So after feeling the need to take several days off in a row rather than walking a day then resting a day, last Wednesday (5/20), after only 12.5 miles, I decided to take several days off and spend time “resting.” My rest was in the form of a road trip into Baltimore from Saturday-Tuesday to attend the “This Is Next” conference. 1 hiker friend, 1 camp ministry friend, 3 college friends, 10 church friends, and 1 pastor friend plus 4 Iced-venti Vanilla Breve Starbucks Doubleshots, 1 Chipotle burrito, and a hotel bed were my temporal highlights of being in Baltimore. Jesus’ life, work, death, resurrection, and return were the focus of the weekend. If you don’t know who Jesus is, it would be a great way for you to spend some time getting to know Him by listening to the audio that will be available free from the Resources section of their website. If you do know Him, it would be a great way to spend some time reminding yourself! The teaching was top quality.

So, how does my leg feel? I don’t know. I don’t feel like I’ll know until I get out there today and try some miles. It hurt less and less as the weekend progressed, but it was still noticable after a day of minimal walking.

So, how do I feel about the hike? Well, after the amount of teaching I heard this weekend, I feel like I have a lot of things to process and what better way to do so than in the silence of the woods. But…this is one of those days on the Appalachian Trail that this hiker doesn’t feel like hiking. Could have something to do with the rain, the uncertainty of whether or not my leg is better, how great it was to be around friends all weekend, that I had a ride back to Ohio or Nashville, the uncertainty of good, better, and the best decisions, or how I miss playing piano and being involved in music.

Maybe I tend to be a moodier hiker than everyone else out here. 🙂 Again, I feel like this is relevant material for those of you who would ever consider a long distance hike. You can think of 1,000 reasons why it’s a good idea to attempt a long distance hike. But on the tough days, only a few reasons are enough to tempt you to end the hike.

However, I feel like there is work to be done; work to be done in me through the teaching I’ve heard and continue to carry in my head. And work to be done to fulfill more of the goals of this journey and hike.

So, today, I hike. Thanks again for reading. I probably would have quit a long time ago if it hadn’t been for the kind things and encouragement I receive from y’all!

Back into the woods…

Weird Trail report:

5/22-5/26 Nero’s in Pearisburg and Baltimore. Still had to walk to places like the library, the conference center, meals, Starbucks, etc. But no pack on the back for those walks.

Well, part of the journey for some hikers inevitably involves injury and rest. After completing the first 575 miles without major injury, I thought my story would avoid that chapter. Like my last blog mentioned, my leg starting hurting, reducing my hike to a limp by the end of 5/12. And even after a weekend of rest in Damascus for the Trail Days festival, it still was sore and swelling by the end of a 14 mile day on Monday and a 12 mile day on Wednesday (with a day of rest in between them)! So before I share my rest plans, I thought I would give you a few more trail definitions.

“White-blazing” means sticking to the trail, mile by mile, not skipping any section. “Blue-blazing” is leaving the trail for a side trip, whether it’s sight-seeing or for personal matters, but the intent is to come back to the trail where you left off and continue. “Yellow-blazing” is a term for people who get a ride farther up the trail by car, thus skipping sections. “Aqua-blazing” is for people who opt to canoe or raft the nearest river to the trail as opposed to hike it. And a personal favorite, “pink-blazers,” are those hikers who are on the trail looking for love 🙂

With that said, I will spend 2 days of rest in the town of Pearisburg,VA, and then blue-blaze to Baltimore Saturday-Tuesday. As grace/fate/luck would have it, a group of friends from my home church in Nashville are passing by this way for the Next Conference and there’s room in the car/hotel for me! So, though it was a difficult decision to make to come off the trail, being able to spend quality time with friends at a conference like this has given me a peace about the decision. Icing on the cake: my college roommate who lives in NYC, as well as two other guys with whom I graduated, will also be at the conference, so it’ll be great to see them!

So, you too can vicariously rest from hiking this week. And I’ll offer you a strange assignment while you’re loafing around the house: go rent the movie About Schmidt. (Unless you are under 18, offended by “R”eal life language, or not able to handle a scene of middle-aged, overweight Kathy Bates naked. As soon as you see “Schmidt” get into a hot-tub mid-movie, fast forward to be spared!!!) Here’s why I feel this movie is relevant to the hike and my goal of getting children sponsored. In these times of economic uncertainty, many of us are having to redefine what “retirement” will be or whether or not we’ll ever be able to retire from work. However, no matter what you “do” or how long you have to “do” it, you want to have a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

In About Schmidt, Warren (Jack Nicholson) asks these difficult questions almost too late in life to receive an answer: “I know we are all pretty small in the big scheme of things. And I suppose the most you can hope for is to make some kind of difference. What kind of difference have I made ? What in the world is better because of me? What difference has my life made to anyone?”

It’s a funny, yet sobering movie. I hope it also makes you ask the same questions. If you choose to sponsor a child, please don’t share as much of your life with them as Warren does 🙂 but know that it’s a pretty fair picture of how child sponsorship works…a real kid who will think the world of you.

Short trail report, and I’ll see you in a few days!

5/16-5/17 “Nero” (near zero, or as little as possible) spent both days resting as much as possible and partaking of some of the Trail Days festivities

5/18 13.9 miles (+.9 blue) Leg hurt again towards the end of the day. Staying at a hostel.

5/19 0 miles. Had a foot/leg massage last night at the hostel, both caretakers are licensed therapists! Going to alternate heat/ice for a while. Hope it’s ready to go in the morning.

5/20 10.4 miles (+2.3 blue and town miles) staying here in Pearisburg for a few days, then Baltimore for a few days. Decided to leave the trail for a week and rest.

5/21 Nero. Library…Walmart…Mexican food…Subway…and made myself a t-shirt 🙂 I’ll post the pic later!

Thanks for stopping by the site. You may have heard about me from my hometown paper, the Chillicothe Gazette, and can’t believe a Ross County kid would hike through 14 states. Or you might not even know me — maybe read a story on RelevantMagazine.com and felt compelled to learn more about child sponsorship or the AT.

Either way, welcome! Make yourself at home here and be sure to visit the Sponsorship link. That’s the heart of the hike. I really would love to see 2,200 kids sponsored by the time I reach the top of Mt. Katahdin. Please consider how you can be part of one child’s life.

Thanks for coming by! There’s more to come, so sign up for the updates to find out if I make it.

-Chris