Zero-Days

It's a day off for Sassy and me (aka the Seattle Sleepers) in Waynesboro, VA. A day off is also known as a “zero-day”, and it is a glorious occurrence that happened 13 times for us in May - partly due to the wedding in Milwaukee and Trail Days in Damascus. Zero-days in motels are our favorite because we can relax and watch movies like Roadhouse and a League of Their Own and shows such as Top Chef and the Colbert Report. Sassy usually likes to devour Ben and Jerry’s and I like to pretend I am a sponge imbibing a 40oz. Highlife. These times are essential to enjoying the trail because they help us keep our perspective on why we’re out here and not becoming overwhelmed by just hiking.

I think for many people inspiring to hike the AT there are visions of copious free time. With all this free time, one can find clarity in life, devise how they'll earn millions and retire early, or just bask in Zen moment after moment. Either way, if this individual plans to a hike the AT in less than six months, they will find out - like us - that free time isn't as abundant as they once hoped.

In March, Sassy and I did the math on how much hiking we would do in a day. We figured our typical week would consist of 15 mile days for six days and one zero-day. If we averaged 2.5 miles an hour, we'd be on the trail for six hours a day, seven hours tops, and still hiking 90-mile weeks. Wow, with hiking only seven hours, we would be left with about nine hours of awake time to do whatever we wanted (i.e.. read, nap, play cribbage, play air drums, check for ticks, swim, nap again, scratch mosquito bites, snack, start a fire, poke at the fire, think about absolutely nothing, think about world peace, think about how to avoid having a job when we're back in Seattle, get disgusted at our feet, write in our journal...). In March, we could only dream how fantastic the next six months will be!

It occurred to me after the first month that hiking the AT is much more arduous and time consuming than expected. Outside of the hiking, there is the setting up and tearing down of camp, filtering water, somehow consuming 4-5K calories each day, washing dishes, blocking and tackling all the little aches and pains that come up. Also, contrary to popular belief, the AT is not a flat and smooth trail - hence the trail has the name of a mountain range in it. The AT is quite a difficult trail to hike because of the often rocky and insanely hilly terrain; as a result, the days fly by without much free time and we're just happy to get miles in.

2180 miles of mountainous trail is a lot to cover and become overwhelmed with. Without zero-days, the trail becomes a job and one really loses perspective of the experience. Thank you zero-days!