It's hard to fathom, but we're almost done hiking. With a mere 73 miles left in our through-hike of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail there comes a mix of emotions - relief, anxiety, elation, exhaustion, and a whole host of other feelings.
Everything seems like a blur since sometime before the halfway point. It seemed like we were making so little progress at the beginning, and then we started rushing through 100+ miles per week. It's almost like we rounded the southern bend around Janesville and suddenly started sprinting.
We were on the trail for two weeks straight then, one night, we were home in our own beds with hot showers, cold water to drink, and food we didn't have to think about overlong or prepare on a little camp stove. It's a little disconcerting at how slow we sometimes seem to move, then how quickly life moves us. Life on the trail seems more simple somehow.
Yet, we're all ready to be done. Or at least to take a break. The first night we came home after the long push, Bristol told me she was so happy to be in her own bed for once, as she pulled the covers up tight under her chin and was asleep almost before I had turned off her bedroom light. I think we all feel the exhaustion, mental as much as physical, of always being on the march, and having precious little time at home during the summer to play with friends, take care of the house, work, and so on. But I know we're going to miss the trail when we're done, nonetheless, we're just looking forward to some little time of rest and recuperation. And maybe a little bit of playtime.
I was talking with a young lady who had through-hiked the trail just ahead of us and finished last month, and she commented on how she's so busy and wrapped up with work and life at home, yet she sometimes feels like she still needs to be out walking the trail. It becomes a part of you. The constant movement, searching for solid footing, spotting the next yellow blaze, backtracking when you take the wrong path, setting up camp, tearing down camp, moving, moving, moving, becomes part of who you are on the IAT. Never mind the fact that we've walked across the entire length and breadth of the state of Wisconsin.
We didn't actually complete our hike when Nicole originally planned, but we got very close (which is no small feat when you have a 5 and 7 year old who can't seem to make it out the door on time on their best days!) and we will finish before school starts again. There is some gratification that we will accomplish what we set out to do five months ago. But we're not done just yet, and there is some comfort in knowing we still have a few more segments of trail to trod which are yet unknown to us.
When I listened to people talking while we were home for several zero days, many of them complained that for everything they did, they didn't seem to have enough time with their family and loved ones. That's something I can't identify with because this summer, family time was all we had, and it was marvelous. The memories we've made will last our lifetimes, and the bond that we've formed between us will last even longer.
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