While Caleb Reske and Jack Griffin hadn’t stayed in touch after leaving 贝博体彩app, they realized in a serendipitous Zoom reunion last spring that they had both been contemplating the same big idea: taking a gap year and hiking the Appalachian Trail. 凯莱布和杰克都拿到了大学的录取通知书，分别去了耶鲁大学和哈佛大学，他们都不太喜欢在大一的时候进行远程学习。 So, they deferred college for a year and hatched a plan to make a NOBO (north-bound) trip up the Appalachian Trail starting in March at Springer Mountain in Georgia and arriving at Maine’s Mount Katahdin in mid-July. 杰克和凯莱布的经验比许多AT徒步旅行者要少，但他们发现徒步旅行者之间迅速形成的同志情谊使学习曲线变得平坦。 “Once we got on the trail, everyone taught us so much,” says Caleb.

 

We caught up with Jack, trail name “Babushka,” and Caleb, trail name “Sun-Dried,” in Unionville, New York (mile 1,450) in mid-May, where they shared some of the highlights, unexpected perils, and lasting lessons learned on the trail thus far.

 

 

凯莱布：我第二天就拿到了。 I was thinking about food, and you can’t eat vegetables out here, but I saw some sundried tomatoes, and I was trying to get everyone to try them. So they said we should call you “Sun-Dried.” 而且，我确实晒伤了。

 

杰克：我的帽子丢了，头上戴着绑腿。 我正要把我的汤碗倒在营地里，有人说我看起来像一个俄罗斯老妇人，这就变成了巴布什卡。 You are supposed to have someone else come up with your name, but sometimes people come up with their own, and it always sounds like they’re trying a little too hard. 谜? Yeah, that’s not going to stick!

 

 

Jack: At first, it was simply because I didn’t want to do online classes; 那简直是浪费了一年的时间。 What drew me to the AT was that it’s such a simple lifestyle. 在我们的日常生活中有很多事情要做，有很多事情要处理，但这是简单而愉快的。 每天我都去徒步旅行，享受大自然。 Plus, I’m doing something productive with my year.

到目前为止，你在旅途中看到或经历的最好的事情是什么？

 

凯莱布：沿着AT有很多风景，但我更喜欢走进美丽的林间空地或田园诗般的农田时那种小规模的美景。

 

杰克：我完全同意孙干的说法。 We walk for hours in the woods, and there’s nothing that you would take a picture of, but it’s such a happy environment. 一项科学研究表明，仅仅看一棵树的照片就有镇静作用。 We’re practically meditating out here!

 

 

我可以告诉你最不重要的。 我从一个帐篷开始，但是我把帐篷杆弄丢了，然后他们给了我错误的尺寸，接下来的几个在邮寄中丢失了。 所以命运不希望我有帐篷！

 

Jack: Well, I still have a tent, and I think it’s pretty important, but I am most grateful for the shoes I am wearing. They’re waterproof, and my socks aren’t wet. It’s the little things out here like having my shoes keep my feet dry.

 

凯莱布：我有个朋友得了壕足，因为他的脚湿了好几天。 足部护理很重要！

 

 

Jack: I now know how to hang a bag so that a bear can’t get into our food, but the biggest thing that I think I’ll bring back to real life is that I can sit with myself and my thoughts. I didn’t use to be able to do that, so this was a good way to learn how to slow things down.

 

Caleb: And I did learn how to cook in a rusted old tomato paste can, but since going into quarantine last spring, I haven’t made any new friends. 这次经历恢复了我以前交朋友的能力。