Date: 2015-06-01
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Damascus
Miles today: 203.7
Weather: light rain

The day after I crossed over the border from Georiga to North Carolina there was a big thunderstorm that got all of my stuff wet - including my phone and Kindle. I wrote about it at the time. It killed the Kindle right off and caused my phone to act funky, but I thought the phone was salvageable. I have not been writing updates since Hot Springs because the situation with the phone got intolerable. I now have a replacement phone (featuring a water resistant case) so I will be resuming my updates.   I am currently in Damascus, Va. It is a beautiful little old southern town where everyone seems to know everyone else and businesses will send their customers to a competitor if it in the customer will be better served there. Folks here are very friendly.   Since Hot Springs there have been ups and downs. The corn on my foot that I have had since Franklin, NC still plagues me. I have tried to go to a clinic to have it looked at without luck.   There are times where I have come to really hate being out here. There are days where the terrain is unexpectedly difficult, I am hot, tired, sore, in pain and bored. I question why I was stupid and arrogant enough to think I could do this. It doesn't help to see how it seems to be so easy for some other people. And after all of that there will be days on end where there is no view and nothing to see other than the same vegetation that I have been looking at since Georgia (Rhododendrons, lots and lots of Rhododendrons).   There times where it is glorious, amazing and I am incredibly happy to be doing this. It adds to the meaning and beauty of the moment to struggle for hours to climb a mountain and suddenly see a visa that few will ever behold and knowing that I earned this moment. I love the smells - the rich vegetation, flowers and especially the honeysuckles. There are moments when I am hot and sticky with sweat, up on a ridgeline when a breeze will disrupt the still air cooling me off while bringing those sweet smells to me and causing the trees to whisper.    We live in a time where it is so easy to become disillusioned with society and the actions of people. We see so many instances both in life and on the Internet of casual cruelty and disregard that it is no wonder that our faith in humanity has disappeared and we can slip into a state where we have dark expectations of strangers. The trail will largely dispel such bleak views. People whom I had never met before and will likely never see again have gone out of their way to be kind. Last week as I stumbled into a hostel after an exhausting day I met a guy who took one look at me and drove me into town for dinner - even though he himself had just gotten back from eating. A few days ago I received a hitch from a former thruhiker who insisted I take a $20 and have a beer on him once I got to Damascus - even though I didn't need nor want the money (thank you Footloose!). Those are but two recent examples of a constant stream of the kindness I have seen. I am so accustomed to being self sufficient and not being reliant on anyone that such actions move me deeply.    In many ways the biggest part of what I am seeing is not the sights but my views on people and how I regard myself.