{"id":803,"date":"2015-03-14T14:06:46","date_gmt":"2015-03-14T19:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2015\/?p=803"},"modified":"2022-01-02T10:10:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T18:10:10","slug":"back-on-the-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2015\/back-on-the-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Back on the Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry for the\u00a0delay in posting this update\u00a0but today\u00a0is my first chance in front of a computer since leaving\u00a0Minnesota. At the end of February I opted to take a bus to the trail\u00a0instead of dropping my car off again, due in part\u00a0to\u00a0the surprisingly great experience I had\u00a0in November busing up\u00a0to Maine.\u00a0The experience this\u00a0time: two breakdowns\u00a0totaling 10 hours, multiple assaults (including one on a police officer) and a variety\u00a0of\u00a0scary situations. Yeah.<\/p>\n

\""...but<\/a>

“…and that\u00a0‘Hound broke down<\/a> and left us all stranded, in downtown [Milwaukee]…”<\/p><\/div>When\u00a0the\u00a0Greyhound\u00a0arrived in Roanoke, I caught\u00a0the local bus to Blacksburg where\u00a0Sagacious and Blueberry-\u00a0two Sobo friends from the trail-\u00a0helped me immensely over the course of the next week as\u00a0I hiked in a semicircle around their town.<\/p>\n

\"Special<\/a>

Special thanks to Sagacious and Blueberry for all their help getting me back\u00a0to the trail.\u00a0He since shaved- is this the last picture of\u00a0his hiking beard?<\/p><\/div>\n

The first\u00a0four days back on the trail caught me by surprise: I trudged through deep snow the entire time and never saw another hiker. Between the trail conditions and my lack of trail legs, mileage was hard to come by.\u00a0I\u00a0tented all but one night and was happy at the gear changes I had made in the interim.<\/p>\n

\"Sagacious<\/a>

Sagacious dropped me here because\u00a0the last mile of road (behind me)\u00a0to the trailhead was deep with unplowed snow<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Trudging<\/a>

Trudging through deep snow and finding the trail- the two primary\u00a0activities for\u00a0the first few days<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Doesn't<\/a>

Doesn’t look as cold now as I remember it<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Bump<\/a>

Bump a rhododendron<\/a> branch while you’re passing under, and pay the price<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Not<\/a>

Not much going on in this first shelter I encountered on\u00a0my first day back<\/p><\/div>\n

\""but<\/a>

“but my words, like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the wells of silence<\/a>“<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The small white blaze on the tree in the center of this picture is the only indication I’m still on the trail<\/p><\/div>\n