After getting such late starts these last few days, I was determined to get up on time. Sort of. We still didn’t get moving until 6:40a. But, we only had 14.5 miles to hike today. It’s a full(ish) day, not a long one by any means.
The miles were easy. I still feel tired for some reason. I think it’s because when you are going uphill, you are now climbing rocks, so it’s more steps. That means you are pulling your leg up expending much more energy than just shuffling up. That or my body is just overall tired from 1,400 miles of hiking. Both theories are solid I think.
We ate a quick lunch at the side of the road. One where an outbuilding had a spigot we could get water at. It was quick because it was lightly sprinkling on us. Rain was coming, but it wasn’t really supposed to start until 3p. We wanted to be as far along in the day as possible when it does arrive.
As we sat, we kept hearing explosions. Always in pairs and in relatively quick succession. Sunny Hedgehog saw a mine listed on the map. We settled on either it’s 1) a Civil War reenactment (not too likely since it’s a weekday) or 2) it’s the mine. The latter seemed more probably. However, the first scenario seemed more interesting.
This whole area has a lot of mining in it’s history. Maybe most mountains do. As we hiked today, we hiked about a mile or so on an old mining road. It was awesome. The mountains would go up over us and the valleys would go down below us. We would just stay in the middle on the road. “Road” being loosely defined. It was a built up path. You couldn’t drive a car down it. But lucky for us we got to walk it, instead of climbing up and down those mountains.
We took a side path the majority of a mile to a state park that has sites free for AT thru-hikers. The sites are separate from normal ones. They aren’t as nice as the paid sites, but they are free. You can’t argue with that. They also come with showers and toilets. Well, there’s a building you can go to. The showers are kind of gross. I think they are in the top three for gross showers on the trail. However, they are warm. I’m trying to look at the bright side.
There’s a man here that rents a campsite every other week during the summer. His name is Joe and he comes out strictly for trail magic. Well, really he grew up bringing his family here. He said he used to think we were all just campers and one day realized what we are doing. He say he thinks we are all crazy, “especially you ladies”. Since watching the movie Wild, he brings pies out just for the ladies. If you go to his site, at any time of the day he’ll make you an egg and ham sandwich. Joe is a Vietnam veteran and is one of the most sensitive and kind hearts I’ve met on the trail yet. He does things out of genuine and pure generosity. He cares for hikers and other people in need. He’s a great guy and will talk and talk and talk. Joe’s routine is this; he will make breakfast in the morning, clean up, go for a two hour walk, come back, head into town for groceries, and then back to his site for the afternoon crowd. His dedication amazes me.
Another person who surprised me today is Sunny Hedgehog. We’ve seen him off and on for a few weeks now. The last few days we’ve been in sync with him.
Tonight Sunny Hedgehog brought out his phone and started showing photos of his family, telling us all about them. I asked what he did or does at home in Germany. He was in the German Army. He was airborne, had over 4,000 jumps plus all kinds of other things. He said from his service his knees and feet are just shot. Knowing this, I can understand why it looks like it hurts him to put on his pack (which by the way looks like it weighs fifty pounds). He’ll hoist it on a ledge or table or something. Then he’ll get his arms under the straps. Then groan as he brings the weight up onto his back. It doesn’t stop him though. He heads down the hill diligently, cigarette in his mouth, with what I know now is years of military infused determination.
I’ve written it before, but I’ll write it again. Meeting people, learning about people… that’s what is so awesome about this trail. It’s people from all over, all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of life experiences, all coming together for one common goal. Honestly, it’s really beautiful. It gives me so much hope.
-ansel