Michelle Hikes

My last post was written on the day that I felt the most down so far during this very challenging hike. After a week of feeling like crap, I woke up to my highly anticipated zero day (no mile day) at Casa de Luna to cold rain, which continued all through the day. Casa de Luna is the home of some wonderful trail angels who let hikers camp on their property and hang out in their front yard, providing breakfast, dinner, and entertainment (read: dancing). I spent the day trying to escape the wet and cold, on the verge of tears (or actually crying), surrounded by a ton of people who seemed far less miserable than me, and not feeling like dancing at all. I would say when it comes to rain, I am not the most optimistic person ... Washington is going to be a breeeeeze. 😐 Hikers trying to stay warm and out of the rain, under some tents at Casa de Luna Luckily, as I hoped would happen, I woke up the next morning feeling slightly better and at least somewhat mentally prepared to head back...

Today is my 40th day on trail and to be honest, I have not been having the best time over the past week or so. The trail has been kicking my ass, physically and mentally. I’m definitely in a bit of a slump at the moment, and I just keep trying to remind myself that dips in mood and motivation are temporary. It’s easy in hindsight to write what is good, beautiful, worth it, all the reasons why I keep going... The reality is that most of the time it’s really hard to see all that stuff when I’m hot, (or cold), tired, sore, lonely, sweaty, and entirely unmotivated. Today, all I can write is that I am utterly exhausted, in every way. Sleep has been a hard thing to come by, due to very uncomfortable sleeping conditions, noise, and the need to get up at ungodly hours in order to get miles in before the sun gets too hot. Then consider that I have been constantly moving for most of each day, often climbing up intense inclines for hours at a time, only to reach the top and head back d...