Update from the present tense

/ carrot quinn

I’m tired. I should be sleeping. Instead I made a FAQ page! Reach it by clicking the tab up top, or you can click here. If you have a question just put it in the comments section pretty much anywhere, and I’ll add it to the page.

I’m moving to Southern Oregon on Friday! And other exciting things. Post-trail life is still hard. I feel sort of empty inside. I don’t know what used to go there. Endorphins? A sense of urgency? Hunger? I’ve decided that finishing a thru-hike is sort of like quitting an anti-depressant cold turkey. I wish there was some way to taper off. Mood swings city, population me. Happiness shot through with crushing melancholy and an overwhelming sense of loss. It’s getting better though, a little every day. I haven’t cried in like a week! And soon my life will have reliable sunshine in it, and nature, and that will help. And I’ve been running six to ten miles a day! That makes me feel good about myself, and it takes the edge off. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that there’s no amount of exercise that can replicate thru-hiking. Except maybe I should become a farmer. Should I become a farmer?

And other questions.

CDT 2015!!!!!!! Spark and Instigate want to do it too. Watch this video and get pumped with me. It gets really good at 4:15.

5 thoughts on “Update from the present tense”

  2. I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2011, and still have remnants of the emptiness you describe inside of me. It’s an interesting emptiness that is harsh to deal with, first mentally then emotionally then bodily, but it does get better with time. Keep up the running, and stay outside, its what we are meant to do.

    One thing I would suggest is to do another trail ASAP. My trail family and I made plans to do the PCT in 2015, but they are slowly finding lives that can’t be interspersed by 5 months of adventure, and I am slowly realizing that I might have to do the PCT solo. But as you know, nobody does the PCT solo, there is always others to hike with.

  3. So excited to read something you posted Today! Your post hike blues…. I can imagine that. I’m so sorry.

    I will hopefully be in the PCT class of 2015! At least, that is the plan.

    Anish lives here in my town (Bellingham, WA). I met and talked with her at a couple of presentations recently. What a great person! Two other thru hikers were there, Tigger (my friend’s niece) and Cherub. They know Muk Muk from the trail. Maybe you’ve crossed paths with them.

  4. you should become a farmer I think its like thru-hiking……physical/mental/emotional endurance, going long periods of time being dehydrated and exhausted, tender parts of your person being exposed to the elements when you’d prefer not to be and recognizing this as spiritual teaching, alternating between absolute despair and glory within 30 seconds…but you get to stop at the end of the day sort of. and also you make food that other people will give you money for. don’t become a farmer just live with one and write a lot, would be my advice. anyways there are many reasons to love southern oregon, the alternate income streams of the ‘green economy’ (ie ganja) is one of them………. i have a terrible journal entry like blog about living in rural southern oregon working on farms it is this cellarselves.tumblr.com.

Comments are closed.