Since the original title of this blog is Newest Obsession, I thought I'd tell you about one of my newest.
Okay, it's a bit of a repeat from last year, just picking up on an interest that was in hibernation over the winter. Last year I read many books on the Appalachian Trail-- and hiking in general. If I can find my reading list, I'll post it here.
I've been researching that again. While a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail isn't possible for me right now, I realized today that I can thru-hike another trail. Now I have to find someone with whom to hike!
The trail I really want to hike: Metacomet Monadnock Trail, 110 miles through Massachusetts and a bit of New Hampshire. It goes around and up Mount Holyoke (the history of Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary is another long-standing obsession of mine), so that makes me veeerrry interested.
Now, I haven't actually done any long-distance hiking. I did a few 10 and 11-mile hikes last summer: 10.5 miles on the North Country Trail in Michigan with my sister, 11.5 hike at Clifty Falls (all the trails except one), and a 13-mile hike at Mounds State Park. All of these were completed within four hours, so I was only out an afternoon, really.
Long-distance hiking gives a completely different feeling from regular hiking... that's fun and all, but you don't get that "high" you get from finishing a long hike.
I always be interested too, we even have one who start at our door (nearly). But I am quite sure I cannot manage to carry everything you need for a many days hiking. The one near me is really without any convenience... so maybe when I will be less weak..
ReplyDeleteLucky you! I have to travel 2+ hours to find a long-distance trail. I'm not sure if I can carry everything, either, so I plan to start with a 1-night trip and work up! :)
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