trail magic...well not quite but still
So, over spring break I started reading Walking Home: A Woman's Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail, because anyone who knows me well knows that I have this odd desire to hike 2,000+ consecutive miles over 6 months, from Georgia to Maine. I'm almost finished with the book but I wrote her an email last night because I'm enjoying it that much, and it's so different to read something by a woman who's done the Trail as opposed to a man. So I just told her how much her book made me feel like I was hiking the Trail, and about my own dream to thruhike one day. I checked my email this morning and I got a response! So exciting. Here's her email (oh, and her trail name was/is Amazin' Grace. She greets me by Frosty Paws because that's what I put after my name at the end of my own email- kinda dumb but this is my own "trail name", when I sign trail registers and shit).
Hi Frosty Paws!
Call me Grace! It makes me laugh, telling that to someone who really is named Grace, but everyone still calls me Grace. Many of my friends don't even know that "Kelly" is my real name.
Thank you so much for your letter! It's every writer's dream to get a letter like this. I'm so happy that you really felt like you were out there in the rain and wind, trudging up mountain after mountain, wishing you could get some big greasy meal, and that the book really gave you the feeling of thruhiking.
You can do it! Don't compare your 15-miler in Connecticut--you can get in shape before you thruhike, and you get stronger as the days and weeks go by, so that eventually a 15-mile day is "easy." You'll be shocked when you thruhike and get to Connecticut and sail over those same hills.
I know what you mean about thinking of thruhikers as these sort of superhuman celebrities. I do too, even though I did the hike! It's an amazing thing to do. But you, too, can be one. You don't have to be a superathlete at all. You don't have to be in shape because anyone can get in shape. You just have to be persistent, and believe in your reason for being out there, and keep going. You need mental strength even more than physical strength.
I really mean it about anyone being able to get in shape and do these things. You just have to gradually increase your activity, and your body will adapt, and you'll get stronger and have more endurance. If you need any advice about that, just ask. I do lots of long-endurance things, but I'm not any kind of a superathlete. I'm just a regular person who likes that stuff. And periodically I get sick or injured and have to lay off so long that I get totally out of shape and have to start over, from scratch, like a beginner, so I know how it feels.
If you have any questions or ever need any encouragement to do the hike, just ask. I would love to help you, and so would Gladys. When you do the hike, let me know and I'll give your our phone number. We have a house in Vermont and when you come through there, let us know and we'll do some trail magic for you.
Are you on facebook? If you are, look me up under "Kelly Grace Winters" and friend me.
So, thank you again for taking the time to find me and write such a kind letter. I'm happy to meet another person who really has that AT dream.
Have you heard of www.trailjournals.com? Many hikers keep journals of their trips there, and if you know their trail names, I think you could find the hikers you met at Lakes of the Clouds (if they're on trailjournals, that is). Check it out--it's fun to see what all sorts of different people have to say and what they're going through out there. Right now you can probably read about a lot of people who are starting in Georgia.
Happy hiking,
Grace (Kelly Winters) :)
So it really made my day. Awesome how incredibly nice she is.