Miles: 560.3 | A muggy morning leads to an accidentally naked encounter with passing hikers—mortifying for about thirty seconds before it turns into laughter and a surprising moment of body confidence. We leave camp late, pass the ¼-way marker, and hike through quiet pastures and farmland under humid skies. With worsening shoe damage and a slow start, we keep the day short, ending it grateful for an easier nine miles and the reminder that confidence—like endurance—is something I’m still building out here.
We woke up late, groggy. I’d slept in just my underwear, it was so muggy the night before. The sun was out by the time we started stirring. I got up to go pee, forgetting to put on some layers. I didn’t realize how close to the trail we had actually camped because it was so dark when we set up.
I found a tree to pee behind and when I finished I turned around to go back to my tent. Not 20 feet in front of me, without my glasses or contacts, I saw a train of three male-looking hikers slowly make their way down the trail which our tent was APPARENTLY directly next to. I rant to the tent and dove inside, shocked. The men laughed and one yelled, “Thanks for the trail magic!” They’d definitely seen me almost completely naked...
Miles laughed and my cheeks burned with embarrassment as I shoved him and started laughing myself. Without my glasses, I couldn’t even see who saw me! The embarrassment quickly faded because I didn’t even know who to feel embarrassed around! I had been feeling more and more confident about my bod in the last few weeks as I lost weight and got into thru-Hiker shape. We laughed. I resolved to not be embarrassed but it was hard to ignore my body’s natural reaction.
We packed up camp and started walking. Right out of camp we passed the 1/4 way sign! It was encouraging to see how far we had gone. It was less rainy this day, but still a bit rainy and humid.
We hiked through pastures and farm lands:
We didn’t go as far this day because we left so late. The holes in my shoes were getting worse. We camped not too far past the shelter.
1. Learning to apparently face my fears
2. Building my confidence?
3. Only 9.1 miles felt pretty good
