Date: 2019-04-07
From: Wayah Bald Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was all over the map emotionally. I had a vivid dream about my old boyfriend last night, so naturally that was on my mind all morning. And I¢m not really surprised because it¢s still recent and painful, but it made my heart hurt. I hiked with two couples today throughout the day and it just made me realize how much I miss that companionship. Not only is it nice for set up because both people do the work and make dinner and hang the bag, but it¢s nice for company. The couple from Pittsburgh (the girl is from there, but they met in film school and want to move to Pittsburgh together) have been together for a while and they seemed happy and in sync. It was a lonely morning and I listened to one of my favorite songs, but it made me cry. It wasn¢t the trail or the mental frustration this time, it was just plain sadness and heartache. Comes with the process of life I guess! Still not fun to go through. It¢s also that time of the month so I¢m extra emotional haha. I ate thin mints at breakfast to cheer me up lol. Chocolate therapy does wonders! After my sad morning, I ran into that same girl that made the ¢bearbagging is easy¢ comment and I realized she was hiking with two super intense guys. They were all so buff and one guy looked sculpted. I prefer the human-looking men haha. Am I in Florence staring at the David or am I on the trail? Will keep you posted. Anyway, I realized she was a bit more intense anyway, and it made me calm down a bit with my insecurity situation. Lauren is a lovely girl and I met another from the hostel who is also nice. I also ran into Spare Change and she was so friendly too! There¢s hope for some female friends after all! After the bulky sculpture humans, I arrived at a shelter that was right in the middle of the mileage I planned to go. Mountain Laurel and Chad were there, as well as Polar Bear and someone else I didn¢t catch the name of. And guess who showed up?!?! Q-TIP!! I was so happy! He¢s that kid from Vermont. He¢s awesome! We were laughing because he actually went and bought the exact same bear bag that I got in Franklin and he had everything in ziploc bags like me, and we both had Haribo gummy bears, which are the best. Twinsies!! I had the best lunch surrounded by such wonderful people. I didn¢t even need chocolate therapy then. I headed out again and kept running into Polar Bear a few times. I was thinking about him a lot actually because he¢s 55, but has never been married and lives alone. It sounds like a really lonely life, and I don¢t mean to judge at all, but I personally could never imagine not having a family. I need that companionship and love. I¢m glad he¢s found us all on the trail so we can provide that company. He¢s actually had some scary moments and I worry for him. At home he had a stroke, and with no one there had to make his way to his parents¢ house. On the trail, he was brought off a mountain with hypothermia, and last night he fell out of his hammock straight onto his arm. The poor man.I was very happy to run into Two Fingers after seeing Polar Bear! He is now Three Fingers. Oh boy. Despite his name, he¢s really a great guy and he¢s from CT, so home! I also ran into Unicorn, a rather loud, no-filter, rambunctious girl. She reminds me of myself, but even I¢ve calmed down a lot and learned to filter myself a bit more. She is on the trail with her boyfriend and he was not in a good mood, but she called him an ¢ass¢ and it made me think of how far I¢ve come in understanding people and situations and I would¢ve just given him space and come back later to check in on him. I was putting up my tent today and left the rain fly off to dry because it was still wet from this morning, but then it started to rain, so I ran and got my fly and got it on my tent in time, but Unicorn was just watching and laughing, saying ¢better get your fly on there!¢ No kidding haha maybe you could help me or just leave me alone rather than standing and laughing? Lol. Nice girl, but a bit hard to take at times. I really hope I don¢t sound mean or judgmental; I¢m just trying to take everything and everyone in, and some people interest me in the way they go about situations, as I am still young and trying to navigate a lot on my own! Unicorn, her boyfriend, Chad and Lauren, Polar Bear, and Two Fingers all headed forward with me and we reached the top of Wesser Bald, with another fire tower! The view would¢ve been spectacular, but it was unfortunately quite cloudy. There was a view, but not a great one. The tower was wood at the top with no inside area like the other one, but it was cool. A lot of people had carved their names into the wood. I didn¢t stay long because I knew it was going to rain and everyone else was headed for the shelter. With a better view I would¢ve stayed a while. There was a creepy pile of camp stuff just sitting there and Mountain Laurel commented that she was worried someone just abandoned it and was hurt or something. We could¢ve assumed all day, but I didn¢t really want to get my head going with what creepy reason could be behind the abandoned pile. I left and walked down with everyone. I got to camp in plenty of time to set up. I ate a Mountain House meal of Chicken Teriyaki, but it¢s not my favorite. I had some sweets and alcohol and these really spicy nuts that I bought for myself back home because they have those crunchies that they give you at a bar and I love those things. Ahh crunchies! So good. There were bear cables, thank the Lord. I didn¢t have to hang my bag, although the bear cables were pretty full, so it took two boys and me to heave all the bags up. I¢m now in my tent all warm and dry, but there¢s a thunderstorm going on outside. The lightning keeps flashing my tent. It¢s peaceful to listen to though and I¢m warm and tired. I hope tomorrow isn¢t too nasty of a day. Song of the day that made me cry this morning: ¢Sailboat¢ by Ben Rector. It really is a beautiful song. I love music by him, but this one is a true gem. I played it several times and had a good cry.Little Debbie