A few weeks in to my first long trip, a mentor said in a grocery store in Franklin, North Carolina: "You'll become one of two kinds of hiker: you'll count calories per pound, or you'll count calories per dollar. Either way, you win with cake frosting".
Yep! Dropping out of high school to go backpacking on the AT was one of the better decisions I've made. It's been a decade and a half, and I'm still making connections through the trail network.
Since you're such a recent finisher; Springer Fever is a real thing, and I think it's best not to suppress it too much.
I struggle with his on through hikes bc as a diabetic I can’t eat a lot of the standard calorie dense foods. A lot of fats is really all that works for me :-(.
