Aug 12, 2026 · 1 hr · 15 segments
Another Wild Card, another chance for anything to happen. With the prompts set aside once again, our 2026 Trail Correspondents share the stories they feel need telling most at this point in their…
So for this recording, I am, uh, kind of just going to be talking about the, the weird little things going on inside my head.
I'm about to hit the West Virginia state line in, uh, eh, probably about two miles or so, but there's just a couple things that just kind of go through my head all the time, and, uh, one of those is, you know, while we're out here hiking, um, it almost kind of feels like us hikers are in, like, a Sims video game and somebody's just kind of, uh, you know, just guiding us.
Like, "Oh, let's, let's make sure he doesn't trip on this rock," or, uh, "Oh, you gotta make sure that he ducks," and, uh, it kind of just feels like we're being controlled, and, uh, we're all just, like, little pawns in this little online game that, like, we, we think that we're the top dogs, and really we're just being controlled by somebody else.
So that's, that's kind of like one of the, one of the things that I think about quite a bit out here.
And then also with me being seven foot tall, this is, uh, I mean, the green tunnel, yeah, I mean, I get it.
Uh, for me, I kind of look at it as the green carnivorous tunnel, 'cause everything is trying to grab a hold of you, trying to, uh, rip you open.
Um, you know, uh, it, it, it, like, the branches grab my backpack and, uh, try to, like, throw me backwards and, you know, you're doing this all at the same time where you're trying to step over rocks and, uh, and then you have to duck at the same time.
And all, all along the, all along the time of doing that is that you're also looking out for rattlesnakes on the backside of rocks or, uh, just basically anything trying to kill you, um, which is, I mean, that's the whole part of the AT, I guess.
But, uh, another big thing that I think about a lot is slowing down, and that's not so much, like, physically in terms of miles, but that's more of just, like, um, processing thoughts, processing emotions, not letting it- everything get to you, not letting everything control you, um, embracing the suck.
It does suck out here, and you kind of wanna, um, kind of direct everything that's happening to you right now on trail into your day-to-day life whenever you get back home.
It's like, yes, there's gonna be some hard times, but I mean, just as long as you keep calm and you just keep on focusing and, um, know that it's like, hey, there's always gonna be tomorrow.
But you just basically know that tomorrow you're gonna wake up, you're...
Well, I mean, you don't know that, but we look at it as there's, there's always gonna be another tomorrow, so.
In your day-to-day life, it's like if you're having a bad day at work, don't really stress about it too much.
Um, if you're having a conflict with a friend or a family member or something like that, just, it's okay.
Um, it may seem like that is just a really bad part of your life, um, at that moment, but things do get better, and that's something that I just have to, uh, look forward to and just be like, "Hey, you know what? I came out here 'cause I was looking for direction, um, to try to figure out some things going on in my life," and was like, yeah, I would like to start working on that already, but I'm still out here hiking.
So for this recording, I am, uh, kind of just going to be talking about the, the weird little things going on inside my head.
I'm about to hit the West Virginia state line in, uh, eh, probably about two miles or so, but there's just a couple things that just kind of go through my head all the time, and, uh, one of those is, you know, while we're out here hiking, um, it almost kind of feels like us hikers are in, like, a Sims video game and somebody's just kind of, uh, you know, just guiding us.
Like, "Oh, let's, let's make sure he doesn't trip on this rock," or, uh, "Oh, you gotta make sure that he ducks," and, uh, it kind of just feels like we're being controlled, and, uh, we're all just, like, little pawns in this little online game that, like, we, we think that we're the top dogs, and really we're just being controlled by somebody else.
So that's, that's kind of like one of the, one of the things that I think about quite a bit out here.
And then also with me being seven foot tall, this is, uh, I mean, the green tunnel, yeah, I mean, I get it.
Uh, for me, I kind of look at it as the green carnivorous tunnel, 'cause everything is trying to grab a hold of you, trying to, uh, rip you open.
Um, you know, uh, it, it, it, like, the branches grab my backpack and, uh, try to, like, throw me backwards and, you know, you're doing this all at the same time where you're trying to step over rocks and, uh, and then you have to duck at the same time.
And all, all along the, all along the time of doing that is that you're also looking out for rattlesnakes on the backside of rocks or, uh, just basically anything trying to kill you, um, which is, I mean, that's the whole part of the AT, I guess.
But, uh, another big thing that I think about a lot is slowing down, and that's not so much, like, physically in terms of miles, but that's more of just, like, um, processing thoughts, processing emotions, not letting it- everything get to you, not letting everything control you, um, embracing the suck.
It does suck out here, and you kind of wanna, um, kind of direct everything that's happening to you right now on trail into your day-to-day life whenever you get back home.
It's like, yes, there's gonna be some hard times, but I mean, just as long as you keep calm and you just keep on focusing and, um, know that it's like, hey, there's always gonna be tomorrow.
But you just basically know that tomorrow you're gonna wake up, you're...
Well, I mean, you don't know that, but we look at it as there's, there's always gonna be another tomorrow, so.
In your day-to-day life, it's like if you're having a bad day at work, don't really stress about it too much.
Um, if you're having a conflict with a friend or a family member or something like that, just, it's okay.
Um, it may seem like that is just a really bad part of your life, um, at that moment, but things do get better, and that's something that I just have to, uh, look forward to and just be like, "Hey, you know what? I came out here 'cause I was looking for direction, um, to try to figure out some things going on in my life," and was like, yeah, I would like to start working on that already, but I'm still out here hiking.
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