There is always more than one path. There is always more than one way to hike. Even when hikers have different paces, we sometimes end up at the same shelter, and we will all end up in Maine.

We reached a spot in the trail where they had created a detour because a bridge was out. Hikers are called “purists” when they hike every inch of the trail, pass every white blaze. The dilemma was (especially for the purists): to take the original AT trail or the detour? One is officially the AT, while the other is currently the AT. The blazes had been changed over to the detour and all.

I am not a purist. I try to hit all the blazes, and I don’t think I would try to skip any great portion of the trail, but I wouldn’t backtrack for the sake of passing a white blaze. I am out here to hike the trail, but the main reason is to really enjoy the experience.

I was hiking with two of my favorite hikers: The Rock and Safety. We ended up taking a detour of our own. Why not add a little extra fun and adventure? The distance was about the same, but it was a nice walk on a beautiful day.

We enjoyed hanging out at a shelter with a pine forest behind, prime for hammock hanging. Our plan is to wake early tomorrow and hike a longer day. We may run into wild ponies tomorrow, which everyone is pretty pumped about (horses carrying our packs, riding horses, jousting with trekking poles).