Officially Dropped Out of my Degree!

A huge burden and inconvenience has been lifted off of me. I am tired of feeling like I'm being dragged by the responsibilities of my courses which have no purpose to my goals or future. Such a worthless degree, for what? A piece of paper? No, my friend. I don't need to struggle more than I already do and for no reason. My goals just don't align with such a waste of time, and I could pursue a career in the field without that piece of paper. I'm so glad that I finally realized it. 

North Country Trail (NCT) Vermont to Adirondacks Mileage Data Sheet (as of 8/20/22)

 Hey there. I have just spent the last two hours or so going through the NCT interactive map, tracking all the miles and changes in the route to create a spreadsheet which has directions going Westbound from the Vermont terminus of the map to the end of the Central New York map (which ends at the beginning of the Adirondacks). The camping information might be incomplete and some sections of the map (specifically the NCT TAM Footpaths) seemed sketchy, but this is the best I could do. You can find the file Here.

First Time at the Climbing Gym

Wow, it's been a while. I've been at a period of low activity after hurting my knee, but I'm finally finding the strength to move forward. Yesterday I went to a rock climbing gym for the first time, and it was amazing! I don't have a harness yet, so I was planning on bouldering, but they lent me a harness and my life is forever changed! Thank you, auto belay! First I tried a route that I think was 5.7, it was easy and the crux was easily identifiable, but what I didn't consider was the fact that I had to let go to get down. At first I let go a little and then immediately grabbed on again. I started slowly inching down but it just wouldn't give me the force I thought I needed to let go. Until finally I just let go, thinking I was going to fall to my death. But it catched me, and I survived. I started laughing, releasing all my fear, feeling so caught up in the moment. I went again, this time faster, trying a different way. And then I let go again. I put it back on the hook, realizing I didn't want to take it up for too long, and someone clipped in and did a 5.10b! 

Next I tried one that was labeled orange, I think it was 5.8, and I did it, but I struggled for a bit. I kept trying different ones, even 5.9, and I finished a 5.9, but I can't even remember how I did it! Later I realized that there were more holds on the other side of the wall, after the arette. By then my arms were so tired that I could barely keep going, but I did. I kept trying different routes over and over, and by the time I realized I had to call it a day, I couldn't even hold on to a big jug. My arms were totally out. I also found that it was extremely difficult to reach holds, they seemed almost impossible. I'm eager to go back and keep trying. This is the best time of my life. 

My goal is to go every day, even though it takes me 2 hours to get there and 2 more to get back. Maybe one day I'll have a car and I'll get there faster. I secretly hope they need to hire someone one day, it would be amazing to work there. Anyways, I feel so good about it that I ran a 5K again this morning. Now I'm getting ready to go to work and make the money for my harness. I really wanted to go today, but I'll be very disappointed without a harness. I still haven't tried the bouldering because it's in plain view of the entrance and I'm shy. Also they don't really have many easy bouldering routes, or many at all. But yeah, ttyl!