Sometimes looking at these photos doesn't make me happy and grateful, it just makes me sad. On those days when you're not really sure what you're doing or why you're doing it. When life's absurd mundanity hits you and you are left feeling as though a shadow of a past self is disappointed in what you amounted to. I am reminded of all I saw and experienced and felt and wonder if anything really changed?

I think so. 

Thru-hiking is an insular world distinct from societal norms. Yet the savings dwindle with the miles and though for a time you exist in a bubble of simplicity and freedom, it must burst.  The difficulty is taking the thru-hiker and putting them back into the majority. Without a trail to follow, I hike on.