“...just follow whatever idiot thread you get on. I do! Art tells you something you didn’t need to know until you know it”
I’VE JUST BEEN FOLLOWING IDIOT THREADS
It only looks like I haven’t blogged for a year. (It’s been half a year. Wordpress ate my blog, and I waved palm fronds over it while it swallowed six months worth of posts one by one).
And I’ve been following the idiot threads of hiking, sketching, making zines, doomscrolling—the most idiot thread of all.
One day, I’ll re-blog my Long Trail 2019 adventure and my climb up Katahdin, but let’s just give Wordpress a digestive aid and move on for now.
Specifically, let’s move on to the Benton MacKaye Trail. Starting this week on my birthday.
PANDEMIC BE DAMNED.
I’m still not sure long distance hiking is the right thing to do while our country slides deeper and deeper into shithole status, but I’ve got the itch that wants to be scratched.
I’ll admit, my own introverted life isn’t much different whether I’m sheltering in place or not. I won’t deny my privilege. And I sure won’t complain about cancelled plans (Banff Mountain Film Festival, the Writing the Unthinkable workshop with Lynda Barry, annual trip to New Hampshire).
At least hiking still gets me out of the house.
And it seems like it’s one of the safer things we can do when we do leave the house.
So I’m going to scratch that itch.
And I’ve had a few months to think about how to do a long hike in the safest possible way, a way that will be unlike any other long hike I’ve taken so far.
THE BMT/AT FIGURE EIGHT IS A THING
I’d planned to hike the Benton MacKaye Trail in May, but “stay at home” orders had me rethinking that plan. I turned my attention to research, instead, and I learned that the BMT/AT Figure Eight is a thing. A 500-mile thing.
It breaks down like this: Start at Springer Mountain. Hike BMT to Fontana Dam. Hike AT through Smokies to Davenport Gap. Rejoin the BMT going South back to Fontana Dam. Pick up the AT and hike back to Springer Mountain.
It sounded like a great idea.
IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?
First, some judginess—I live in a touristy place. Since “stay at home” orders were relaxed, people have streamed into the area, onto the trails, down the river in inner tubes from all over the country. I want to tell them all to “GO THE FUCK BACK TO YOUR OWN COMMUNITY” and stay there till this thing isn’t spreading anymore. Jesus.
So, I was okay with not hiking this year. I didn’t want to be one of those people coming through other people’s communities with no regard for their safety or ability to cope with a pandemic.
But since I was doing a lot of day hiking, I had a lot of time to think about how a long distance hike might be done in a way that’s safe for everyone.
I made a plan and I think it will work.
A PLAN TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE
It does seem that hiking, combined with social distancing, is a relatively low risk activity.
But what about those trail communities hikers pass through? What about travel to and from the trail? What about hitchhiking with strangers who may not be down with mask wearing? Or sharing a bunk room with other hikers in a hostel? What about congregating at shelters?
So many ways to spread this virus.
But with just a few conscious tweaks to the usual program, as well as some dedicated support, I think I have a workable strategy.
Here’s what I think will work for me:
STAY CLOSE TO HOME: No point on the BMT/AT Figure 8 is more than 200 miles from home, which means I never even have to get out of the van between my front door and the trail head. That means zero contact travel before I step into the woods and out of civilization.
SEMI-SUPPORTED RESUPPLY: My husband will be coming out every 4-6 days to resupply me with buckets full of pre-shopped food, a solar shower and a hostel on wheels, aka the van. That means no need to go into the communities along the trail, no hitching rides, no sharing bunk rooms with other hikers, no germs mingling anywhere, any time.
THE BMT DOESN’T HAVE SHELTERS. One of the joys of hiking is being with hiking peeps. But having a social experience on the trail was a conscious decision I made before I hiked the AT in 2017. Until then, I’d always gone into the woods to get away from people. This year, I’m making the conscious decision to have the alone time in nature I’ve gravitated to in the past. It may get me back to my roots. Or it may take the fun out of hiking. I don’t know. But I’m up for trying something new.
I’m embracing the idea that the next 5-6 weeks on trail will be unlike any other long hike I’ve taken.
I think it can be done safely and with respect for the communities I’ll be passing through.
And if I get lonely, I can always come home and fall back into the perilous pit of perpetual doomscrolling until the apocalypse takes us all away.
Happy Trails, Y’all!
