Whitetop Mountain, Mt. Rogers and pain

This post is painful to write-- I won't say it was the hardest period of time in my life but it was certainly the hardest time I've had on the trail.

I woke up at Lost Mountain Shelter and heard a few people moving about-- impossible for a few folks not to be up earlier than me seeing as there were at least 20+ at the shelter that night (some even tented in proximity of the privy). I checked my phone, which I had begun to keep on airplane mode while I wasn't using it and saw it was merely 7:30. I realized I was waking up more and more often with the sunrise, it was a beautiful feeling.
I got out of my tent and realized it was a little difficult to get my stakes out of the ground, my foot was just tender when I reached down to pull out the stakes and I wanted something to stabilize myself. I took it without much caution though seeing as I'd have two trekking poles to support me most of the day anyways. I was the first person to actually leave the shelter, even after a small snack, it takes me less than 10 minutes to get up and gone in the morning and there are few that I found on the trail that could match me for my ease of leaving in the mornings. I found myself going SLOW though and I couldn't place why-- my body was just telling me to go slow in some way and my cadence was gentle and soft as I plodded along. The day started out decent but after a mere mile, the up began. I started out the day at roughly 3400 feet and would be reaching 5200 in a mere 6 miles-- NOT an easy climb as there wasn't a moment's break to it. Even though I was going so languid (and clearing more spiderwebs than a broom) I didn't break and nobody passed me all morning.

As per usual with mornings, I had to take a shit. Thankfully, this occurs when I'm past a shelter in the morning and somewhere off to myself but it also sucks because you never know if someone will come up on you and also, the feeling you need to go comes up on you FAST. I felt ok and then suddenly realized all of the trees were gone, I was going onto a bald. I slinked back to tree cover and roamed around to find a spot to go at and quickly found a snake laying out on the grass. I was about 4 feet away when I just turned around, without the slightest bit of fear and found a spot 6 feet on to go instead. That left me with about 10 feet distance from the snake, which I figured was ample enough. I shit and the snake stayed still and then I was off-- it was a very casual meeting.

I climbed up the bald and soon found it was getting dark and cloudy-- whitetop mountain loomed before me and after I reached a rock face and pulled out my guide, deciding it would be a good place to breakfast, I realized I was at Buzzard Rock.

The area around Buzzard rock is spectacular-- it looks like a chunk of Ireland was torn out of the ground and relocated in Virginia for everyone to see and love. I sat, breakfasted on some Kashi cereal and looked out at the clouds moving about. I realized Whitetop mountain was taller than I had expected seeing as it disappeared into the fog and clouds...

As I was finishing up my lunch and gently tapping my foot with my fingers, I found a particular area on the top of my foot that hurt and I soon realized that my foot also hurt when I pulled back on the toe right next to my big toe. It wasn't excruciating pain but it was surely noticeable. I sighed and decided it would be fine, just take it slow and easy and rest is all...

I saw my first person of the day behind me, they took a break at the same spot I was at and I could see them for a long time before I disappeared into the clouds.

The road at the top of Whitetop Mountain was neat but I decided against taking it or the sidetrail-- perhaps if my foot had felt better I would have but I just wasn't in the mood.

I filled up at the stream and really started to slow down, my foot was just beginning to hurt even more and I decided I should ease back even further-- star taking breaks every half hour or so, be positive it was ok is all.

I hit VA 600 right before Elk Gardens and sat down for another break, it hadn't been more than three miles and I wound up resting longer than my breakfast break. A lot of people had recently passed me up and decided to take their break at the road as well. 15 minutes went by and Fozzie, Sam and Phil soon reached me and I took 30 more minutes to sit with them and left once Sam and Phil got up. I told Fozzie about my foot pain and he told me it was probably just a strain, much better if I get some rest and that it probably wasn't a stress fracture, I told him I was worried it would be one though, I hadn't had such pain before. He reassured me and that was all I needed... my pace was fucking terrible as I tried getting along after the bench though and Fozzie soon passed me up and it began to rain. He took out his umbrella and sauntered ahead but we talked briefly-- I mentioned how much I wanted to take the side trail to get up to Mount Rogers (the highest point in Virginia) but my foot ached and he told me it was "just another hill" as to say it probably wasn't worth it. I told him I'd inevitably make it to the shelter we had decided on (Wise shelter at the exact 500 mile point) but it would take some time. Fozzie mentioned some calf pain and then told me again "just another hill Peej, I'll see you on ahead." I watched him walk off and I again admired his one-trekking pole and umbrella method for walking in the rain. Before long he was out of sight. It was the last time on-trail that I saw him.

I made it the small distance to Deep Gap and started to cry, I don't know what was wrong with me but I needed something to motivate me to keep going because the pain came to be with every single step. I sat on a rock between rainstorms and ate an entire packet of trolli brightcrawlers and talked to a pair of section hikers that came by. They were kind enough to ignore my tears, I wouldn't have wanted to talk about it and I decided I'd just press on to the next shelter and sleep there instead of pressing on to Wise Shelter. The climb up sucked-- Brier Ridge and side trail to Mt. Rogers passed by slowly and walking over the rocks and around the piles of horse shit made it terrible. I hit Thomas Knob Shelter where plenty of people were already inside-- I worried for a moment if there would be space for me as it started to downpour and I climbed into the top loft (my foot hurt on every step and it hurt badly) and saw Sam and Phil. We lounged about until the rain stopped and they were soon on their way saying they might make it to Wise shelter or simly sleep at the next campsite less than a mile on. I told them my goodbyes and Sam told me he really deeply hoped my foot would get better. I smiled and it gave me a little hope but not much, I knew something was definitely wrong with my foot.

Honeybadger soon came in and took the spot next to me-- two guys in the top bunks were talking with us and we soon made a little group-- I didn't catch their names at first so we didn't personally discuss much that night but they wound up having the trail names of Chef and Ranger Bill (both I had seen in the trail register-- Ranger Bill had done the first 490 miles of the trail with a single roll of toilet paper). I talked about my foot for a while and took their advice on what to do and how to rest it-- a couple who had done the trail as section hikers and that were now doing it as thru hikers interjected that I might have plantar fasciitis and I retorted that it definitely wasn't that as the pain was localized over the ball of my foot. The gentlemen took some offense to me putting off his diagnosis and took on ignoring me for the rest of the day-- I don't mean to be snood or act as though I know more than him about feet but I definitely know more than the average joe and I know enough about plantar fasciitis to know it was not what I had. I flexed my foot and felt the pain and realized it was only with certain movements, likewise if I rolled my ankle in a circle it would hurt at a certain point and it was definitely a more intense pain than what I had been experiencing less than a few hours ago. With all of my stuff set up to sleep, I decided to just lay very still, take some ibuprofen and let mother nature work her course. I had faith that things would be ok-- afterall, it couldn't be that serious, right?

Sleep came quickly, rest... not so much. It just wasn't the most comfortable night and a nagging worry in the back of my mind pulled at me and made me want to panic. I felt desolate, even with people around because my phone wasn't working-- I would get one bar and no texts or calls would go through... it started to rain very hard and get very foggy and without tree cover, the droplets thundered the roof and siding something awful. I wanted to curl up in a ball and wait it out and with all of the gloom, especially once night set in, I took comfort in the cold and dampness that was Thomas Knob shelter. I soon found myself comfortable enough to let go and wait. Again, it couldn't be so terrible. Wait and hope..... this too shall pass...

Blame it on Little Caesar's

Right, so I've been taking the last few days to procrastinate writing... basically goofing off and waiting for this to heal-- I hate to interrupt where I left off but I know what to pin this stress fracture on-- fucking Little Caesar's pizza!

Let's go back to Kinkora hostel. I got sick there from Little Caesar's pizza and when I was stepping down to the falls the day I thought I'd be ok, I remember stepping with my left foot onto a very sharp rock that made it feel as though someone shoved a needle between my big toe and my second toe-- with that in mind, I realize through pushing too many miles and from not getting enough calcium, my body was still healing and I developed the beginnings of this stress fracture. That's how it all began! Unbelievable!

Getting out of Damascus, it was a beautiful, sunny morning. It didn't take long for the heat and humidity to get to me though-- honestly after a few hills I was getting warm. I stopped for water breaks often and would take my time looking at the gorgeous mountain laurel that was beginning to blossom. It wasn't my first time seeing mountain laurel on the trail but it was certainly my first time seeing it in such abundance. Mountain Laurel looks like a china dish... beautiful and ornate but so complicated and perfect that it's almost unbeatable at it's purpose of spreading pollen. It's literally impossible for an insect to get inside the flower and get nectar without touching the piston.

I was going along smooth and steady-- just taking my time, not in any hurry to catch up with Fozzie or Phil as we were doing a mere 16-mile day. I told myself that this day would be pretty sweet and I was right. A few rainclouds filtered through the sky and they were VERY dark-- they went by without any rain though and the sun came back again. I loved experiencing such a day without a drop of rain; and looking back, with it being my last day of true, happy hiking... it was pretty damn wonderful.

The way up to Saunder's Shelter was a tough climb but I kept up slow and steady with the method Fozzie showed me of 2 steps per inhale... 2 steps per exhale... I didn't have to take a break once in the last few miles and I wound up passing Progress (a mormon girl whom Bridgette had been hiking with) and her hubby and also a ginger guy who spoke very little to me... even looked a bit menacing the times I had seen him prior... and his lady who was rightly curvaceous.

Honeybadger passed me up and talked with me briefly-- before I knew it, was at the side trail to go to Saunder's Shelter and I was 10 miles out from Damascus. I sat near the side trail and had some ramen and never actually went up to the shelter because I didn't want to waste the energy. After a nice break and a few phonecalls that left my battery down by  bar, I sauntered off to climb a few hills and go back down to get to the Virginia Creeper trail section. Getting there was sometimes rocky but my feet weren't bothered by it at first, I pondered that my aching foot was just a little bit of inadequate stretching and that it was done and over with. Just before the Creeper Trail though, my foot became a little tender at the arch-- it had happened before so I brushed it off.

What an unfortunately-named trail!

The Virginia Creeper is about... well, what the hell do I call it? I'm struggling here. It's a long bike path that goes the entire way to Damascus and it is downhill, you can ultimately go the entire way without pedaling your bike, just coast the whole way down. I was going up it, though it wasn't the steepest incline by far, it was mellow. I sauntered along with "The Creep" in my head by The Lonely Island-- definitely wanted to stop and get my arms t-rexing as some bikers passed by but I thought better of it and simply waved and said "hello."

It was only about a mile and a half perhaps of walking on cement, after that I reached the Luther Hassinger Memorial Bridge-- a tremendously long wooden bridge that was a pleasure to stroll down. After the bridge, I made a left to get back onto more of the dirt trail and passed a long stream. I filled up on water, followed the stream more when something MASSIVE darted out of the woods and ran across the stream, it didn't take me long after watching the movements to realize it was a big doe-- she looked like a trojan horse lopping across the ground because of her size. I was pleased, that was the first doe I had actually seen (fozzie saw one, I merely heard it but that was way back in the Smokies). Sunset came on quickly after that because of the angle of the mountains.

Rather pretty, don't you think?

I found myself reaching Lost Mountain Shelter quickly. The place was fucking packed but as I didn't hear any reports for rain and there were a multitude of people already camping, I decided I'd tent and have a swell night.

By now, my foot wasn't feeling great. I was contemplating getting better shoes at that moment, something with a little more rock guard like the treksports-- I proceeded to get Jess to pick a pair up for me and asked her to send them through the mail, she did so and was waiting for me to simply call and give her the general delivery address but my signal stopped working about here. That was the last I'd talk to her or anyone else on the phone for several days, this would also be my last night hanging out with Sam, Fozzie and Phil and was sadly my last night spent with Fozzie and Phil. Wait, Sam you say? The little bugger was there!

Fozzie saw me as I was first getting into camp and told me there was someone I'd be happy to see-- I figured it would be Firefox or someone like that but lo and behold, Sam Ridge! The son-of-a-gun yellow blazed ahead (made the mileage back up close to trail days though, so there's that!) We all sat out by Sam and Phil's hammocks while they smoked and I sat on a tiny rock that I had to move on intermittently as my ass began to HURT.

I was overjoyed to see Sam again-- we discussed a few things-- the poems and lyrics I write in logs (and how some people might make fun of them to which I said it didn't matter to me) and we chilled for a while. A kid came by and brought Fozzie some bourbon in a gatorade bottle. I had a few swigs and talked with them all and soon got extremely sleepy... my alcohol tolerance is very low. The kid who brought the bourbon was talking about people who smoke or not on the trail and I got a little pissed at one of the things he said, I don't know quite why (and I didn't say anything about it, just was mentally pissed) but he said that a lot of the people who don't smoke look down on the people that do but they'll associate with people who do smoke on the trail because they don't care as much out of society and are in want of company. I suppose what he said had a small amount of truth to it and that's what made me angry or perhaps I was just in a bad mood... my foot had indeed began to feel crappy. After setting up my tent, I climbed in and didn't climb out until morning. I just felt exhausted and I didn't stir or wake up much if at all that night.

Youngstown, PA

Greetings from Youngstown, PA!

No, I didn't hike the whole way here, my family came and picked me up, so I'm just resting up. :p I've been here in Pennsylvania for a little over a week now and my foot has gotten MUCH better. I have not gone for an x-ray so my actual foot problem isn't exactly known but I can pretty safely say (from my annoying habit of WebMD-ing everything that happens to me) it's a stress fracture. Eek, if you told me that a while ago I would have cried but I'm way too stubborn to give up on something like my thru-hike.

I'll start back from where I left off-- Damascus, which seems like ages ago. It's strange to look back on Virginia because it seems like it happened in another life. I have this strange habit that when something changes in my life, the past becomes very distant. It's a good thing though, I feel very in-tune with the present moment: I enjoy listening to what people are saying, taking part in what's going on around me and I'm not too occupied with my thoughts that I miss out. I accept everything with a tranquility now, there's no reason to be worried or stressed. I thank the trail and whatever gifts I've been given that I've reached that type of joy, always in my heart. There's just nothing to rush about anymore, it's all happening at it's own beautiful pace.

Okay, I'll get on track, damn I have a bad habit of going off on a stream of thought like that. :p In Damascus, after I got out of the library, I talked to Phil and Fozzie and we decided we would take a zero day in Damascus. It was a very good idea, my foot was bothering me and I found, later on that day, I was having some issues with walking. My body was apprehensive, it didn't want to put any weight onto the second or first metatarsal of my foot so when I would walk, my foot wouldn't pronate. My usual, soft and silent footsteps became a bit lumbering and slow and as we walked through town, I had trouble keeping up with everyone. I got back to "The Place" where I saw the caretaker again--not my favorite person in the world. I forgot to mention that when I first came in, he looked me over and said "well, you don't look like a bum" and I shrugged it off with a laugh and a smile but I still felt a bit at odds with him-- it's just such an odd thing to say to someone that one can't help but harbor a little... hmmm... resentment. I sat around in my room for a little while and Fozzie and Phil came up-- we had the room to ourselves as the two gentlemen in the other bunks were out and wouldn't return until much later that night. A woman brought ice cream and apple cobbler for thru hikers and I ate a little-- saw Bridgette and we talked for a little and she started asking if I was zeroing or not. When I told her yes, she said she was leaving the next day. All I could think was: "interesting."

We talked for a little while more, I didn't exactly flirt, I believe I was still in the state of not having any interest in her and then Fozzie told me in privacy that Bridgette had been asking about me when they first came into town. Nascent love is one of those quick-to-sway (and temporary) things that I soon found myself having a crush on Bridgette again-- not more than half a second after Fozzie told me she had mentioned my name. lol. Ah well, I didn't see her again after that as she took a phone call and was off doing her own thing. Fozzie and Phil were heading off to have some supper so I said I'd join-- you can't miss Dairy King with those fucking prices. Honey badger joined us making us a group of four-- I couldn't help but miss Sam at that moment.

Dairy King wasn't packed, I can't imagine it ever gets too busy aside from Trail days but we sat at the middle table while a Lifetime movie played on the TV. I started wondering whether Fozzie had ever seen a Lifetime movie and if this movie would be particularly terrible and I soon was able to answer those questions with "no" and "YES", respectively. The movie played out as we sat at the diner: a young kid pulls up on a motorcycle to an old man who is standing amidst some ruins that look like the old buildings around Falls Park in Sioux Falls-- they talk for a little while and suddenly the old guy stabs the kid. The old guy hides the body, then another man comes up and starts talking to the old man, old man pulls out his knife and stabs this other guy. Throughout, scenes flash to a woman huddled with her daughter in an orange family tent during a rainstorm, the daughter crying-- they both look terribly anxious and sad about something but I couldn't exactly hear the TV. Somehow, this old man comes along with his knife, gets into the tent and holds the mom with his knife to her throat, I suppose he was going to try to rape her but the daughter acts and stabs him with something. The mom and daughter flee and then they eventually shoot the old guy with a flare gun and he drops into a lake, dead.

This is a standard Lifetime movie.

Fozzie looked on to the movie from time to time and I watched his expressions to see what he thought-- he was fairly amused and I'm sure he was wishing Lifetime were a network in England as well.

The food was good but there were quite a few problems. I ordered water and didn't get any refills, the waitress gave Phil a chicken sandwich instead of chicken tenders and also gave the chicken sandwich to Honeybadger and gave Honeybadger's burger to Phil-- they switched and everything was almost okay. When I payed, I was charged for a drink even though I had water. Let me just say, this is only the beginning of their mistakes, we had breakfast and dinner the next day at Dairy King and it was even more skewed.

We got back from the diner and started to throw a Frisbee for a while-- my foot wasn't acting up, it was perfectly fine at this point so I was sprinting all over the place in the yard outside of "The Place." It was mainly Phil and I tossing the frisbee and we did so for at least 2 hours-- Fozzie joined in now and then, Mary Poppins and Bridgette for a while too but it eventually got dark and we had to call it a night. I had a ton of fun though and thought I'd be played out and ready to go to sleep but the hard beds in The Place mixed with the sound from my sleeping pad when I got up or made any move (sounded like a dog walking on a placemat) made it so that I couldn't sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, I decided to go to the kitchen in The Place and make some tea. Honeybadger, Mary Poppins and a girl were playing Rummy 500 and I eventually joined in with them-- the game went on for a few hours and didn't end until the unfortunate hour of 1am. Time flies when you're playing cards. At some point, a very drunk man came in and had to be escorted upstairs with the help of two folks (one in back and one behind so he wouldn't fall) and everyone proceeded to tell me that he had paid everyone's tab at the bar (the bill was somewhere around 540$). I asked if he was fully conscious of paying everyone's tab and they told me "maybe."

I went back up to sleep after 1am, aware I'd be very tired the next day and I still didn't sleep well. The Place just wasn't very comfortable. When I did wake up the next morning, I waited around for everyone else to be ready to go and it took too long so I decided to waste some time with a shower (took one the night before). I can't get very clean in most of the showers on the trail so I just did my best and decided I'd be ready to go-- nobody was awake yet so I sat around in the kitchen for a bit, finished charging my phone and then Fozzie was up and asked if I'd go to breakfast with him and Phil-- I had to say yes, of course-- can't miss breakfast with an Englishman. :P

I can't remember what I had for breakfast but my breakfast came out okay-- when the others took the chance of ordering, the odds weren't in their favor. Fozzie had ordered two eggs and only got one (but he got two pancakes when he only ordered one) and they forgot the side of home fries he had ordered. On top of that, when Phil was being charged, they tried to have him pay Fozzie's bill instead of his own (which wasn't of equal price). My foot wasn't feeling great that day, I had a hard time keeping pace with everyone as they went about on their business. I took some time to go to Mt. Roger's outfitter and stand around for a while and went on to do the same with the other two outfitters that were in the town-- nothing really struck me as something worth buying and I didn't need anything in the first place. I don't know how I wasted my time from then on that day other than resupplying at a grocery store but I did a great job of it. I will say that much of my time was spent lounging about in the bunkroom-- I never napped but I did manage to do very little (suppose I just wanted to rest). Chez 11 came in and stayed on the bunk above me, around dinnertime, we met up with Tripping Yeti who had left the day before and found that the O-ring on his gas stove had busted so he came back to get it replaced-- the poor guy trudged quite a few miles. We went with tripping yeti to the diner (Fozzie, Honey Badger and Phil joining me again) for supper and they proceeded to screw up orders again. The best thing was that TY had ordered Sierra Mist and the waitress refilled it with water-- I noticed this but didn't say anything in case he noticed or was fine with it-- he didn't, so when he took a sip through his straw, he made a sudden snorting noise which made me bust out laughing. I wound up ordering twice because I was helluva hungry and my tab only wound up being 12$ (and I ate a ton, I don't know how they gauge their prices) and as the waitress was typing in my order, she accidentally typed 1,277$ and was ready to swipe my card. She corrected it and everything was fine but DAMN the screw ups.

When we got back, Phil, Fozzie, Chez and I all chatted about the trail and lounged about-- I had extremely bad gas and Chez had to smell it all the time and eventually it drifted over to the other guys who threatened to kill me. I soon decided I'd leave the room every time I farted, which was often and though the hall was busy, nobody seemed to notice, or at least complain. Fozzie showed me raspberry M&M's he found at one of the grocery stores we resupplied at, I had a few and was in heaven. After some time, we all fell asleep and were ready to go the next day.

My foot was feeling pretty good, I lit out around 8:45am and decided I'd stop at Subway. Unfortunately, Subway wouldn't open until 10am but I decided to wait around for it anyways seeing as I didn't want to go for breakfast at a gas station. Fozzie came about soon after and sat with me until 9:45-- he got espresso at a nearby coffee place and I had a sip of it (it was my first espresso, pretty good). A section hiker came by and sat with us-- a fellow in overalls with a service dog and he talked about the trail for a little and how some of his friends had stolen money from him. Eventually, Fozzie lit out and Subway soon opened-- I decided to try their smokehouse BBQ chicken sandwich and I loved every minute of it. I always get a footlong sandwich with the intent to take half of it for later-- I always wind up eating the whole damn thing. I was walking to the trail soon after, basking in the beautiful morning sunlight when I spotted an ice cream shop that had Hershey's ice cream. I went to the door and there were workers inside but the door was locked-- I stood there and knocked and eventually one came over and let me in-- they had just forgotten to unlock the door.

I decided on an ice cream flavor-- sampled the superman flavor (which was strawberry, vanilla and something blue) and it tasted like shit-- I wound up going with chocolate chip cookie dough and caramel. I got a waffle cone, ate it on the deck and smiled the whole time. After that, I was onward.

I'll stop here for now-- I don't want a super long post!

Insight

The person who is capable of being still, silent, accepting of pain, frustration and misery, transforms the very quality of misery itself. To him, misery also becomes a treasure; to him, even pain gives a sharpness. To him, even darkness has its own beauty, depth, infinity. To him, even death is not the end but only a beginning of something unknown.
Life is possible only through challenges. Life is possible only when you have both good weather and bad weather, when you have both pleasure and pain, when you have both winter and summer, day and night. When you have both sadness and happiness, discomfort and comfort. Life moves between these two polarities. Moving between these two polarities you learn how to balance. Between these two wings you learn how to fly to the farthest star.
The most fundamental thing to be remembered is that life is dialectical. It exists through duality, it is a rhythm between opposites. You cannot be happy forever, otherwise happiness will lose all meaning. You cannot be in harmony forever, otherwise you will become unaware of the harmony. Harmony has to be followed by discord again and again, and happiness has to be followed by unhappiness. Every pleasure has its own pain, and every pain has its own pleasure. Unless one understands this duality of existence, one remains in unnecessary misery. Accept the total, with all its agonies and all its ecstasies. Don’t hanker for the impossible; don’t desire that there should be only ecstasy and no agony

Atkins, Va

Hey guys!

I'll have a more thorough post up someday soon-- at least when I can get to a library in Bland, Virginia or something of that nature. At the momemt, I'm dealing with a fairly tough foot problem that I haven't been able to shake for the last week. Ever since I pushed big mileage to get towards Damascus with Fozzie and Phil, my foot has progressed to have pain on the ball of my foot just under my second metatarsal-- it hurts to press on it above as well and as much as I've told myself it could just be strain, it could be a stress fracture as well. I'm trying to rest my foot but it's difficult considering I still want to get in some mileage. I'll keep everyone updated-- I'm not planning on giving up, just perhaps resting for a while near towns and seeing how my foot feels. :)

Much love

thank you for reading

Damascus, Virginia

Greetings from Damascus!

Good gracious it's been a while! Glad to see if anyone reads this and is thinking about me. The last few days have been a major adventure and I've had a pleasant time.

I'll start off with where I left off-- Erwin, Tennessee. I got out of Erwin and did a short resupply at one of the convenience stores and made my way out of town. It wasn't quite that simple though, for the fact rides were tough to get within town. I had a ride from a woman in a very old pickup truck and she was on her cellphone much of the time-- on the floor were a pair of children's shoes, super tiny converses and it made me smile.

Second ride was from an older woman, I'd say 60's who was heading to the trail anyways. She dropped me off amid some conversation on a trail name for me (she recommended peanut butter jelly to me seeing as my initials are PJ but I wasn't sold on it). I went the five miles or so up from Erwin to the first shelter leaving Fozzie and Phil at the Super 8-- it was quite an incline up to the shelter and I stopped near the top to give my sister a call-- we talked for about 30 minutes and then I got in for the night. There were numerous people at the shelter already-- mainly section hikers and they all were partying to some degree. I had space in the shelter to sleep  and even though it was rainy, it wasn't full, even with one of the section hiker's dogs taking up about two spaces.

It rained during the night and I didn't get much sleep-- it down poured for a solid hour and there was a great deal of lightning around midnight which began to wake me up every few minutes. Thankfully, the lightning sufficed and I got a few hours of sleep before the snoring incident.

The snoring incident went as follows: the guy to my right in the shelter started make a noise equivalent to the sonorous sound of logs being cut-- a guy about four over to my left couldn't stand it, poked everyone until they got to me and I asked "should I shake him or something?"
"Yea, shake that motherfucker, he's snoring like a freight train."

I shook the guy mildly until he stopped, he rolled over and we had a few minutes of repose before he began another noise entirely different-- more of a long V like at the beginning of Valkyrie type of noise. I poked him again and he turned to his side facing me where he proceeded to take deep breaths and blow them out through his cheeks-- this was good for everyone but me so I had to keep poking him throughout the night. At first I felt bad having to touch another human being but after a while, probably because of the dark conditions, I felt as much respect for him as a child feels for a whack-a-mole machine. I didn't sleep well and the next day left me groggy.

The next day I was again solo, not really knowing anyone that was out there but I felt okay being ahead-- it gave me room to ruminate and take a long day of hiking. I settled my pace and wound up pulling a 20-mile day all of the way to greasy creek gap near a hostel. That's really about all I remember of the day, sadly, there just wasn't much to it other than seeing some fascinating rock faces and literally going without saying more than 20 words the whole day. I did eventually get to the gap and I could have gone to the hostel but an extra .6 miles just didn't sound very good to me-- I began setting up my tent when a man approached me from the hostel and mentioned everything that was down there. I can't guess if it was my tired face or if I was really not in-tune with my words but the guy said he was sorry if he bothered me and I told him that he hadn't bothered me one bit and he was very kind. He proceeded to go down to the water source and bring back a few handfuls of wild lettuce which I thanked him for and began to eat-- they had a really good flavor, kind of like spinach. We started talking a little, I came a bit more to my senses and we had a discussion about the hotel's neighbor who keeps taking their signs down and sabotaging things for hikers-- it made me a little wary of sleeping at the gap but I decided to anyways.

For my first night sleeping alone, it went rather well. I slept like a baby and only woke up three times in the night. Once because a random bird started up, another because I heard something rustling in the woods and once more because I heard something on my tent string that made it twang loudly for a second. All-in-all, I wasn't scared and I had a few long dreams that made for an interesting night.

I left early and found Byline (Josh) hiking out from a shelter a short bit away-- we talked for a long while, about relationships and his ex, about my attraction to Bridgette and while talking about her, we actually came very close to her so I'm not sure if she heard any of the conversation. We started walking with Bridgette and I thought it might be my chance to get to know her better and flirt a little bit-- it didn't go as planned as I found through the next few days she just really isn't my type. Anyways, we all hiked together to Overmountain shelter which made for a pretty long day-- it's a converted barn that holds about 20 people and we slept there with a troupe of boy scouts. The evening went on, I talked to Mitch on the phone, my best friend from back in Sioux Falls and it was great to hear from him and know he is doing well-- told him my plans to hopefully move back to Sioux Falls when I finish and work up enough to have money again and my phone died shortly after. 
Night went on well until about 1am-- i woke up, as I often do in shelters and a mouse ran from Bridgette (she slept next to me that night) and went over my sleeping bag and across my head to the side of the barn. I got up and yelled "fuck me" and started slamming everything in sight with the palm of my hand... I didn't sleep well the rest of the night.

The next day, I waited until Bridgette was ready and we hiked up Roan Mountain-- a gigantic, treeless mountain with several false summits, a whipping wind and a bunch of cows. It felt awesome to summit and as I reached the top, Honey Badger came by and had a break with us on the top of the mountain. He went ahead at his quick pace and we came across a set of cows (one of which was a male cow, looking at us menacingly) and I noticed Honey Badger's phone laying in the mud. I picked the phone up and carried it with me the rest of the day.

Made it to a road crossing for the town Roan Mountain and went to town, hitchhiked on my own (Bridgette and Josh went ahead to the next shelter), got subway and a brief resupply and then went on my way. As I was heading back to the trail, I saw Fozzie and Phil hitchhiking into town, I realized they were very close behind.

Got to the trail, hiked on and saw three waterfalls and a vast change in terrain-- it went from mountains and streams to big, dry fields and close rocks with snakes. I saw a copperhead cross the trail while I was hiking and let it pass on, I really don't have a problem with them as long as they don't go near me. It's amazing the stuff I used to be afraid of and I now just don't care about-- I am afraid of bumble bees usually because they buzz so loud and act like stray dogs that want to come bite your leg... err sting it, now I see at least 20 a day and I don't give a shit what they're doing, I'm on my own path.

Side note on one of the waterfalls, I hiked a back trail to the first one and took a shower-- the heat was stifling again! I had to take off my shirt and hike without it for a while as it dried in the afternoon but it was still sweltering. I passed a cemetery while I hiked and then stayed at one of the shelters where I found Bridgette, Josh and a kid from Texas named W, again. We stayed up and talked for a while, this was around the point I became less attracted to Bridgette and then I went to sleep. I also slept next to a massive bear statue, Josh told me it was our protector.

Can't remember much of the next day other than more hiking with Bridgette, more talking, less interest and we eventually got to Kinkora hostel. Stayed there for the evening and took the shuttle into town at 5-- I ate a pizza from Little Ceasar's, resupplied and then had a quart of chocolate milk. My stomach started acting up that night but I thought I'd be fine the next day-- everyone left but Josh who took a zero, another kid who took a zero, then I took off around noon because I thought i'd be alright-- I wasn't. I made it about 2 miles in after Kinkora hostel and I had to take a side trail back into Hampton, Tennessee because I began to vomit and get terrible stomach cramps. The rocks around the waterfall I passed didn't help-- they were sharp and I had to stop a few times because it made it feel like a bee was stinging straight through my shoes. Eventually took the side trail and got a ride into Hamptom by Subway, called the hostel and found out I wasn't in the right spot, the guy who gave me the first ride gave me another ride to the proper road and I stood there for 20 minutes in the hot heat, feeling miserable and nobody picked me up. The road wasn't frequented by cars, a few shady folks passed by and I wouldn't have wanted rides from them if they had offered. I eventually realized I was next to a hostel and I went to the grocery store to see if I could get a room but I wasn't willing to pay 25$ for a night's stay. I got a gatorade, sat in the shade and had to sum up a great deal of courage to get moving again-- it sucks to get up from being sick, I felt like a fighter that was down for the count and wondering if I should just lay down or get back up and slog on when I wasn't even sure if I'd make it to the hostel or not. I waited at the road again and finally, after 20 more minutes (and ready to give up) I got a ride from a guy who was oddly on the way to the hospital with a broken rib but he said he picked me up because "nobody should have to stand in the heat like that." I thanked him, told him god bless him and was pretty well ready to kiss the man-- I couldn't understand a word he said while he drove me up to the hostel but at least he was kind enough to do it. Thank god for such kindness.

I got to the hostel, took a bunk and then slept on the couch for two hours-- woke up feeling okay, Fozzie and Phil came in to stay for the night and I was back in my group again. I was grateful for the company but I began to worry when I'd get better, if ever. Giardias passed through my mind, hanta virus, all sorts of things... cytosporidum... if I'd catch back up with Bridgette again... I went into town for food and got some probiotic yogurt, some fruit and gatorade and took in all of the good nutrients I could-- it paid off greatly. That night, I saw Lumpy and a guy from Neel's Gap who came up to visit the hostel-- it was awesome seeing them-- they brought two beautiful German hitchhikers who they saw hitchhiking on I-26-- they stayed around the hostel and talked with us before Bob Peoples gave them a ride to the waterfall where they were going to tent for the night. Before they left, they sang Walking Down The Line, a Bob Dylan number and I couldn't help but smile-- little things like that remind me I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be and again that everything works out.

Slept well that night, woke up and my stomach was still a little iffy-- Phil gave me two Immodium and throughout the day, I began to feel better. We did a 16-miler to a campsite and the there wasn't much water on the way, even thought we passed a lake-- I ran out three miles before our spot and just wasn't feeling it-- started to get drowsy, bored, didn't want to do anything so I eventually crawled into my tent after drinking a liter at the spring and didn't leave it for about 12 hours. Next morning we woke up, yesterday morning, we hiked on and because the terrain was "easier", everyone did a 26-mile day to get close to Damascus aside from me as I did a 25 and a quarter (lol). While I felt better, I took many breaks and just took a slow pace until nightfall-- I didn't see many people during the day, ate a lot of special K cereal and missed out on some trail magic because some asshole drank three mountain dews and didn't leave me anything. It was from a church too so I wrote "empty" on the log for the cooler with a sad face, half a mile on I realized I should have wrote
"Boy, what has Jesus done for you?"
"He certainly didn't give me no mountain dew!"

Pressed on to  random campsite and slept alone again. This was a good idea and a bad idea-- the next shelter had a lot of people from what I learned today so I thankfully didn't have a lot of noise to deal with-- the negative side was that I slept under a tree that was dropping huge seeds and they sprang off of my tent like it was a trampoline during the night. The very bad part was that some large animal decided to walk through the brush around my campsite about 150 yards away-- coming closer and closer. The moon was rather bright but I couldn't make out what it was-- I'd say either a large deer (likely) or a bear (meh, not sure)-- it got close until I pulled out my phone, put on my "head of the state" ringtone (by Baracka Flacka Flames) and full blast and heard whatever it was run at full sprint away from my tent, snapping limbs and rustling leaves like crazy.

Woke up in the morning, made it the short distance to the shelter and saw everyone was already gone. I made it to the border of Tennessee and Virginia, passed it with ease and got down to Damascus in a single hour, feeling absolutely perfect like my stomach hasn't bothered me at all. So far in Damascus, I've eaten a Clif bar and I ate at a diner called "Dairy King" where I had some spicy buffalo chicken tenders, fries and some apple pie for under 9$ (and it tasted great). Hopped into the library after seeing Fozzie and Phil (Fozzie was on his way to get a haircut) and now I'm contemplating what to do for the rest of the day. Not sure whether to take a zero or now, the dorsiflexors on my left foot are tired from so much walking but we'll just have to see tomorrow. til then, much love and peace to you :)

Oh, I'm staying at "The Place" run by a Methodist church-- pretty neat so far!

Much love, take care!