I had a rough time from NY to VT on my thru. It got hot as balls and the mosquitos came out in full force. For some stupid reason, i never thought about bug netting. My dad mailed me some in Kent. My life got a little better. Then a few days later I stopped to have some dinner in MA and before I could get my food out I was attacked by 1,000 mosquitos. I freaked out a little. I ran two miles with a full pack to Tyringham, then hitched into Lee where I sat at friendlys for 3 hrs and ate ice cream. After I had a minute to get my head together, I did a small resupply, since i was in town, grabbed a sixer of PBR and hitched back to Tyringham. Sat in the town shelterhouse, drank my six, ate some food and contemplated my hike. I woke up the next day and started walking. A day or two later I spent a night at upper goose pond. A former thru hiker brought in a bunch of ice cream and we gorged. A couple of days after that, I walked into Dalton and stayed at Tom Levardi's. He was an excellent host. I stayed there two nights and he slackpacked a few of us over Mt Greylock. When he dropped us off at the VT border, I had a new lease on life. Something out of all that hardship changed me. I believe that was my most difficult time on the entire AT. But once I was able to conquor that, I had no reason to believe that I would fail.

So, when life gets tough, which I'm sure it has for everybody over the last six months, I've often thought about that difficult stretch I had on the trail. And it has helped me to know that I had the courage ro reach down deep. And I can still do it.

That experience has helped me out of a few jams.

Anyone else have similar experiences?