Choices

At this point in each of my hikes, I question why I thru hike.  It makes so much more sense to hike in pieces, taking the time to explore off the narrow thru-path, pausing to watch the sun change on the rock walls or the wildlife flitting about. I muse back and forth, concluding that in every way it is much more enjoyable to meander rather than thru hike.  And then that inner desire to thru arises and off I go.

Well, I'm at that point again.  This time there is even more tug.  I don't really have any particular desire to hike the nine weeks between the paddling in Florida and the start of the Appalachian Trail. Why do it then?  Well, it is part of the thru hike. It is a connector on the journey from Key West to Halifax.


But that nine weeks means that I need to get paddling on Dec 10, a hurried rush.  The car drive out is rushed.  There is little time to explore all of the other attractions of the area.  No time to see the Gulf Coast.  No time to see New Orleans.  No time to experience the South. Even in areas in which we are paddling, a thru paddle misses a lot.  The Everglades has many different eco-zones, but the paddle only sees a couple of them (largely the same ones we paddle through during the rest of the trip) and we miss the truly unique aspect of the Everglades.

That is a lot to miss in order to complete the thru hike.  Maybe too much?

Maybe we thru paddle Florida, and then resume the thru hike at the start of the Appalachian Trail?  That frees up nine weeks to enjoy the rest of what the area has to offer?

But the tug of a thru hike lingers.  I have no idea why.  It is not the sense of accomplishment.  I really had no big thrill finishing either the PCT or the CDT.  The enjoyment was the hiking, not the accomplishment.

Every rationale thought says to skip the nine week connector, and gain all of the other experiences.  But the desire to thru hike it all still tugs, though I cannot understand why.

Choices.