I finished the Pinhoti Trail before the end of 2024, spending my last night in the shelter on Weogufka Creek, listening to the water slip over rocks, the sound as familiar as my own breath.
At the base of Flagg Mountain, I contemplated my need for significant alone time in order to process emotions and experiences. Fully aware that the paradoxical requirement for solitude conflicted with my deep desire for intimate connection.
There appeared to be a cyclical pattern of escape and return. A repeated pattern of moving between hiking trails, family obligations, and relationships. And I wondered if hiking was an avoidance mechanism rather than a path to growth.
Nowhere else did I feel the kind of contentment I found on trail, except, perhaps, in those fleeting moments when my soul merged with another.
And yet, people exhausted me. The static of their unspoken energy, the undercurrent of expectations and social noise, growing heavier in groups, stretched me thin until I unraveled. And that weighed heavily on my mind as I contemplated what would come next.
A friend picked me up at the Southern terminus of the trail, and I looked forward to being with people again, resolving not to get overwhelmed in groups… and I failed miserably.
#pinhotitrail #hikertrashforlife