Back to the Future

I don’t know if this adventure is going to be strictly a vlog, or a mix, or what! I guess it depends on whether I have a lot to say that isn’t covered in my video footage, or whether I’m feeling camera-ready and/or wordy on any given day. But we’ll call it a vlog for now since this is all I have to say presently:

One more thing. (Clearly this will have to be a vlog+blog.) Comments and questions are welcome here or on YouTube. I guess I’d prefer them here because then they’re not owned by Google, but that’s a pretty weak preference. Whatever suits you! I’m guessing Migratory Pebbles will be populated more heavily by you few (but cherished!) long-time followers, whereas YouTube might have more random folks who love the Appalachian Trail? It’s all good.

The Birth of Luscious

I was given a trail name last night as mentioned in the quick video below. I’ve paraphrased the scene for you below as best as I can recall how it played out. Apologies to my new friends if I didn’t get it quite right.

[A dozen prospective AT thru-hikers plus handful of veterans sit around a campfire at Woods Hole Hostel, Virginia, NOBO mile 625.]

RTK: “So, does anyone have any final questions or topics they want to cover tonight?”

Benj: “Well, I still need a trail name…”

RTK: “Okay. Look, everyone, it’s not often you get a chance to give someone their trail name! Let’s take a shot at it…”

Benj: “Maybe something to do with technology? Who was the guy who developed new tech for James Bond? Wasn’t it Q?”

Ramdino: “No, Q was from Star Trek.”

Pony: “How about Batman’s tech guy?”

Benj: “Alfred?”

Pony: “No, his name was Lucius. He was in the comic books.”

Benj: “Never heard of him, so that doesn’t bode well for a trail name. And people will think it means Lucius Malfoy.”

Pony: “It’s Lucius Fox. But more likely people will confuse it with the word ‘luscious.'”

Benj: “Hmmm. I don’t know about this… Any other ideas?”

Pony: “Well, you can call yourself whatever you want, but you can’t really control what other people call you. Sometimes a name just sticks…”

RTK: “And there’ll be such a great story leading to this one. Around a campfire at Woods Hole Hostel [of Platinum-Blazing Hall of Fame] no less!”

[Benj tries to control the narrative by submitting an edit to Ramdino’s 2025 Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker Support List spreadsheet with trail name Lucius. Ramdino checks a notification on his phone and grins menacingly.]

Benj: “OK, I guess this is happening. I used the spelling Lucius, but you can pronounce it luscious, if you really want.”

Pony: “Luscious, Luscious!”

Everyone: “Luscious, Luscious, Luscious, …”

Ramdino: “I fixed the spelling on the support list to Luscious, and made it bold, all caps, and blinking. Oh, and I locked that trail name cell of the spreadsheet.”

Luscious: “I guess that settles it.”

[End Scene.]

I don’t know if this is already an Appalachian Trail aphorism, but it should be: “The Trail Giveth (my name), and the Trail Taketh Away (my dignity).”

Luscious au Québec

Apologies for the radio silence! For a while the most common questions I got from everyone I encountered were “When are you starting?” (January 2025) and “Which direction are you going?” (northbound) and “Are you going with anyone?” (no, just me!) But these days the most common question I get is, “How was the AT?!” So an update is clearly overdue.

I spent most of October doing training hikes 2+ days per week. Aside from a fun 3-day diversion on 50-mile Jockey’s Trail, all of my practicing has been in and around Nags Head Woods. It hasn’t been particularly noteworthy. Just hundreds of miles with an obnoxiously overloaded pack, doing laps around the same small loop trails in perfect autumn weather near sea level with elevation gain measured in inches. It’s kept me in good shape, but not brought me closer to Springer Mountain readiness with under 2 months to go!

And so it was time to get serious. I had two weekends worth of parties to attend in New England and a gap in between begging to be exploited. I got a headstart during the first weekend in Vermont (HBD, Mary B! 😘) where it dipped below freezing so I camped outside my AirBnB. But to get any colder, I knew I’d have to head farther north. And while this video is neither cohesive nor coherent, at least it gets me back in the groove of posting.

Notable firsts on this trip:

  • 1st time sleeping out in below freezing temperatures (24°F)
  • 1st time wearing my AT hiking clothes while actually hiking
  • 1st time needing my Kahtoola MICROspikes on icy trails
  • 1st time hiking with all this on an actual mountain
  • 1st time making video and blog posts without my MacBook: video editing with LumaFusion, and photo editing with Affinity Photo
  • 1st time thinking, “Wow, 38°F is downright balmy!”

I wish I could have experienced temperatures closer to 10°F on this trip for added confidence, but some things must remain a mystery until I reach the AT. Things like, “What does it feel like to freeze to death?” and “Will I poop more often or less often when it suddenly becomes much less convenient?” and “Where can I go hide out for 6 months while everyone thinks I’m still thru-hiking?”