Life is Great!

 

Recently I was lucky to be taken to an archeological site near where I live. The owners of the store where I work know all sorts of cool hikes and sites. This site is not well protected, so I was asked not to broadcast its location, but I am going to attach some pictures. I am excited to explore the southwest desert and Colorado Plateau. There are so many cool things in this region. I'll share them with you here (if I can figure out how), and on my new blog when I catch it up to the present.

http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/ (address of my new blog)

Since I let the one year anniversary of my start on Springer Mountain slip by barely acknowledged (except on Facebook), I feel I should say something before it is too far gone. April 19th, 2012, I hiked up to Springer Mountain in Georgia and then turned around and headed north into an amazing adventure that lasted nearly eight months.

I am so happy right now. I love my new job, house, life and friends. I love my family and long-term friends even more than ever. I love my dog and my cats and I love snuggling with them. The cats and I have been together for more than ten years and I've had seven years with Maggie-dog.

Even before my AT thru-hike I was a nomad and moved my little family all over the USA together. I can't believe I considered finding them new homes. I think I would have greatly regretted that decision, though I am always a supporter of re-homing a pet if you can't give them what they need (not sending them to a "shelter" to die, though).

My fur-kids sure put up with a lot, including being fostered out to wonderful friends for eight months while I hiked. Without you, Jenn, Katie and Darryl, I couldn't have left at all. I can never thank you enough. I am thankful for all the support, kind words and love everybody gave me while I was hiking and even more now that I'm home. I couldn't have done it without you all and I'm loving all the new friendships I've made as a result of my thru-hike.

I am working on my new blog, but I'm struggling with it. As I get more hours at my new job I find less time to work on the blog, and when I do have time, I sometimes would rather hang out on Facebook or go on a hike. I still feel like my blog is homework. How funny. It's very rewarding and worthwhile homework, and important enough to do well. 

I have made it to Pennsylvania on my thru-hike in my new blog. With each entry I take the original blog that was posted here at The Dusty Camel and I edit it. I add memories and details I didn't then. I try to make it easier reading and fix any mistakes. I re-sized all my pictures to add to the blog and I add labels for the pictures and tags for landmarks, shelters and other things I passed.

I check my numbers and mileage and fix the mistakes I often find. I think about things and add my thoughts sometimes. It is much more work to "move" my blog than I expected (emotional work, too), but despite the mistakes I still find on the new blog, I am proud of it. I hope it's a useful reference for others and it is the best journal I ever kept. Thank goodness I wrote down all those details. I have already forgotten things that reading my own blog helps me remember.

I feel an urgency to catch up my blogspot blog so it will become my new blog and it will be current with my new adventures, but I'm at a part in my hike, on my blog, where I was having a hard time. I find myself reliving it, and struggling with it again, as if it's still happening and I'm partially stuck there. I also find a reluctance to finish my hike in the blog, as if by still working on it, and being in the middle of it, I'm still there. I don't really want my thru-hike to end.

However, I have new adventures to write about, and more planned, and I'm motivated to get out of the past and get current. So, for those of you who are following the new blog, I am pushing myself to make it a priority. I'm sorry I've been dragging it out, but life has a way of taking over. Luckily I enjoy writing, so this is a labor of love, not some unwelcome project. 

I received the check from The Dusty Camel for the money I raised for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It's $150! Kind of lame, but I realized I didn't really do a fund-raiser hike. Not really. It takes a lot more work than you'd imagine to effectively raise money, and most of the work is done before you leave on your hike. 

Before my hike I should have raised awareness, sent press releases, contacted many groups with the story, asked people to pledge publicly per mile, gotten some sponsors, had a person at home who could set up media meetings along the way, deal with questions and keep up the publicity while I was hiking. I still would have hiked the same way, but maybe had a card to hand out, with the blog address and fundraiser info. Oh well, lesson learned.

I'm not sure I'll make my next long hike (the PCT) be a fundraiser hike, but if I do, I will do it much better. And thank you very much, those of you who contributed to the fundraiser. The money will go to the clinic which services the animals at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and offers low cost spay/neuter services to the local community. They deserve it, and though it's not much, it's hard won, and they will use it well.

I talked to a couple people at Best Friends about if they want to make any kind of big deal on their end for the presentation of the $150 check. They might want to, so I'm holding off with the presentation. I will get a picture to post up here, whether from my own camera, or a link if Best Friends writes something about it.

My job is perfect. Seriously. I get to drink organic, shade-grown, fair-trade coffee, make lattes and other awesome drinks, and help people find the perfect piece of gear, outdoor clothing, map or book. I love the people I work with, and I love the people who come in the store. I smell like coffee and it's an awesome perfume to wear.

I have already had the most inspiring and what I'd call amazing experiences in the Willow. One night a guy and girl come in the store not long before closing. We didn't recognize each other at first, but then as we talked about hiking the AT, we realized we had met on the AT in 2012. Her trail name is Nutter Butter, and we met up in Massachussets for about five minutes. She was hiking with Rainbow and Mamaw B. and they called themselves the Three Fast Ladies. We all visited for a few minutes and then headed on, never to see each other again.

They were faster, so I followed their register entries the whole way to Katahdin. I read how Nutter Butter left the women and went ahead, to finish faster for a deadline of her own, and of how Rainbow fell the final time about 40 miles from Katahdin and was unable to finish her thru-hike because of a broken pelvis that she had already hiked 200 miles on.

I had read about how Mamaw B. finished her thru-hike and became the oldest woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Previously it had been Grandma Gatewood. And then Nutter Butter walked into The Willow, somewhere in Utah. How amazing is that!? I realized that adventurers who end up in my area are going to gravitate to this store, and I might even meet others I met on the AT or friends I have made online.

Another day a couple of guys came in, smelling of the trail, carrying well-worn backpacks. I asked what trail they were on and they said they were thru-hiking the Hayduke Trail. I have been reading online about this route, and had found a trail journal online, from a couple who did it in 2009. These guys both have trail journals online and have hiked the AT previously. It was exciting to meet them and realize that I can do trail magic in this area as well as section hike parts or all of this route. How exciting! I really love my job and my life. I feel so lucky.

Carry-On AT 2012
http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/

 

My AT hike ruined my life

Carry-On on Three Ridges, Virginia, 2012 (picture thanks to Donna Dearmon)

My 2012 AT thruhike was my first long distance hike and I took almost 8 months to complete it. It ruined my former life. Thank goodness. I was bored, unhappy and completely jaded on people. I was angry a lot and frustrated, overweight and argumentative. I worked in animal rescue and regularly saw the worst that people can do to helpless creatures and I hated people, though I loved the animals-which was the one bright spot in my life. It just wasn't enough.

During my thruhike I regularly received trail magic from family and friends as well as complete strangers. People who I might have argued with on the internet about politics or religion helped me, getting nothing back from me but a thank you. We never talked about the things we might disagree on. All that mattered was that I was hungry, cold, tired, in need of a ride, and they offered me help, from one human to another. I am friends now, with some of those trail angels, even though we have very different "beliefs".

I have come away from my thruhike with a new faith in the goodness of humans. I saw evil in humans, too, on the trail and off, but the good was overwhelming. I have faith in humanity again and that makes me incredibly grateful. I don't see it as being blind to the evils of humans, but of seeing more good than bad in individuals.

I trust groups less than ever, however, and feel even further removed from the politics, religions and other things that I hated before my hike. In some sense I could say I hate them even more, but feel less reactive towards them and less inclined to argue with people about them.

I also learned that I am a badass. Seriously. I was night hiking in the rain in December in Virginia, almost done with my thruhike and I realized. I am a badass. I kick ass. I am tough and stubborn and resourceful and determined and I am about to complete this amazing journey (which I did a few days later). The self confidence that came from my thruhike can never be taken from me.

I learned to appreciate basic things, like four walls and a roof, chairs, tables, clean water, hot running water, electricity. I have already lost the constant appreciation of these things, but I regularly have flashes of gratitude for these luxuries of American life that I enjoy. I understand how others in much poorer parts of the world can be happy with much less, because I was extremely happy on the trail, with much less.

I appreciate my luck in being an American much more than I used to. I don't need things anymore. I am working on getting rid of "stuff" I had stored before my hike that I now don't see the need for. The stuff I do keep I appreciate much more. I enjoy it, but don't need it.

I learned to trust myself, my instincts, and the things that are important to me in the companions and people I bring into my life. I learned that life does provide what you need, even if it's not what you want. Sometimes it only provides what you need for the next couple of days and you don't know what will happen after that, but then it provides just enough after that to keep going for the next few days.

I learned to find joy in just breathing and walking, whether in the sunshine or the rain. I felt strength and weakness in my body, and I conquered challenges that scared me.

I came back from the trail and had major withdrawal. I had to reevaluate everything in my life and it took several weeks. I was unemployed and felt that any job other than on a trail somewhere was a horrible idea. I considered finding new homes for my pets so I could go be a ridge runner or caretaker on the AT. I chafed at my responsibilities and regular life. I became a hermit and worked only on my blog and the pictures from my hike.

Finally I realized I could keep my pets, who are my family, and work in the outdoor retail industry and feel as if I had the best of both worlds. I start my new job tomorrow with people who are thrilled to have me because I did my thruhike. I am thrilled to work with them as well, and learn about all the hikes in the desert around me. My pay per hour is almost half of what it was before my hike. It worries me, but I feel like it's worth it to stay in the outdoor world and work with people who understand my new obsession.

I am planning another thruhike, of a western trail. I am still addicted to the AT, and it will always be the one, the first, but I look forward to my new life and I am excited for it. I hope one day to revisit the AT, whether in sections or another thruhike, because I believe it is special in the culture and people who make it what it is.

I made many friends on the AT, who I am still in contact with, and I treasure them greatly. I relate more to them than most of my pre-thruhike friends, who aren't all that interested in what I did and how it changed me now that I'm back. My old friends are just trying to figure out if I'm going to be able to participate in society again. So am I, but I think I've found the way that works for me, at least for now.
To follow my new adventures please come check out my new blog. I'm in the process of updating my 2012 AT thruhike there, and after that will come new adventures and gear reviews.

Carry-On AT 2012
http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/

1-30-13

I have been busy on my computer for hours every day. I copied all of my photos onto my external hard drive and then began organizing them by state. I then had to choose the pictures I like the best and size them down so I could post them online. I am still not the biggest technological whiz out there, and I haven't figured out how to post dozens of pictures at once to this blog. I did realize that I could post hundreds of pictures on my Facebook group "Carey Belcher hikes the Appalachian Trail," so that is what I have done. It is an open group and as long as you have a Facebook profile you should be able to view the pictures under the "Photos" tab. I check that page every day and am still adding new people to the group.

I have been transferring this blog onto my own blogsite. I got the posts hopelessly out of order for May and June of my hike and I know it's frustrating to read. I couldn't even follow it very well and I hiked it, so I apologize for that. I don't know how to fix it, and rather than spend a lot of time working on this site right now I decided to move my blog to the new site because I plan to keep it going and have other adventures, beyond thruhiking the Appalachian Trail. Maybe my adventures won't be quite this big for a while, but I do plan to hike the other two big long distance trails, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail, in the next ten years. I plan to hike the Triple Crown by the time I'm 50-hopefully sooner. And in the meantime I plan to have smaller outdoor adventures. The new blog has pictures! Here is the link.

http://carryonadventures.blogspot.com/

I won't completely abandon this Appalachian Trail blog, however. I am a Camel after all. I do plan to do some gear reviews, and I will check in periodically, but I plan to focus most of my energy on the new blog and on getting a job in the outdoor industry. Now that I've had this taste of outdoor adventure and loved it, I want more. So I have also been working on adding my outdoors/thruhiking experience to my resume and have begun to get it out there. I realized that because I have animals, who are like my family to me, most outdoors jobs won't work well for my situation. However, the retail industry will allow me to come home every night and take weekend adventures and that is what my animals need from me, so I am putting my focus there. I will write a book about my hike as well.

I feel a bit claustrophobic because I have been indoors almost constantly since I got home. I haven't been hiking even one time in the last six weeks and I don't have much money either. The tire went flat on my car and so I've been even less likely to leave the house. I actually feel as if I've been hibernating. I don't think I'm depressed but I don't think I'm adapting very well to being off the trail. Having the pictures and blog to keep me occupied is a good thing, I think, though it keeps me tied to a computer all the time. I'm reliving my hike as I post each entry on the new blog and I think I'm processing it, but also it makes me long to be back on the AT, or back on any trail. I have joined several AT Facebook groups and I find great satisfaction in sharing what I learned with those who are leaving this spring. I know how they feel as the day gets closer to hitting the trail, boy do I remember that feeling. I'm excited for them, and jealous of them, those 2013 thruhikers.

I haven't seen hardly anybody in town and haven't been up to visit my friends at the animal sanctuary. I was waiting to receive the check for the fundraiser so I can present it to the clinic, but since it will take another month or so, I won't wait to visit. I'll just make it a separate visit when the check arrives. Of course, I still need to get my flat tire fixed before I can get up there unless I want to spend all day walking, and who does that? :)

1-4-13

I got to see several of my friends on New Year's Eve and that was great. I drove home that day and stopped at the party on my way through town. My Maggie dog was still in the car, though, so I didn't stay long. Once reunited with Jenn and my cats, we had a quiet night and I celebrated the new year with a solo drink and then went to bed.

I peeled the callous off my foot today, and I still have tan lines on my legs where my hiking shorts ended at my knees. I think I'm sick again, too. Not again! I took Nyquil and the body aches are subsiding. I should have taken it earlier today. Yesterday I went with my friend, Jenn, to see Les Miserables and we had Thai food. I'm glad I felt good then but why am I sick again? I need a job but the outdoor jobs I want take me away from the house for days and I have animals that I can't leave alone like that. I need a roommate who will take care of my pets while I'm gone before I can even consider any of these jobs. In the meantime, I need any job, some way to pay the bills. I don't know what to do, but think I'll go sleep since the Nyquil is kicking in.

1-1-13

Happy New Year! Here are my resolutions for 2013. I will continue my blog, though not daily (WAY too much work). I will write a book about my thruhike (not just a pumped up trail journal). I will edit and organize my photos so I can post them here and on Facebook and maybe make a book out of them. I will write another song with my sister for her next cd. I will get certified in Jin Shin Jyutsu for humans and animal companions. I would like to work outside, maybe with at risk kids, or as a ridge runner or caretaker and combine some of my passions into a custom made career. I feel like I'm being too idealistic, but then again, I feel such a strong potential to create a life I used to only dream about. Now I believe I can do whatever "it" is, if I can see it clearly enough and if I want it enough.

I knew nothing about long distance backpacking or thruhiking when I first felt the dream inspire me. My thruhike was a lot of work. It took everything that I had in me, but most of all, it took complete dedication. I now have a chance to create the life I want, and I realize it's possible. It will need just as much stubborn persistence and adaptation to chaos as I needed to complete the AT.

Thank you to Zach Davis for writing the book "Appalachian Trials." I believe the mental preparations I made while reading his book were a key reason that I never once wanted to quit. I knew other things might take me off the trail, but I knew I would never quit because I learned how to work with my mind and because I truly enjoyed being on the trail.