Date: 2011-08-14
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Hikers Welcome rest day
Miles today: 0.0

I wrestled with whether to continue to hike or rest. My knee was a little sore so rest was a good idea in that regard. However, rain was coming that would be in the area a couple of days. The next part of the journey is Mt. Moosilauke. There is a very steep descent that is tricky when it's wet. Hanging around meant either staying a couple more days or hiking down Moosilauke in the rain. Given I had plenty of time to finish and the fact that I needed to just give my body a rest, I decided to stay. I spent the morning working on the trail journal a little. "Ms Janet" and I then headed over to Lincoln area to have lunch and deliver full packs a group that were slack packing over Moosilauke. The idea was that they would get the rest of their gear and continue on. While there, we met up with "DD" and "Tea" walking down the street. After saying a quick hello, we found a cafe/coffee shop that looked like it would good for lunch. Inside the place was "Snake Hips" and "Spud". I hadn't seen them since Daleville, VA. We talked a while then they told us that the Greek restaurant would be a good place for lunch since the cafe didn't have what we were looking for in the way of food. I had this desire to have something green since that's hard to come by on the trail. Based on their suggestion, "Ms Janet" and I headed over to the Greek restaurant. We ate lunch and had a great time just telling stories and talking about things that I had experienced. I told her about some of the things that I have come to understand about myself. She was pleased that I had worked through so much yet not surprised by it. In all of her years of working with the hiking community, she has seen many people come out of the hike in much better shape mentally. The time on the trail, the experiences, the thinking time while hiking and the life stories of others all have an influence on this process of self improvement and awareness. Some things are just understanding who you are. There isn't necessarily anything wrong other than just not understanding oneself. Many times, this understanding gives one confidence. Other things are ideas that may need to be changed or abandoned altogether. The time on the trail allows for one to carefully and methodically think through each issue. There are other areas not mentioned but "Ms Janet" is keenly aware that each hiker has ample time to work through this process and come out a better person if they allow it. After paying the bill, we took off for the trail head to deliver gear. As it turned out, the entire crew wanted to be shuttled to a hostel in that area. We got as many as we could in her car and delivered them to the hostel operated by a guy named Chet. We unloaded the gear from her car and she went back to the trail head while I waited at the hostel. After getting everyone down from the trail head, she took a group of us to eat dinner. Since "Peru" was the only one, staying at Chet's, we dropped her off before heading back to the hostel in Glencliff. We got back fairly late so I just headed for my bunk. It was a wonderful day and a nice break from hiking. I decided to at least get the trail journal up to date even though some past entries are not done. I've got enough notes on each of those days to write them as I have time.