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all soaked. I tried to keep my cool as I yelled for her to come over to
me, just as Ranger decided that wandering into someone's camp to
find treats was a great idea. This trip was not starting out as planned,
and I probably looked like a train wreck.
Another guy asked if I was hiking the CDT and when I said
yes, he looked a bit concerned, mumbled something, and walked
away. But we started hiking away from people, and my anxiety started
to fade away. As we entered a wide-open meadow, I saw two hikers head-
ing in our direction. But as I tried to talk to them, it became clear they
wanted to keep going to meet their mileage and destination, so we part-
ed ways without really any discussion. We kept hiking up to a pass called
Twin Lakes. I sat there in complete silence listening to the mosquitoes hover
around me, and soon became aware that this trip wasn't about finding other
thru-hikers or why this trail is hard, but rather was more about why I was on this
trail and why I chose to be here.
Some were on the trail
TO HEAL FROM PAST TRAUMAS,
FROM BAD RELATIONSHIPS,
OR FROM WAR AND PTSD.
