We've all seen Olympic races in which an athlete makes a break for the finish too soon, only to burn out short of the line. The same thing happened to us this week...in a considerably less elite way. We're at the point in our hike at which Katahdin is close enough that we can see how any delay will directly impact our finish date. And we couldn't be more ready to finish! The temptation, therefore, is to rush these miles even when we know better.
Getting closer on our first day out of Rutland, VT
Fueled by good food, good rest, and cooler weather, we came out of Rutland strong and flew through the rest of Vermont. On Monday, we paused for resupply and a meal in Hanover, NH; then kept moving towards the White Mountains. Logically, we knew that the more mountainous terrain would mean lowering our daily mileage, but neither of us was eager to do this and lengthen our overall hike. The combined physical stress of long tough days plus the emotional stress of feeling trapped into more long tough days plus hotter temps had us primed for a meltdown.
The breaking point came on Wednesday when we realized that we were being nothing but pissy with each other and feeling increasingly disconnected. Hiking this trail is important to both of us, but no way is it more important than us staying connected. If we're not laughing and having fun together, then why are we doing this? We decided then and there to come off trail that night to regroup.
Cooling off and relaxing in the swimming hole in North Woodstock, NH
So, for the last three days we've been holed up in a little motel in North Woodstock, NH. We completely ignored talking about the trail for all of Thursday and just focused on resting, relaxing, and reconnecting. On Friday we discussed our options...continue the long tough days, lower our mileage and push out our end date, quit entirely, or skip a small section of the Whites and finish NH with lower mileage but on the same overall timeframe. We chose the latter and will head out tomorrow morning from Franconia notch.
Part of me feels weak for melting down in the first place and now for skipping some miles. We've known all along that the going will get tough, especially as we approach the finish. And isn't that when the tough are supposed to get going? Do we not have what it takes? But as Shiz pointed out when I voiced these concerns...we could hike the miles. We could push and be miserable and snarky with each other. But that's not the experience we want. Better to know when to say when and to craft a new adventure together.
So in short...New Hampshire won this battle, but it hasn't won the war!
- Sweet Pea
Google album link, new photos at the bottom: https://goo.gl/photos/yVaQgu5Xce88YoVb8
Isn't Vermont beautiful? :-)
Thunder Falls outside of Rutland, VT
Vermont showed off for us with sunshine and great hiking temperatures
Crossing the Connecticut River into New Hampshire