Appa-palacha

There's a well known saying in juggling, the trouble is the balls go where you throw them.

Right now I'm lying on my back. My legs are at a 60 degree angle and I'm elevating my swollen right ankle. I didn't roll it or anything, but the mountains of New Hampshire have reawakened some tendon tenderness, and they've just barely begun. I have some serious climbing to do which means dealing with more soreness, but I just got new shoes, new insoles, and a new book about the famed Hungarian mathematician, Paul Erdos.


Mathematics is the pursuit of the infinite, where tiny advancements are great steps forward. That's if you consider understanding the distribution and existence of more prime numbers progress. These guys love prime numbers, like, so much. Erdos was a quirky dude who bummed around four continents, broke as hell, crashing on couches, helping people solve hard math problems, and blasting off on amphetamines all the time. He did the type of math problems that are more words than numbers. He had funny names for things, calling kids "epsilons," math-speak for extremely small quantities, and he called God the "SF," for Supreme Fascist. He wasn't really a believer but claimed the SF had a Book of the math secrets of the universe and he would proclaim truly elegant proofs were "straight from The Book!" He was intentionally and unintentionally funny, and adored as both an adult toddler and genius.

The pursuit of something massive and true is appealing to me as I trudge North. The actual math stuff is way over my head, even the dumbed down versions the author serves up, but The Man Who Loved Only Numbers is full of what made Erdos more than a prodigy. His incessant collaboration made math a team sport.


Mathematicians say:

Problems worthy of attack 
Prove their worth by fighting back

Math problems respond to effort with stationary silence until they finally budge. At least I can check off miles. I'm paying attention to how my body is fighting back from the "problem" of the trail. Am I sore or am I hurt? Pain masks other pain, which is helpful in the short term. It's hard to be consumed by dull ankle pain when your salty sun dried shirt and shorts chaffe away layers of skin, but if you let that cycle run for too long you might do some real damage.

_________________

It followed me for hundreds of miles. 

I couldn't escape, couldn't catch a glimpse, but I knew it was there. A cascading, ethereal, downward-spiral. 

What do you do when you can't identify something behind, above, and in front of you? You download an app.

I identified one of the key elements of a successful thru hike in an early blog -adaptability. So far I've adapted my shoes, socks, meal planning, stretching, added meditation, taken many big steps back, sent stuff home, gotten gear mailed to me, and several other things I'm forgetting. But I wasn't getting enough screen time. And my phone battery was lasting too long.

This latest adaptation brings me closer to the ever evasive present. I've started birding, with the help of the Merlin app, and the encouragement of Zach Badger and the documentary Listers. It's free on YouTube, watch it. The bird that followed me for hundreds of miles with that enchanting song was a Veery. 

Here's what it looks like:


When I talk about taking up golf, I say the call was coming from inside the house and I finally picked up. Same with birding. It's an extra layer to walking in nature that I feel like I've unlocked and adding a "Lifer" to my list is as close as I'm going to get to real life Pokemon. Different songs used to be nice noise, now they belong to individual artists. It helps me be locate the elusive moment.

____________


Since I don't have earbuds I sing a lot and make up words to songs. Like a song about night hiking to the tune of copa cabana. "It's the night hike, low light high fright hike"

I was inspired to write this by OG, who did a fantastic rendition of I Need a Hero, "I Need a Zero"

This is to the tune of "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller band, or my preferred version, Sugar Ray's cover. It's important to note the pronunciation of "Appalachia" is App-uh-latch-uh. Like you're below the mason dixon line. Reading the lyrics below is way more fun with the song playing in the background, trust me.

I hike up 
and I hike down. 
This trail takes me 
from town to town
To the shelter 
and privy we go
Have you checked the water flow?

I've got a brand new hiker name
And I can't wait to get to Maine
Burning legs, and I perspire 
There's the Whites, but Kuwohi was higher

Appa appa palacha
I gotta bunch of new snacks, yeah
Appa appa palacha
Appa palacha

I get to town, I resupply 
I shouldn't do this, when I'm high
Poptarts, tuna, and Doritos
Slim Jims too or I'm not Fritos

Appa appa palacha
Where are all the switch backs, yeah
Appa appa palacha
Appa palacha

My packs so heavy I'm under stress
My durston pitch is a mess
Through the Noc, Fontana Dam
You gonna zero? I think I am

I see trail magic through the trees
I'd like to sit down and rest my knees
Nomad, Fresh grounds, Ms Janet too 
Sir stops a lot and his crew

Appa appa palacha
My base weight is so wack, yeah
Appa appa palacha
Appa palacha

I've got a brand new hiker name
And I can't wait to get to Maine
Burning legs, and I perspire 
There's the Whites, but Kuwohi was higher

I hike up 
and I hike down. 
This Trail takes me 
from town to town

_____________

Progress: 1,835 miles. I'm in Nude Hamster. I'm no longer laying with my feet up like I was at the beginning of this post. I'm smack dab in the Whites of New Hampshire and holy cow these hills are no joke. People were right, they are as billed -monsters. I did about 8,000 feet of elevation these last two days. That's 8k up and 8k down. I'm gassed and sore like it's the first month again, but the hardest is still yet to come. This is what we're here for! These pictures do not do them justice, here's a preview, more to come. 

I hiked up and over that ridge (Franconia ridge) to finish the day.

I'm going to try hard to spot a moose. The key is to hike silently towards a bog before 7am. Maybe this will turn me into a morning person.

Endurance was an incredible read, after my math guy book, I'll begin the Red Rising series.

Updates on Gear: I picked up a microfiber towel. It's 2' x 3' and for a while I kept looking for reasons to dislike it. The size (far too large), the extra weight, not absorbent enough, but it's great. It doesn't absorb too much, so it dries quickly, and makes impromptu swims and detours to drop my battered feet in streams way easier. I love it.

My fanny pack started to rip down the side, so I threw in an inch and a half of dental floss backstitching. I am immensely proud of this.


Reader request: Ethan of Boston asks, "are bears cats or dogs?"

Neither, bud. They're a third different thing, but bears share a common ancestor with dogs, dating back roughly 40 to 59 million years ago.