WOW! So much has happened over the past couple of weeks!! Though that which is first and foremost on my mind right now has nothing to do with the trail at all. Sadly, we were stumbling into Lincoln, NH after our biggest mileage day so far (17 miles!!!) when I flipped on my phone to get some bad news about my Grandad, who passed away in the middle of the day while napping. Initially it felt like a no-brainer. I'd try my best to get back to Memphis for a memorial service being held in his memory in about a week (Sat. the 22nd).
In the mean time we've walked 52 miles in 4 days, continuing our successful mileage increase on the amazing terrain south of the White Mountains (Dirt, REAL DIRT!!) and bringing us into Hanover, NH (a town desperately in need of a hiker-hostel). I've done the math and if I were still shooting for finishing by X-mas (miles left / days left = miles/day ; 1,742.1 / 105 = 16.59) it's almost 17 mpd if there are NO ZEROES. So basically I should just re-evaluate and plan on hiking NC and GA in January. I can walk in the cold. I've done it before, I can do it again. And Lysandra is badass, clearly, so no worries there. She's shown an amazing level of resilience and desire to continue in the face of the new and overwhelming challenges that this trek has thrown at her. Cost is still the main factor in finishing, and buying a ticket to Memphis will probably cut into that cost, but I can eat cheaper than I have been... I think. As my mom pointed out: these things are for the living. If I feel like I should be there: I should be there.
So I'm sitting in the Dartmouth College library surrounded by dapper college students and professors alike. I'm wearing increasingly-sketchy-looking hair on my face, and smelling like someone who doesn't have access to running water... I'm going to go find a shower.
More later on why Hanover is amazing despite it's lack of a hiker-hostel.
RIP Grandad
<3
Andrew
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