I'm back in class for the post spring break push. Should be an interesting one--I don't have a lot of exams this semester but I have some serious paper-writing to do and I'm absurdly behind in one class. Get that gun to my head so I can finally be productive.
Had a good spring break hiking the appalachian trail in Georgia with my friend Matt Brown and then visiting the fam in Michigan and Chicago. In Georgia this time of year all the hikers you meet proudly refer to themselves as thru-hikers (indicating an intent to spend 6 months hiking the entire 2,000+ mile length of the trail) but I think half of them quit in the first week or two and very very few end up hiking the whole thing. This unlikelihood, however, does not keep them from looking down on the lowly "sectioners" like me and brown, who were only there for a 5-day stint. They're also obsessed with "trail names" which are basically just monikers that they like to identify themselves with exclusively during their trip. Trail names are generally supposed to be given to you by fellow hikers on the basis of something stupid or memorable you do. They can be anything at all (including very stupid), from Gonzo to Mighty Thor to The Way Seeker. On the first day we met a girl who introduced herself very earnestly as Lotus. There were two guys hiking with her and I'm pretty sure both them were seeking access to her lotus patch. We passed a surprising amount of our time hiking by mocking Lotus and her many suiters.
Naturally wanting to fit in, Brown and I frequently pretended to be thru-hikers as well and took on trail names of our own. I was of course the legendary Appalachian Ninja, due to my many Ninja-like characteristics (cunning wit, tempestuous quickness, proclivity for lightning-fast flashes of capricious violence, etc.). Brown was Merman (emphasis to be placed on man in Zoolander fashion), because of his keen affinity with the very abundant rainwater we were blessed with on the first day. His oneness with the wetness is truly awe-inspiring. While it might seem like complete misery and relentless complaining to the untrained eye, I saw it for what it really was. He did get a little crabby when it started hailing for a spell, but I can only assume that was because he was afraid of drying. In his defense, his raincoat was torn to shreds within the first half hour of hiking, but he's the one who fell like 4 times.
Appalachian Ninja sighting/attack (we enjoyed using the panoramic function to put ourselves into photos multiple times):
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