飞往格鲁吉亚. 步行回家.

Chloë Rowse ’12 spoke with 上学校 students this week about her experiences hiking the 2,2018年200英里的阿巴拉契亚步道. Chloë建议学生“永远不要低估自己的能力”.”

完整的故事如下:

飞往格鲁吉亚. 步行回家.

正在追踪Chloë Rowse ' 12

前一天晚上的暴风雨冲走了山顶的大部分灌木. Only after half-sliding down a steep slope to the valley below did Chloë Rowse realize that she was no longer on the trail. 瑟瑟发抖, 尽她最大的努力克服沮丧和疲惫的感觉, Chloë爬了回来, 几分钟后, 走近一个十字路口，一辆皮卡车在寒冷中空转着. Here, in the middle of nowhere, were two elderly men distributing cookies and soda to tired hikers. 这是Chloë在她2岁时经历的许多“小径魔法”遭遇之一,沿着阿巴拉契亚山径从乔治亚州徒步200英里到缅因州.

Chloë在她12岁的时候开始了她第一次长时间的独自旅行. 在和一个六年级的德国笔友交换信件之后, 她决定要亲自见见她的新朋友. “我父母说，‘当然可以，但你得自己付机票钱，’”Chloë说. “I’m pretty sure they were skeptical about a 12-year-old’s ability to get that kind of money together.Chloë在那年夏天为女孩们开办了一个夏令营, 果然, 筹到足够的钱独自飞往德国. 这是她在世界各地多次旅行中的第一次.

尽管她整个童年都和家人一起徒步旅行, Waynflete’s Outdoor Experience program was Chloë’s first introduction to overnight backpacking trips. 在她高中的四年里, 她创办了一个郊游俱乐部(特色是周末在波特兰东区海滩“极地潜水”)。, 跑越野, 也是北欧滑雪队的一员. “我很喜欢Waynflete团队的热情好客，”她回忆道. “几乎每个人都参加一项运动，所以技能范围很广. It gave people like me a feeling of confidence—it was OK to play soccer and lacrosse for the first time in high school.”

Chloë attended Colorado College, earning a double major in art and education and competing on the U.S. 2015年世界极限飞盘锦标赛女子国家队. After graduating, she moved to Amsterdam where she worked and pursued intensive Dutch lessons. 虽然她爱这个城市, she found herself yearning for the mountains of northern New England (after spending four years at college in Colorado, 荷兰平坦的地形尤其不和谐。). 她感到不安，决定回家. Moving meant that she would be between jobs, which opened up an opportunity to do something big. 在进行了一些广泛的研究之后, Chloë决定在第二年徒步阿巴拉契亚山径.

Chloë 2017年秋天在巴塔哥尼亚徒步旅行, 这次旅行让她有机会测试她的装备设置(不包括食物和水), 她的背包只有12磅重). 她完成了荒野急救课程和自卫课程. 尽管她的身体状况已经很好了, she began an intensive exercise regimen that included cardiovascular and strength training, 伸展运动, 平衡, 和瑜伽. 她说:“我又去了几次徒步旅行，但老实说，次数不多。. “It was cold and grey—the middle of winter—so it was easier to motivate myself to train indoors rather than driving a couple hours to the mountains only to freeze. 我不知道这些正是我即将面临的情况.”

心理训练也很关键. Chloë prepared herself for the worst by visualizing situations that might make her want to stop. “我想向自己证明，当事情变得非常艰难的时候, 这一点也不好玩, 我不会放弃,她说。. “This is what allowed me to finish a challenge that is far more of a mental f吃 than a physical one.”

2018年2月，Chloë飞往亚特兰大. 她父亲开车去了斯普林格山的小道, 刚开始的10英里是和她一起走的, 然后转身回去. 她只能靠自己.

开始

第一个月下雪了. Chloë每天早上醒来都看到冰冻的鞋子，冰冻的水和冰冻的食物. “I would hike a couple of miles with protein bars in my shirt just to get them pliable enough to chew,她说。. 旅行的最初几天也许是最难熬的. 在极冷的温度下, 早期过度使用损伤的可能性, 几乎完全孤立, 一半的北上徒步旅行者无法走出乔治亚州.

每天独自徒步旅行, 整天, Chloë发现实际上没有多少时间思考或自我反省. “你没有精力去想更多的事情，‘那是一条蛇还是一根根? 我到哪里去取水呢? 要下雨了吗? 当我到达下一个城镇时，我该吃什么呢?’”她说. “你每天早上醒来，穿上鞋子，就开始徒步旅行.“就像大多数穿越者一样, Chloë有一本列出水源的指南, 帐篷的网站, 路交叉口, 以及附近有杂货店的城镇. 徒步旅行者经常会搭便车到城镇去补充库存, 在一张真正的床上过夜，洗个急需的淋浴. 因为独自搭便车是不可取的, Chloë停下来的次数更少，携带的食物更重.

徒步旅行者很快就能认出他们在路上的同胞. “There is a haggard look of hunger, a look of kind of being lost, and of course a smell,” says Chloë. By the end of the trail, most hikers—men in particular—have lost a significant amount of weight. 徒步旅行者通过庇护所日志互相交流, Chloë将其描述为基本的短信. “你通常会写‘在这里吃午饭’这样的东西, 希望能尽快赶上某某人,Chloë说. “It was how you communicated, and how you could tell if someone was no longer on the trail.“徒步旅行者跳在前面，然后在路上落在别人后面，这并不罕见. “你可能几个星期都见不到你认识的人, 但你可以通过日志保持联系.”

徒步穿越的人被他们的同伴命名为一个路线的名字. Chloë被两位徒步旅行者命名为“Zellow”. “他们在小径旁停下来吃午饭，说我像瞪羚一样从他们身边飞过. 一开始是“瞪羚黄”，是瞪羚和黄色的组合, 因为我的头发后来被剪成了黄头发,她说。.

在路上有一种强烈的同志情谊. 一天晚上, Chloë found herself huddled with a small group in a Smoky Mountain shelter as a blizzard raged outside (at -10 degrees, 她的指尖冻伤了，好几个星期都没有知觉。. 一个徒步旅行者的食物吃完了, and others in the shelter offered up their own supplies to help her get through to the next town. “有一种感觉，bet365官网都在一起，”Chloë说. “对我来说，这条小径最特别的地方之一就是社区.”  

在徒步旅行的某个时候, 一个非常简单的习惯就形成了:早上起床, 吃, 整天徒步旅行, 再吃, 睡眠. Exotic gear that inspired excitement at the outset were now simply tools to be used or in some cases discarded. “I encountered people in New England who had recently started heading south,” Chloë recalls. “他们精力充沛，对自己的装备非常兴奋. 随着时间的推移，你会开始不那么在意这些事情. 我会在倾盆大雨中徒步一整天, 把我湿透的衣服扔到帐篷里, 睡觉吧, 然后第二天早上起床, 把湿透的衣服穿上, 然后重新开始走路. 这已经不重要了.”

保持联系

除了偶尔的山顶文字, 通过手机与朋友和家人保持定期联系是不可能的. 徒步旅行者都很注意保护自己的电池——就Chloë来说, 她用手机拍照. Chloë携带了一个定点信标, 一种预先设定好发送简短状态更新或请求紧急救援的GPS设备, 她每隔几天晚上就会用手机通知家人她的位置. 通过将坐标输入谷歌地图, Chloë的家人可以通过卫星看到她在树木海洋中的精确位置.

Chloë是一个素食者, and it was sometimes challenging for her to stock up on m吃-free (but protein-rich) supplies at stores like Dollar General. 她的家人把包裹寄给她，让她在沿途的城镇取走. 为了减轻重量，这些装运的食品都有非常特殊的内容. 巧克力棒是一种奢侈品.

气候变化的行动

2018赛季是阿巴拉契亚步道历史上最糟糕的赛季之一, 这在很大程度上是由于气候变化的影响越来越大. Chloë experienced rapid temperature changes—from extreme cold and snow to hot summer-like days. She passed through burn zones prescribed to combat beetle invasions (parts of the trail were closed later in the season due to forest fires). She experienced unusually severe storms and a tornado brought on by unseasonably warm conditions. 干旱意味着徒步旅行者不能再依靠以前可靠的水源. 所有这些问题——强烈的风暴, 森林大火, and drought—were highlighted in a November 2018 study on climate change released by thirteen U.S. 联邦机构.

然后是蜱虫. “他们无处不在，”Chloë说. “鹿蜱是危险的. They’re so tiny—when you’re hiking alone and not showering, they can be really hard to find. 对我来说，莱姆病是这条路上最大的危险.”

Chloë本打算在徒步旅行期间定期写博客, 但这个计划很快就失败了. 她的网站上有一张她的装备照片, 和她爸爸一起离开的那天, 几张森林的照片, 和她到达山. Katahdin. 她说:“除了徒步旅行，我很快就对所有事情都变得懒惰起来。. “我很高兴自己强迫自己写日记, 但我就是不能为别人写博客.” She did share photo albums from her phone with friends and family when she arrived in a town with a Wifi signal.

达特茅斯超现实主义和追踪魔法

Chloë在旅途中有一些超现实的经历. 徒步旅行者偶尔会穿过城镇, 她正好经过汉诺威, 在达特茅斯大学毕业典礼上的新罕布什尔. “我已经好几个星期没洗澡了，几个月来我一直穿着同样的衣服,她笑着回忆道. “每个人都在这里，穿着他们最好的衣服.”

It was outside of Hanover where trail magic made one of its many unbidden appearances—a box filled with fresh-baked banana bread, 还有一份免费接待徒步旅行者的城镇居民名单. Earlier, Chloë came upon a cooler in the middle of the woods, filled with ice and cold drinks.

汉诺威城外是怀特山脉，这是这次徒步旅行的亮点之一. 她的脚步没有放慢. “我决定在一天内完成总统系列，”她说. “这应该是我最艰难的一天, 但事实并非如此——我太兴奋了，几乎没有注意到身体上的挑战. 这在很大程度上取决于我的精神状态.” A “bad-mood day” spent walking on flat ground could be more physically exhausting than climbing several big mountains while in a positive state of mind.

已经被警告过早期受伤的风险, Chloë以每天10英里的速度在乔治亚州起步. 当她到达新罕布什尔州时，她平均每天跑25-30英里. She was at a peak fitness level and had also become more efficient with her time—吃ing breakfast while hiking, 例如.

虽然她和父母在怀特山脉度过了一段时光, Chloë still had weeks and hundreds of miles to go through some of the Trail’s toughest terrain. 进入缅因州的100英里荒野，她身心俱疲. She had abandoned her stove in Massachusetts to save weight and was now 吃ing powdered mashed potatoes that she rehydrated with cold water. “我没有厌倦这条路——我仍然喜欢它——我只是做好了结束的准备，”她说. “我想睡在床上, 吃真正的食物, 穿干净的衣服, 不要每天都穿同一双鞋.”

线的末端

Pick up any book about hiking the Appalachian Trail and you will find pages of testimony about feet. 徒步旅行结束的时候, Chloë’s flattened feet had grown an entire size and she was suffering from plantar fasciitis. 不像大多数徒步旅行者, 然而, 她很幸运地找到了一双鞋子的组合(她穿了五双)。, 衬垫, 还有袜子，可以防止水泡，直到她冒险的最后一天. 然而，在整个徒步旅行中，她确实经历了明显的脚痛. 她回忆说:“每天早上，我的脚都痛得几乎走不动路。. “This became such a normal part of life that I didn’t even really talk about it with other hikers. 坐着也好，站着也好，躺下也好，都很痛. 徒步旅行实际上是最舒服的事情.”

Chloë是2018年第46位到达卡塔丁山的徒步旅行者, 这一年，只有20%的穿越者走完了全程. 她在17周内徒步了2200英里.

对于徒步旅行者来说，重新融入社会可能是一种压倒性的经历. 尽管媒体充斥着令人沮丧的新闻和分裂的政治, Chloë徒步旅行的经历使她对人性重新产生了信心. 她回忆说:“我不断地被提醒，到处都有善良的人。. “我遇到了一些陌生人，他们在路边把我接走，把我赶开. 同伴们和我分享他们的食物. 我吃了好几顿饭，都是我从未见过的人随便为我买单. I was welcomed inside an air conditioned store during a big storm and given food and iced tea. 我经历了更多的善良, 支持, 这四个月里的爱比我生命中任何时候都多.”

Chloë将是L.L. Bean’s upcoming winter speaker’s series and will speak at Waynflete’s 上学校 Assembly in January. 她还将与祖母的读书小组分享她的一些经历, 谁的成员通过她分享的照片密切关注她的冒险经历.

Chloë从12岁开始每年都举办夏季女孩夏令营, 最近在威尔顿的一个营地把它变成了一个夜间项目, 缅因州. 她现在正在考虑改变项目的重点. “当我在旅途中与一切隔绝的感觉很棒, 但我知道那是一种真正的荣幸,她说。. “Now that I am back, I want to make my summer programs more meaningful for kids who really need it.” Chloë is planning to run five weeks of camp in 2019 and hopes to develop a series of year-round weekly programs for middle school girls.

Chloë会像其他徒步旅行者一样，再次踏上阿巴拉契亚山径吗? “可能不会，”她说. “至于太平洋屋脊小径……”

了解更多关于Chloë的夏季项目在克洛罗斯.com.