“Where are you from? Because your accent kind of sounds like mine.” Not very romantic, but those were the first words I said to Truffles at Four Pines Hostel in Catawaba, VA. We were in a small circle of hikers congregating near the bunkhouse. I don’t remember being formally introduced to him, but once Truffles started talking his accent caught my attention. The night wore on and our friends went to bed, leaving Truffles, Green, Forward, and I to talk over cold McDonald's fries and Miller Lites. The next morning, as I was packing up my tent, Truffles walked over to see what milage I had planned for the day. We exchanged brief pleasantries before I hit the trail with Creature to hike to the iconic McAfee Knob, leaving Truffles behind.
Several days went by before our paths crossed again in Daleville, VA. My hiking partner at the time, DQ, and I were putting off the inevitable of getting back on trail. Leaving town was always a struggle for me, after sleeping in a bed and having access to running water it felt archaic to willingly leave those comforts behind. As we were procrastinating, a bunch of our friends came out of the nearby outfitter. They were just getting into town and planning to zero. With the promise of another day in town, DQ and I quickly changed our plans and decided to stay another day. We wanted to make an unplanned zero count, so we concocted the idea of a hiker prom. There was a Goodwill close by, a Mexican restaurant with a liquor license by our motel, and plenty of hiker trash willing to participate. DQ was my “prom date”, and I spent most of the evening trying to keep his fleeting attention.
After a couple of days, my crush on DQ quickly fizzled out after he caught a ride into town without me. I was surrounded by friends but felt alone. I hate to admit that the feeling of rejection made me doubt myself enough to contemplate getting off trail. I called my mom crying and begged her to come and get me. Shockingly, she refused and I dug deep enough to find the motivation to keep hiking.
The next day I hiked into Glasgow, VA with a large group and started spending more time with Truffles. We swam in the river together and spent hours talking around the shelter picnic table. I didn’t know it at the time, but these moments were the beginning of something special.
Truffles and I hiked together within a large group for the following week and spent more time together. I made the following entry in my trail journal:
Day 74: June 6, 2021 (21 miles) “I slept great and ate breakfast with Truffles (who I am convinced is in love with me)... When I was leaving, Truffles told me I “deserve to be happy” and that whenever I feel down on trail to give him a call. It was really sweet.”
I knew at that moment that there was something deeper to our connection, but chose to hike on. He was planning to “aqua blaze” the Shenandoah River with Hangman and Pimento, and I hiked into the Shennies without knowing when/if I would see him again. I didn't know it at the time, but it would take nearly a month before I eventually found him again.
I spent a majority of northern VA, WV, and southern PA hiking alone or in and out of groups. I made the decision to put more of an effort into catching up with friends and planned to rendezvous with Sticks, Slobber, Truffles, Hangman, and Gooey in Port Clinton, PA. The night I joined their group I wrote:
June 28, 2021: Day 98 (0 miles) “I have such a big crush on Truffles now… we’ll see what happens.”
Over the next few weeks Truffles and I spent more and more time together. We began hiking together during the day and sitting up for hours at night talking. It can be hard to explain how easy it is to get to know someone while hiking. Walls that normally keep others out are easily breeched in the safety of the woods. Conversation flows effortlessly as small talk is skipped altogether, and deeper topics are discussed. Truffles and I walked single file together for hours on end, often with little silence between us. There was always something we wanted to tell the other about, whether it be about a childhood memory, an embarrassing story from college, or about a cool newt we saw yesterday. We talked about what was important to us, what we valued in life, and about our dreams. Truffles made me laugh when I wanted to cry from exhaustion and helped to encourage me to keep pushing up strenuous climbs. He got into the habit of waiting for me at summits, and always greeted me with a smile.
In Delaware Water Gap, PA I decided to be more direct with Truffles. I asked him to go on a date with me during our tramily’s zero.
July 3, 2021: Day 103 (0 miles): “We went to the farmers market for the famous ‘true love special’ of a hot dog and apple pie for $4.95. We had rootbeer floats and laughed a lot; I have so much fun with him… Truffles and I had more alone time and he said he was ‘trying really hard not to like me so much.’ I think we may have a trail romance on our hands!”
By the time we entered NJ, Truffles and I had evolved into an item. Outside of our routine of hiking together all day, we started going on “dates” by taking blue blazes to fire towers. We took every side trail that we could find in an excuse to spend one on one time together. It’s hard to imagine romance blooming between two perpetually filthy and smelly hikers, but our bond deepened with each conversation. Our relationship quickly progressed as we continued our journey north together.
July 8, 2021: Day 108 (12 miles) “Truffles and I hiked together pretty much the entire day and chatted - he is easily the highlight of my day every day out here.”
July 15, 2021: Day 115 (20.2 miles) “I don’t want this hike to end because I don’t want to have to say goodbye to him.”
July 20, 2021: Day 120 (16 miles) “Truffles and I hiked all day together and talked a lot about how much we like each other and a little about ‘us’ after trail. No conclusions were made… After dinner, Truffles and I took a canoe from the shelter out on the lake and he finally kissed me! It was beautiful and romantic on the island.”
July 29, 2021: Day 129 (15 miles) “After dinner, my tent flooded in the downpour, and Truffles let me sleep in his tent. We read and talked for hours; he even asked me to ‘go steady’ and it looks like I have a real life boyfriend now - even after trail! Funny how things have a way of working out.”
July 31, 2021: Day 131 (9 miles) “Truffles told me he’d been in love with me since the day he met me which made me absolutely melt. He also said he wanted to take our relationship slow ‘just like our first kiss’ because he wanted his ‘last first kiss to be special'. He is literally the best guy in the world and I am absolutely head over heels for him… I really hope we get to look back at this in like 50 years together and laugh.”
After our first “I love you”, we spent the next 38 days kindling our feelings towards one another. From mile marker 1219.9 in Port Clinton, PA, we hiked the remaining 973.2 miles together to mile 2193.1 atop Katahdin. We established that our connection was not something we wanted to restrict to trail, and in the last weeks of our hike, we spent a lot of time talking about the logistics of what our relationship would look like in the real world.
While hiking, we spent nearly 24 hours a day together - we woke up in a tent together, hiked together the entire day, and fell asleep together each night. How were we going to navigate a relationship when we were not in constant contact? We both live in Burnsville, except his Burnsville is in Mississippi and my Burnsville is in North Carolina. Truffles and Magic had an unrivaled love, but what would Cade and Anna’s relationship be like?
Thru hiking is a bonding experience like no other and is a true test to the strength of any relationship whether it be romantic or platonic. Not only are you spending lots of time together, but you are also doing really hard stuff. The emotional and physical highs are high, but the lows are extremely low. It’s easy to get into a funk while hiking because all you do is spend time inside your head. How are you going to support your partner who is having a tough mental day when you are at your breaking point physically? Juggling that relationship dynamic within a larger tramily dynamic can be challenging for anyone.
I knew several couples that started the trail together and broke up along the way. I also knew several couples who met on trail for a short lived fling. There are plenty of couples, like Truffles and I, who fell in love on trail and have continued a romantic relationship off trail. Every couple is different, and every individual has to do what is right for them. I don’t necessarily think the trail is a good place to go looking for love, but I certainly found it!
It’s been about five months since Truffles and I summited Katahdin together. We have both gone back to the lives we lead before trail and it has become easy to fall back into the routine of everyday life. The difference is all the phone calls, FaceTimes, and weekends spent in each other’s company. Long distance is not for the faint of heart, but neither is walking from Georgia to Maine. I worried that off trail our connection may not be the same, but those fears were quickly put to rest during our many visits in the months apart.
I felt crazy telling my friends and family that I fell in love with this hairy hiker from Mississippi in just a couple of months on trail. No matter how outlandish the backstory or circumstances, love is love and I am thankful to have found it. Here’s to many more years and miles with you, Truffles.
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