I've survived my trip of backpacking on the Appalachian Trail and have several blisters and bruised toenails to show for it. I can say with all seriousness now that Shea is a bad ass for being able to hike up some of these mountain passes. The mountains I hiked up weren't anywhere near as high as what I have Shea traversing in my imagination and these nearly kicked my butt.
We had originally intended to hike 32 miles of the Triple Crown loop near Roanoke, VA but decided after hiking 12 miles the first day and several near melt downs that it would be better to drop the packs for the rest of the trip and do day hikes. Instead of 32 miles we ended up clocking somewhere around 25 miles.
I can say with all honesty that this was probably one of the most physically intense experiences of my life. There was one mountain near the end of the first day that nearly crushed my soul and managed to destroy the group's morale. The mountain just kept going up and up and up. Every time you thought you'd hit the top, you'd round a bend and find that there was still more to go.
Silver lining - I came away with some great photographs (another hobby of mine) and some great insight into Shea's character. As I'm currently smack dab in the middle of writing Pathfinder 2, this experience was very timely. I'll have a lot of material to draw from to lend realism to some of the characters.
Overall I'm glad for the experience even it has taken me several days to recoup some of the energy and willpower I expanded forcing my way up these mountains. Still, let's not do that again anytime soon. :-)
