseIcan’tjustpoopintownmaybeIcanusethebathroominthatantiqueshopbutthey’regoingtolookatmereallyweirdandImighthavetoaskforthebathroomkeyandwowI’mreallytiredisthereaplacetositdownandit’ssohotdownhereintownandIforgotIneedtostartchargingmyelectronicsimmediatelybecausethat’sgoingtotakeatleastfourhoursandsomaybeIshouldwalktothelibrarywhereIcanchargethingsfirstbeforethegrocerystorewhereisthelibraryinrelationtothegrocerystoreokcanIusethisbathroomornotplease?

It’s really hard to be in town. I’m compulsively opening Guthook in town to look at the map and town information. I’m comparing distances between the library and various grocery stories. I’m trying to decide which of the four pizza places in this Colorado ski town is the right one to eat at. I’ll check the milages for the next section, divide by 25 to estimate how long the section will take, and then get distracted by a horn honking, or a dog sniffing at me, or someone’s strange glance, or even just the realization that I really do look and feel dirty in comparison to all these people on vacation in this mountain town. It’s exhausting. Instantly I’ve forgotten the next sections mileage and which pizza place I decided upon and have to start the computation over again. It’s really hard to do math on a town day.

Of course you can slow town day down. You can spend a night in a hotel. Maybe even spend two days in a hostel! But what grad student hiker has the money or time to do that? Plus, my idea of a good time isn’t spending $200 on a hotel or drinking copious amounts of beer with hikers I don’t know in a hostel before we all sardine on the floor of this $15 dollar hiker hostel and sleep. My idea of a good time actually contains none of those things. People I don’t know are ok. I like making new friends. But the rest of it is crap. My idea of a good time contains walking, because that’s what I’m out here to do. I am desperate for the part of a town day when it’s over and I’ve hitched back out onto trail and am squeezing in a final five miles at dusk and I don’t have to worry about running out of phone battery because my external battery pack is charged so I can finally listen to some of that four hour Critical Role podcast without anxiety. Then I eat like four plums, tangerines, pears, carrots, avocados, and my leftover pizza feel a little sick and sleep.

One of the real joys of town, in contrast, is talking with random people. If you see a thruhiker alone you shouldn’t be afraid to talk to them. You also shouldn’t force them to talk to you. When in doubt, and wanting to make a good impression, you should definitely offer to buy them an ice cream. If you think they’re cute you should preemptively buy them a cup of ice cream and have the ice cream person write your number on the bottom of the cup. Then when you’ve chatted with them and left and they finish their ice cream and see your number you’ve just given them your number and now you can be friends! Yes, I’ve really fantasized about this happening. It’s lonely out there man.

And despite what you might think, that this thruhiker is a pandora’s box full of possible stories, you should remember two things. One, that they’re probably not going to feel like you understand them when they tell you a story because they’re going to tell you a story like this; “I saw a squirrel once”. And two, that this thruhiker might actually be more interested in what you could thoughtfully share. It’s a long time to be alone out there. Here you are having a “traditional” American summer experience up in some mountain town. A thruhiker might enjoy hearing about your life too! You actually swam in a pool this summer?! Crazy! Tell me everything… But do not overshare. I’m exhausted in town as it is and will so completely totally absolutely resent the fact that you’re tasking me with ending your ramble because it’s necessary to preserve my mental coherence. Don’t doubt that I’ll do it. That’s how I feel at least… I understand that’s a pretty unmanagable set of expectations. But just watch my face while you’re talking to me. I read like an open book.

Thruhikers have a hard time adjusting to “normal life” after trail. I hope this is just a quick window into what that might be like. Normal life, and all the fun things people want you to do with them when you get home, seems so manic in comparison to just walking all day. Maybe my writing today feels a little manic.

A final example; I, for one, will forever have to instantly pee and repeatedly pee whenever you take me on a day hike or afternoon walk. I can’t help it. This is true especially in public settings. My body is convinced, no matter what my brain reminds it, that we’re going on a fourteen hour twenty-five mile hike and it needs to shed excess weight now. On trail I could pee whenever I wanted. Normal life isn’t like that. It’s hard, ok? I’ve peed behind so many dumpsters, bushes, and trees in town. I’m a serious public indecency risk. When I’m in town on a town day and suddenly I have to pee it’s horrible. Desperate times have called for desperate measures.