Almost Done With Georgia!

It is hard to put into words how perfect life on the Appalachian Trail is. After 4 full days on the trail, I'm almost at the Georgia/North Carolina border. I won't bore you with trail details, but here is a run down of the trail so far:

Saturday: left Indiana at 4am, got a shuttle up to Springer Mountain, hiked 2 miles and stayed at the summit campground. 

Sunday: hiked 17 miles and camped

Monday: hiked 17 miles and camped

Tuesday: hiked 16 miles in the rain, stayed at a shelter 

Wednesday: hiked 19 miles and made it to the hostel

Not to sound pretentious, but of the 5 "thru-hikers" I met, I don't think anyone but me is actually going to make it to Katahdin. 3 hikers were taking a day off because it was raining, and they took 8 days to get to a shelter I passed in 3. 1 women already said she was quitting, just needed to hike to a road to get picked up. And the last young man I met set himself on fire while trying to cook dinner. 

Although I'm not at 20 miles per day yet, I'm pretty close and feeling awesome. My legs are solid muscle, my back is feeling strong, and Roxy is putting up with this adventure with an outstanding attitude and perseverance. 

The more I hike, the less time I want to spend staring at a bright screen writing about how in love with everything I am, so these posts might get very infrequent. I haven't had reception anywhere in the woods, and even at the hostel I only have wifi. 

Like I mentioned before, I like pictures so here are a few from my first 4.5 days on the trail. 

I haven't figure out how to post captions from my phone, so hopefully this works alright. This was sunset on Saturday night. I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. I want someone to pay me to live in the woods and look at pretty sunsets. 

Whales on the trail were the best snack ever. Thanks Myranda and Larryn for the best going away gift ever. 

Exhausted. Roxy is a champ for putting up with everything I've been asking her to do. She is amazing. 

Insects on the trail. 

More Arthropoda specimens. 

And another arthropod. 

Snakes on the trail!

Angry rattle snake. 

Having the time of our lives :)

Plan B

Dropped. Luckily I have the best dad ever and he bought me a new one right away.

Those of you who know me have probably noticed that during the past year nothing has gone as planned. Rather than letting things get me down, I've become a pro at improvising and adjusting quickly to whatever life throws at me. In recent developments I dropped my brand new camera and broke the lens. Wrecking material possessions is a minor setback. In bigger news,  despite planning my southbound Appalachian Hike since July 2014, this week I have had to completely revise my plans. 

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy sent an email on May 15th alerting potential South-Bound hikers that Baxter State Park conditions are still very snowy, and there is a very low chance of the Appalachian Trail up Mt. Katahdin being open by June 1st. Even if the trail did open, snow-melt from the mountains will be causing high water levels in rivers and streams creating dangerous crossing conditions.

So after spending months researching every aspect of a southbound hike, planning each day's mileage and camping location, and preparing all my mail drops, I've revised everything to accommodate plan B:  late-starting a north bound hike with increased daily mileage so that I can get to Katahdin before it closes again on October 15th.

Although I had originally planned on extending my hike as long as possible to avoid returning to the real world, I now am going to be on a strict and strenuous schedule. Instead of a leisurely walk in the woods, each day will start early and end late. Despite this being a huge change from how I planned on hiking the Appalachian Trail, I am thrilled that it is going to be such a challenge.

Instead of starting on June 1st, I am now going to start on Memorial Day (May 25th). Which means that I have to skip out on a few last minute doctor's appointments and quickly tie up all lose ends of this life I'm leaving behind. I had previously planned out all my mail drops, ensuring that I wasn't planning on picking up a package on a Sunday or getting there too late in the day, but I honestly don't have time to re-plan everything in that much detail, so I've just flipped all my locations around. There is a pretty good chance I will pick up packages a day earlier or a day later than listed.

Here is a list of all the locations I will be picking up packages, and the very approximate dates I'll get there. 

Mileage	Location	Date (Approx.)	Food Need	Mailing Label
69.6	Top of Georgia Hostel, Hiawassee, GA	5/29/2015	4	Monica Fryska c/o Top Of Georgia Hostel 7675 US Highway 76 East Hiawassee, GA 30546 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival: 5/29/2015
137.1	Nantahala Outdoor Center, Bryson City, NC	6/2/2015	7	Monica Fryska C/O Nantahla Outdoor Center 13077 Hwy. 19W Bryson City, NC 28713 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival Date: 6/2/2015
274.4	Bluff Mountain Outfitter, Hot Springs, NC	6/9/2015	7	Monica Fryska c/o Bluff Mountain Outfitters 152 Bridge St. PO Box 114 Hot Springs, NC 28743 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival Date: 6/9/2015
394	Mountain Harbour Hostel, Roan Mountain, TN	6/16/2015	6	Monica Fryska c/o Mountain Harbour Hostel 9151 Hwy 19E Roan Mountain, TN 37687 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hike Approximate Arrival Date: 6/16/2015
469	Woodchuck Hostel, Damascus, VA	6/20/2015	9	Monica Fryska C/O Woodchuck Hostel P.O. Box 752 Damascus, VA 24236 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival Date: 6/20/2015
635	Woodshole Hostel, Pearisburg, VA	6/30/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o Woodshole Hostel 3696 Sugar Run Road Pearisburg, VA 24134 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 6/30/2015
729	Troutville, VA Post Office	7/5/0215	7	Monica Fryska c/o General Delivery 4952 LEE HWY TROUTVILLE, VA 24175-9998 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 7/5/2015
862	Waynesboro, VA post office	7/12/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o General Delivery 200 S WAYNE AVE WAYNESBORO, VA 22980-9998 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 7/12/2015
942	Farmer's Food in Luray, VA	7/17/2015	5	Shopping- No mail
1033	Treehouse Camp, Rohrersville, MA	7/22/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o The Treehouse Camp 20716 Townsend Road Rohrersville, Maryland 21779 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival Date: 7/22/2015
1147	Duncannon, PA Post Office	7/28/2015	7	Monica Fryska c/o General Delivery 203 N MARKET ST DUNCANNON, PA 17020-9998 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival Date: 7/28/2015
1257	Palmerton, PA Post Office	8/4/2015	6	Monica Fryska c/o General Delivery 128 DELAWARE AVE FRNT PALMERTON, PA 18071-9998 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 8/4/2015
1357	Vernon, NJ Post Office	8/10/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o General Delivery 530 COUNTY ROUTE 515 UNIT 13 VERNON, NJ 07462-9997 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 8/10/2015
1434	Stormville, NY Post office	8/15/2015	8	Monica Fryska c/o general delivery 7 Old Route 52 Stormville, NY 12582 Please Hold For Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Arrival Date: 8/15/2015
1569	Dalton, MA Post office	8/23/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o General Delivery 609 MAIN ST DALTON, MA 01226-9998 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 8/23/2015
1651	Green Mountain Hostel, Manchester, VT	8/28/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o Jeff & Regina Taussig Green Mountain House 2480 Richville Rd Manchester Center VT 05255 Please Hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 8/28/2015
1747	Co-Op Food Store, Hanover, NH	9/2/2015	3	Shopping- No mail
1790	Hikers Welcome Hostel, Glencliff, NH	9/5/2015	5	Monica Fryska c/o The Hikers' Welcome Hostel 1396 NH 25 PO Box 25 Glencliff, NH 03238 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 9/5/2015
1869	Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, NH	9/10/2015	6	Shopping- No mail
1969	Hiker Hut, Sandy River, Maine	9/16/2015	7	Monica Fryska c/o Steve Lynch 2 Pine Road Sandy River Plantation, ME 04970 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 9/16/2015
2075	Shaw's Lodge, Monson, Maine	9/23/2015	6	Monica Fryska c/o Shaw's Lodging PO Box 72 Monson, ME 04464 Please hold for Appalachian Trail Hiker Approximate Pick-Up Date: 9/23/2015

Big news- I'm hiking north bound!

About 3 days ago I received an email from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy advising me that there is still mountains of snow on Katahdin, meaning that a June 1st southbound hike is most likely not going to happen. It was suggested that I consider a flip-flop instead. This would involve starting at the southern terminus of the trail hiking north to the halfway point and then getting a ride up to the northern terminus and hiking south back to the halfway point. 

Although this would still be considered a thru-hike, my mind was having a hard time accepting this alternative route. To me a thru-hike starts at point A and ends at point B. So jumping around and ending in the middle wasn't going to work for me. 

So in a dramatic turn of events I'm changing plans entirely: I am hiking north bound starting a week from today. Logistically this is going to take quite a bit of re-planning. I need to reorganize all my mail drops (I'll post a new "send us mail" asap). I also am skipping out on the last 2 doctors' appointments I was supposed to go to next week. 

This might be a crazy idea, but I feel confident I am strong enough to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in 5 months so that I can get to Katahdin by October 15th when the park closes again for the winter. 

I'm currently in Boston for my little Brother's graduation, I'll be back in northern Indiana some time tomorrow. Then it is back to southern Indiana for 3 more days of work. On Saturday I'll head back up to northern Indiana to pack my gear and on Sunday I'll drive down to Springer Mountain in Georgia. On Memorial Day I'll be on the trail. This is probably a crazy idea, but I can't wait to get on the trail. 

Thoughts on Winter and Other Late Night Musings

I miss winter. I've been following updates from Baxter State Park, and it looks like Mt. Katahdin is still completely covered in snow. As my start date nears, I am unfortunately having to face the very real possibility that the Mt. Katahdin trail might not be open by June 1st. It is a little disheartening that I might not be able to start at Mt. Katahdin and will need to return later to summit the mountain.

Despite that bit of potentially bad news, I am super excited at the prospect of snow. High temperatures are terribly difficult for Roxy to hike in, and she absolutely loves the snow. The thought of seeing snow again has me very excited about getting on the AT. I didn't always love snow, but the fact that my ex had an irrational hatred for snow makes me love it even more. I love the fact that snow makes everything more challenging, and rising to that challenge makes me feel invincible. My ex would plop down on the sofa and watch TV all winter while lamenting about how miserable snow is. That sort of dreadful attitude made me want to be the exact opposite. I love everything about the snow. I love shoveling snow and getting an awesome whole body workout. I love walking Roxy through the snow and watching her frolic joyfully. I love bundling up and wandering through the streets admiring the freshly fallen snow, while everyone else pathetically hides in their homes. Snow is powerful, beautiful and inspiring, and I can't wait to see it again.

In other news, I've been reading a lot of trail blogs lately and they are mostly incredibly boring. They are a literal step by step account of each day's hike. My blog will not be like that. I don't like reading long boring texts, so I don't plan on writing them either. I'm only sharing fun stuff, not minute by minute accounts of what I do all day.

I also like pictures, so here are bunch of pictures of places I wish I was right now.

The White Mountains: My happy place. Picture taken during my first true hiking experience.

How could you not be happy here?!

It was so cold I had to cover every inch of skin, totally worth it to see sunsets like this.

My pride and joy on top of the world.

Despite looking like a wintery mountain landscape, this is actually a frozen Lake Michigan.

Winter picnic at Lake Michigan. Fancy winter gear has been acquired.

The Meaning of Life

A huge thank you to Tonya Sheetz for always supporting my crazy ideas.

I’ve never been one to make a big deal about personal achievements. There are over 7 billion people on this planet and most of them are doing much more spectacular things than I am. I struggle a lot with thinking about what the point of life is. In the grand scheme of things, each human life is just a tiny speck in the grand universe, and that can make life seem pretty pointless. But yesterday I was part of something that made me feel like I’m doing life right, and I am rather proud. Bark in the Park. Bark in the Park is the largest annual fundraiser for Friends for Animals in Daviess County Indiana. I organized the first Bark in the Park when I moved down to Washington, Indiana, and three years later I am blown away by what a success it has become. 

The best people in Washington!

I will admit that I organized Bark in the Park out of purely selfish intentions. Washington, Indiana was a dreadful place for me to live. The only things to do in Washington are watch high school sporting events, eat fast food, and pray (three things I have zero interest in). Trying to make the best of my situation, I found a small group of individuals who were dedicated to helping local animals in need, and although it was miserable hearing/seeing the horrible treatment of animals in this community, it gave me hope that there were some people trying to make things better. Most of the people in Friends for Animals have real lives and responsibilities and being part of the group was just a commendable hobby. I had nothing else in Washington, so doing everything I could to help this organization grow became my way of staying sane in a town I hated.

North Daviess kids did a great job of volunteering.

My passion for helping animals grew from being just a lofty dream to a tangible reality with the development of Bark in the Park. I had attended dozens of animal welfare fundraisers in Bloomington and Indianapolis, and now I was in charge of creating one. Honestly I am shocked I pulled it off with so much success. Developing a successful fundraising event requires collaboration with community members and business. You need to get people to like you first before you can convince them to support your cause. I am not an extrovert. I strongly dislike most people I meet. Hardly anyone lives up to the high standards I set for both myself and others. I agonize over seemingly trivial tasks such as making phone calls because I hate talking to people. Yet somehow I managed to get not only the Friends for Animals members but a decent portion of the Daviess County community on board with my dream. 

Putting this in my journal and taking in on the trail with me

Although we don’t have the final numbers yet, I estimate there were at least 200 people in attendance at the event and I’m hoping for at least $4,000 raised for Friends for Animals. Before I started volunteering as the event coordinator for Friends for Animals, they had $0 in savings. After three years, there is now over $10,000 in the savings account. Obviously I didn’t raise that money single-handedly, but I am thrilled that I was able to help rally the group to come together and make events like Bark in the Park so fruitful. If I had to look back on my life and pinpoint my one biggest achievement this would be it. I can’t thank Friends for Animals enough for giving me this opportunity to learn and achieve so much. I know the money we raised is going to a worthy cause, and I feel proud to be actually doing something productive with my life. With 7 billion people on the planet, I’m happy to say I know I am at least doing something to make a small part of the world a better place. 

Are we doing life right? Maybe, maybe not, but at least we are happy :)