Gilligan on the AT Revisited: 30-Jul-1993

July 30, 2008

This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.

7/30/93 – Fri.

Well, a good night’s sleep did seem to do the trick. We did 17.0 miles today, and Julie has decided to hike the two more days to her car rather than staying here (501 Shelter) while I slackpack to her car in one day and then drive back to get her. She still has a number of aches and pains, and she craters in the afternoon a lot like Dad and Dan did, but I think she has experienced the worst and realizes that things will not generally be that bad.

I am feeling much better about the A.T. now, and am now back to thinking that I will complete it. I think the extra time spent with Julie has been a good thing. Although it will still be tough to see her go, I have new and fresh memories to take along with me.

My boots are now completely, unquestionably, 100% shot to hell. The soles have practically no tread left, and a couple of days ago the stitching on the inner, right heel tore completely out. Barge cement has been unsuccessful in my attempts at repair. Two more days and it’s new boots for me!

It seems like I have been so close to wrapping up the second "volume" of my trail journal for so long that I am writing simply for the sake of filling pages, so, blank pages notwithstanding, I am going to start a new journal in Port Clinton.

Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim