Days and Weeks

C&M asked in comments whether we could outline what a typical day and/or week looks like.

The short answer is no. Each day and every week bring their own challenges. On top of that our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants approach means we're still in the process of figuring out how best to do the basics, like provisioning, day and distance planning, etc.

Having said that, here are some things we are finding typical:

• We're hiking about 10 miles a day. The C & O canal makes this very easy by providing campsites every 5-7 miles from mile 16 to the western terminus.
  
  
• We had anticipated access to towns would be more regular and easier than it has proved to be making provisioning more challenging than we had anticipated. We learned that the first week. Last week in Harpers Ferry we did some shopping, pulled out what we needed for the week and then mailed the rest on to future us here in Hancock. This allows us to buy a box of oatmeal, for example, but only carry 1 week's worth at a time. Based on this one cycle, it seems to be a good technique. Thanks past selves!
  
  
• In addition, we left all of our extra gear with Deborah and Jason and we've been mailing back and forth with them as our needs change. They were able to send us Jenny's trusty old boots, for example, when the new ones failed.
  
  
• While the canal has been easy hiking, we will soon be heading into West Virginia and hitting our first mountain hiking, both on roads and trails. The hikes will be more demanding and the provisioning, even perhaps post offices, more sporadic -- at least that's what we've heard. The last third of West Virginia is on a rail trail so that should be similar to the C&O experience.
  
  
• Jenny says our days go like this: hike until she is exhausted, then somehow manage to get to the target campsite -- usually around the next bend in the trail.
  
  
• Jenny says our weeks go like this: hike until she collapses (or falls on her face) then call a cab and go to a hotel. That's probably an exaggeration though we have been staying in hotels 2 or 3 nights a week so far. Our plan is to stay one night a week in a hotel once we get into shape. We now anticipate we will be in shape for the hike sometime in October.
  
  
• At this point, the likelihood of our making it to California this year is remote, at best. Nevertheless, consistent with our plan, we remain focused on enjoying ourselves. A goal that remains well within our grasp.

We'll update as things change or start to stay the same.