Done...for now;)

I left the trail with a smile, and very sore, swollen feet…but definitely a smile! It was time to go and I could accept it because my body was telling, or yelling, for me to take a break and heal. No more pushing in misery, every step hurting, and no more ignoring the tell tale signs of “enough is enough”. I hiked 622.3 miles of the Appalachian Trial this summer and am so very proud of what I have accomplished. I did extremely well and often paid a big price for big miles, but that’s what you do to get where you need, or want to be. You expect to hurt and you undoubtedly know it will be hard, but you can’t imagine how much you underestimate both of these things until you're actually doing it. I wouldn’t change a thing and feel so incredibly lucky (with my crazy life) to have found the time to do what I did. I met some amazing people and made some wonderful friends. I ate wild blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and filtered the most delicious water from mountain streams. I slept above rattlesnakes (I'm sure...) and with wolf spiders big enough to have an address, but I survived, I even thrived! I would say to anyone who was thinking of taking on this, or any trail…Freaking Go For It!!!! It made me stronger physically and mentally, and forever changed who I am…I am a backpacker, a hiker, and I am a badass!

~Curlz
AT Section Hiker 2016