Corelia hits the trail…

Marc Islam reports that Corelia Peacock has completed the Appalachian Trail & the former Island rec recreation specialist has stories to tell:

Hello All-

A few highlights from our last few weeks on the trail.
Mossy and I were greeted at our 2000 mile mark by the Trail Angelinos, Hiku, Hiku’s sister Jan and Donna.  The Trail Angelinas were dressed in all pink with tiaras and Boas.  It was quite a scene on the side of the road.  Hee hee hee.  They treated us to a hotel stay and lots of homemade food.

Our second to last night on the trail, a mom with 2 kids in the car asked us if we needed a place to stay.  We told her we needed to hike some more miles.  It turned out that she lived close to a road crossing a few more miles down the trail. After finishing our hiking for the day, she came and picked us up. Her husband fixed us dinner and we were able to sleep in a warm bed!

The rest of the hike was pretty and fairly easy terrain.  The last week of our hike it started to get cold at night.  I was really happy to be getting off the trail when we did.  Our last day we had lots of wet cold snow.

Well… I’m finished! All 2178 miles, 14 states, 529,051 elevation gain and 527,662 elevation loss.  What a journey.  They say the elevation gain is like hiking Mount Everest 17-18 times. I’m convinced that hiking the trail is 10% physical and 90% mental, maybe even 99% mental.

Thanks:

Thank you Camp Hanover for planting the seed over 15 years ago. It’s amazing how one person or one experience can change your life forever.  (just on a side note to go along with this theme I ran into a hiker in Maine that I had met in the beginning of my hike, Wish Bone,  by the time I saw him in Maine he was looking pretty burned out and tired.  We started talking and he said that he almost got off the trail in New Hampshire.  He hitched a ride to a hotel and was about to get money out of the lobby, but there was a formal gathering happening in the lobby. He decided to come back later (since he smelled and looked rugged)   He went to the parking lot to call his son to let him know he was going to come home, but decided to wait because it was too early in the morning.  As soon as he put his phone away, this guy called out to him in the parking lot asking him if he was a thru hiker.  Wish Bone said yes and the guy proceeded to tell him that he had thru hiked and what a great experience he had and so on.  The guy bought him a pizza and Wish Bone with renewed spirits went back to the trail.  The guy had no idea that Wish Bone was seconds from making final plans to go home.)

Back to the program:

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKS YOU Blanche for all your support emotionally and logistically.  Your help made all the difference with this hike.  I don’t know if I could have accomplished this hike without your help.

Thank you to Mossy Brown, Mary and Hiku for sharing the hike with me.  Mossy it was great being able to share the majority of this journey with you.  We made a great team!  Thanks to all the other hikers out there that I met along the way.  I really did not expect to meet so many wonderful people.

Thank you to all my friends and family who encouraged me along the way. There were many times that i reflected on your support to get me up those mountains.

And finally, thank you to the trail community all the trail angels, hostel owners, hotel owners, restaurants, outfitters etc who made this trip so special.  The outpouring of kindness that I experienced on this trip was remarkable.  It really did restore my faith in humanity.

Highlights:

Grayson Highlands in Virginia.  It was absolutely beautiful, lots of balds with wild ponies who could beat that?

The 100 mile Wilderness in Maine loved all the lakes and the views.

Vermont we were lucky enough to be there when most of the mud had dried and fall foliage was in full bloom!

The bear cub

The hikers and the trail community

All the little towns along the way

Seeing the seasons change

Gear that I replaced:

6 pairs of shoes

3 pairs of hiking poles 2 bent and one pair went missing

2 hiking backpacks one broke one didn’t fit right

I tried out 3 different tents before settling with the Big Agnes Seed House tent

2 stoves started with an alcohol stove that I did not really like and switched to a canister stove

4 Big Agnes sleeping pads because of leaks

Injuries:

I broke my pinkie in the 100 Mile wilderness. Well, I’m pretty sure I broke my finger… I didn’t go to the doctor.

I got diagnoses with cellulitis in my toe/foot. I went to ER and was put on antibiotics. The doctor wanted me to come in for IV antibiotic everyday, but I persuaded him to give me oral antibiotics with the promise that I would go back if things got worse. Everything turned out okay.

Back to the real world:

People have been asking me how I’m readjusting to the real world. I’m doing great!   I’m so happy to be home in my own bed, with my own shower and kitchen.  The last day on the trail when it was snowy and cold. Reinforcing how ready I was to go home and not spend another night in the cold for a long time.

I have noticed that there are a few thought processes that are different for example this morning the first thing I noticed was that it was raining.  When you are out on the trail weather is important.  I was happy that I didn’t have to eat my breakfast or tear down my tent in the rain.

Today I was at the park and needed to pee my first thought was just to go right there and then I remember that it probably wouldn’t go over too well in the city.

As I was walking my dog today at Cornwall park we went past a stream. My first thought was do I need water? Does this water source look clean?

Hope to see everyone in Bellingham soon.  We will have a party at some point.

Happy trails
Corelia

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Categories: Enviro Corner