Backpacking AT

Backpacking was an unbelievable experience. Living and being in complete harmony with nature for a moment of life, what could be more peaceful? Symphonies of bugs, sights of mountains, scents of flowers, scenes of creatures.... an experience you can only come across once you leave the artificialness of civilization and discover for yourself what nature really means to you. The Appalachian Trail isn't even the most bona fide experience of Mother Earth you could observe. To get a real taste of the candid wonders of nature and absorb yourself in its true natural state you'd have to go out into the unmapped, untracked wilderness. (Like in the movie I just watched last night, Into the Wild...great movie!).

Meeting and observing other backpackers on the trail was almost equally as fascinating as the beautiful outdoors itself. These interactions revealed the beauty of nature in a whole different light. People from all different walks of life all joined together with the shared commonality of wanting to be on the trail, in nature, just living and loving the moment. Around the moments when you felt like you could use a little outside-world socializing, you'd come across a fellow hiker, where you could open up each other's stories, letting the words run out. So many interesting life stories, tales, views, bits of information, so many unique and different personalities. Almost always crossing paths in at least one area of sentiment, almost always sharing a similar regard for nature. Beautiful.

I did some brief writings of my daily experiences while out on the trail that I thought I'd share. For the next couple of days I'll be posting my thoughts and brief summaries of a few of my experiences. Tomorrow I will begin the series with day 1 of my backpacking extravaganza.