9 Miles Distance…

I made nine miles today! Woohoo! I have found I can make about three miles per hour with my gait. I hiked for a little over three hours at a pretty steady pace. My legs were about to give out though by the time I got home. It is going to be tough getting up to twenty miles a day for the trail this summer. It is going to take a lot of diligence, daily hiking, and willpower; all things I can be notorious for lacking sometimes.

It was just a wonderfully gorgeous day today. It felt like spring. I hiked in only a t-shirt and some khaki shorts. The butterflies were back out and locusts were calling their shrill calls in the tall grass around me. The flora and fauna seemed to be reinvigorated by the warm temperatures; a last respite before the cold days of winter set in.

I once again made my way down to the rails. The tracks were unnervingly quiet all morning with nary a train. I stood apprehensively in front of that grand steel truss bridge spanning the even grander Chattahoochee River. It must have been half a mile across to the other side. The signal in the far distance was shimmering green in the warm air rising from the tracks heated by the sun. I looked at the bridge’s builder’s plate and it read, “Built by Baldwin and Sons, 1928.” It certainly looks to be about that old.

I took the first step and picked up pace. I kept an open ear listening for the far off wail of a train horn hoping I wouldn’t hear one. My adrenaline peaked about the time I got to the half way point. That was the point of no return. I nervously turned around to look far down the tracks to view the other signal. It was green too. I sighed with relief. I had to fight vertigo as you could see the swirling, green waters of the river a hundred feet below me through the ties in the track. I had to step carefully. I finally made it to the other side and sat down upon a concrete abutment to smoke a celebratory cigarette and to have a drink. I know. I know. The irony of someone hiking miles everyday and still smoking doesn’t escape me. I am hopelessly addicted and seem to have no shortness of breath as of yet.

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Grad007 had asked in a comment how long it will take me to hike the Appalachian Trail. The trail is just over 2100 miles long running from the mountains of North Georgia to the mountains of Maine. I am hoping at 20 miles a day it will take me around four months with breaks for rest and town visits. Don’t think I will not occasionally get a hotel room and get online from time to time. They also sell little devices with a small keyboard were I can email my tales via a cellular connection and I will look into buying one and joining a monthly plan. That way you all can keep up with me as I hike and someone can post to the blog for me.

Abbagirl asked yesterday what I think about while I walk for so many hours. I have a bad habit of listening to the little Sony radio I own. I am addicted to AM talk radio. I also like to take in the sights and sounds as I hike as I keep the radio volume very low to listen for trains. I do think about deeper subjects as well. It truly is a grand time to organize one’s thoughts and feelings as she surmised.