Now this is a blog about homelessness, not hiking, but being on the AT is helping me with my depression. As I said, yesterday was tough, today only slightly better. As I was finishing the hike I dreaded getting close to the car.
But I want to talk about the AT. As I said, today's climb was about 1500+ feet. Anyone who has climbed something like that knows about switchbacks and trail markers. Since it is hard to climb straight up, imagine an S shaped route. It's easier to climb but adds to the distance. Normally, you need the trail markers to indicate when the trail switches direction. This is done with a double blaze. However, on the AT it's kinda redundant.
For most of its length the AT is about 18 inches to 4 feet wide. Normally it is on the side of a mountain with a steep incline on both sides or on a ridge line with a steep descent on both sides. In other words, you go forward or back. There ain't a door number three. Even if there were, this is hiking, not mountain climbing. So I always find it funny when I see the blazes, as prescribed, every 20 feet or so. But the ones that really crack me up are when you reach the side of a mountain and going forward means a major bummer for your day. You know there's a switchback because you can't fly. But still, there's the requisite double blaze. Gotta love those anal types.
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