On your Left

Dozens of times each day I find myself stepping to the side of the trail to allow another hiker to pass by. Sometimes these are South-bound hikers who are coming down a steep trail. Trail etiquette states that the trail is yielded to the hiker going up. However, I am quick to jump to the side of the trail to allow someone to come down. It gives me a moment or two to catch my breath on the ascent.

However, more often than not, the hikers passing us are North-bound hikers – some day hikers, most are thru-hikers. I hear their poles smacking smartly on the rocks behind me and I know I need to step aside. To let them pass.

The first thing I do is look at their pack. Do they have a thru-hikers tag? If not, they are just a day hiker and their pack is probably super light. If they have a tag, I try to catch a glimpse at their hiker registration number.

The Mack family’s hiker numbers are 1022, 1023, 1024, and 1025. That means that 1021 people registered as thru hikers before us in 2022. (February 22nd was a very popular day to begin hiking this year – 2.22.22) When we registered, they were welcoming roughly 40 hikers a day.

We started with a lot of people in the 1000s. A few people had numbers in the 900s. We felt pretty good about ourselves when we passed a 900! We even saw a few 700s! (Most of them had had to leave the trail due to one thing or another) We zipped by those 900s, feeling good about ourselves.

But these days I am watching numbers whiz by me. “Look, a 1200.” “Oh goodness, they are a 1300!” And these individuals are passing us left and right, climbing steadily up the mountains as I wheeze and whine. Gone are our 1000 friends. Now we are amongst the 1200s. Soon to be passed by the 1400s.

A popular topic of conversation at camp is to discuss when you got on trail. You can watch the mental math as dates are shared. “If they got on trail on March 8th and I started March 14th and we are at the same camp…cross multiply, carry the 1, simplify the fraction… I’m faster.” Our little 1000s hang on our bag for all the world to see.

I shared my feelings of self-consciousness with Matthew today. “It’s not a race” he said. “Don’t compare our hike to others” he said. “This is about us and our journey” he said.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that. But I’m just tired of being left in the dust.

We’ve had some fun hiking companions during our 2.5 weeks out here. We started with Hannah and Shamrock. We met Turtle Wizard early on. Tigger was awesome to hike with through the mountains of Georgia. Larry, Baby Steps, and Thor shared laughs with us for a few days. They are 1000 friends. I’m not sure where they all are right now. We saw Turtle Wizard at a shelter today, he had taken 2 days off. Otherwise he would be 2 days ahead of us by now. Hannah is at least 45 miles ahead of us. I worry that we won’t see Larry, Baby Steps, or Thor again. Which is a shame because Larry and Thor both have great laughs. There’s no way that Bananas and his family aren’t days ahead of us now – they hiked through the snow!

The girls love meeting new people, so they look forward to camp each night. But it’s also something special when we see familiar, friendly faces at camp.

HYOH. Hike Your Own Hike.

But, I can’t help looking at that 23 year-old 1300er and thinking “if we were as quick as you, we would definitely finish.”

We arrived at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (the NOC, as it is lovingly called) tonight. I am laying in a bunkhouse at mile 136.8 of the Appalachian Trail. I know that’s nothing to sneeze at. I just know how it feels to be passed by all day, every day.

Hikers 1022, 1023, 1024, and 1025 are working hard. We descended over 2400 feet today over the course of about 4 miles. That’s a lot of toe bashing and knee pounding. We have climbed several mountains that are over a mile high. That’s saying something about a family of Flatlanders.

But, man oh man, it seems like we are always watching the backs and the packs of the next crew of hikers who keep passing us by.

HYOH. I’ll keep trying. What else can I do?