just keep going till you get to the end

[melannen]

I spent most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday backpacking on the Appalachian Trail! We did Pen Mar to Route 40, which is about 20 miles, and I have now officially walked all of Maryland on the AT! I have over 40 mosquito bites on my right arm alone, which is a record even for me.

I was really, really ready to come home and have a hot shower and sleep in a real bed by Sunday night, and not go backpacking again for two years (which is how long it's been since last time) but I already want to go out again, and my calf muscles haven't even unknotted yet. And I don't know why! The Appalachian Trail does weird things to the mind.


In other news, I am seriously considering signing up for polybigbang. I have over 10,000 words of that Bruce/Tony poly story already written, so I wouldn't have to stress over wordcount, and current plan is that it only needs four or five more scenes to reach the end, so I really just need a push to finish it. But it also needs a *ton* of revision, and if I used it for a big bang I would have to get a beta reader. Which is probably a good idea anyway, but I almost never use beta readers and have no idea what I'm doing with them.

So... um... before I make up my mind, is there anyone out there who would be willing to beta for a projected <20000 word Avengers movieverse story about Bruce and Tony being geniuses who are bad at life, and also about Betty and Pepper and Jane and Eric being geniuses who are slightly better at life for various reasons, and also about SCIENCE! and ethics and the Other Guy and polyamory and frequent nods to other Avengers fics in this universe that I have not written, and consists almost entirely of telephone conversations? Given that I am really not used to having a beta, am probably really bad at having one, and would want to be able to follow your lead on most of the process?

Anybody?

Comments

[melannen]

I think I did my first stretch of the trail while driving through Smoky Mountains National Park and going about 200 ft to an overlook. :D It somehow still felt like a great accomplishment. Congratulations!

And I am also so out of shape for hills. I just kept in mind that nobody cared how fast I went and I didn't have to keep up with anyone, so I was letting myself sit and rest about every fifty feet on some of the uphills, and that worked fine. (But I noticed I was doing noticeably better even by the second day, so I can't help but wonder what would happen if I pushed on beyond that.)

[cyprinella]

Original plan was for more hiking today, but with the dense fog and my incredibly sore muscles, we decided just to drive the rest of Skyline Drive and then hit wineries around Front Royal. :D

I tend to need at least one recovery day in between bouts right now. Today I was okay once I got warmed up, but every getting up after sitting was an act of will. I will probably be much better tomorrow. Which is pretty similar to my marathon training experience so at least it's predictable.

[melannen]

That is exactly the state I am in right now! :D I should do Skyline Drive sometime, it sounds wonderful.

[cyprinella]

It's quite nice! You may want to print out the hiking trail maps before you go or spend time researching the trails so you know the names because the little map they had you at the entry point isn't very detailed. Thankfully Jason prepared well on that. Unfortunately, he can't control the weather so a lot of the views were fogged in. Probably would have still been good hiking today. Even yesterday was pretty decent, although a bit slippery.