Day 83, 84, 85: This too shall pass.

Mile 1208.5: Eagle's Nest Shelter.

Mental fortitude is slowly collapsing. My legs move ever forward without my brain having told them to do so, and I hardly notice. The disconnect between mind and body is all that keeps me going, driving me onward when the obvious (and easy) solution would be to stop. Motivation has long ago cast us out to sea and set sail after a subtle albeit treacherous mutiny.

The trail is in league with my mind, ever seeking to deprive me of happiness and contentment. Mud, rocks, and overgrown vegetation are all that await us as we slide, dodge, and hack our way out of Pennsylvania and back into a place (physical and mental) worth inhabiting.

But when the going gets tough... dig in your heels hard as shit and swear an oath that death will come long before you give a single inch. Harden your resolve into steel and become so stubborn in your ambitions as to welcome self destruction rather than failure. Keep repeating, "This too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass."

You see, our feet hurt bad, we're always hungry, always tired, and the trail is as monotonous as it is frustrating right now.

Do you know how taxing it is, on a mental level, to look at jagged rocks poking out of mud enveloped earth all day and decide twice every single second for about twelve hours straight where you're going to place your foot so as not to further damage your ankles or bruise your heels or slide your foot in such a way as to get blisters or to just not fall down on your face possibly breaking your poles (and bones) in the process? And still oftentimes managing to do one or all of those things? And what is the reward for doing this successfully? Absolutely nothing. There is no reward for the physical and mental stress we put ourselves through every day.

And yet, you cannot break our resolve because no matter what hellish nightmare scenario you throw at us, we still know something important.

This too shall pass.