There is no “done”: Reflections on a completed Appalachian Trail thru-hike (2022)

This was an unexpected find on HN but I found it very moving. Good writing lets you do something that is almost impossible otherwise; to get a glimpse inside someone else's mind and experience, the thing that is forever hidden from us unassisted.

I think it's all too easy to view other humans almost like NPCs, and most of the interactions we have in our day to day life reinforce this. You interact with the grocery checker, the waiter, even unfortunately sometimes your loved ones, and those interactions are 'on rails', following a script.

What a nice change of pace from AI-written linked-in articles.

Thank you for the article. I appreciate its authenticity, and I really hope you continue to find peace and healing with your dad‘s passing.

Experiences like this amplify what I think is our longing for permanence and I think CS Lewis sums it up well when he says “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Even the longest trails on this side of eternity must end at some point. But I think they point us to something more eternal and lasting, something our hearts all long for.

Great read! Looks like she just published a memoir too:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/748921/all-thats-un...

Hiking — in mountains in particular - is magical. I’ve yet to do more than an overnight backpack, but every time I’m out, I’m so at peace. The only explanation I’ve come up with is that mountains are massive, immovable forces of nature that do not care if you exist, and to be around that is humbling.

Excellent article, and great writing that’s sadly absent nowadays.

Subject didn't make sense.

'at' should be 'AT' or 'A.T.' = Appalachian Trail

This mirrors the 'post-launch blues' in software engineering, where the mental shift from active problem-solving to maintenance feels like a loss of purpose. The author's point about the trail being a series of immediate physical constraints is why these hikes are so addictive for people in high-abstraction fields like security or math. Once the external structure of the trail is gone, you're forced to re-internalize the discipline that was previously enforced by the terrain.