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Well I thought long and hard on the hike back, in the rain, and decided I was done with the CT. It was just not fun anymore. I think after I met my goals it just became a chore. Last year I did not stop on my terms, thought that my health was in danger. This year was different, had alot of fun, felt well the whole time, and met my goals. What goals? Answer two questions. Am I capable of doing a thru hike and, do I want to do a thru hike?

By a thru hike I mean one of the big three, AT, PCT, or CDT. I always wanted to do one, watched lots of documentarys, youTube channels, read books. But you don’t really know if you can do one, or really want to do one, until you try. This was what the last two years has been about for me, should I attempt a long thru hike? The CT was the perfectly place to answer those questions.

So, am I capable of doing a thru hike? Yes! In the three weeks of the hike this year I had no physicall issues, felt fine, and enjoyed myself most of the time. All my gear worked well and my food was dialed in nicely, lost a few pounds but not many. Mentally it was tough, I missed my family terribly but was able to continue hiking if I didn’t focus on that.

Do I want to do a thru hike. Nope! It’s not a physical or mental question now, it comes down to time. Do I want to hike for six months, a good majority of that just walking, not in scenic areas with view and things to look at, just walking. I don’t want to walk long distances for no real good reason, wasting precious time. I can see most of what I want to see in week hike or many times less than a week. So, that’s what I’m going to do. There is also the drudgery part. The day to day of setting up and tearing down camp, it gets very old.

So time to make a bucket list of shorter hikes!

Thank you to everyone for your support. Especially to my sweetheart Cherie for supporting this adventure, on and off trail, I could not have done without her.