Date: 2016-05-14
From: Hog Camp Gap

To: Tye River
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

The rain continues, but I walk on. Someone today told me that we're going on 19 days straight with rain. It has cleared up time to time, but we have gotten wet 18 days in a row. In the past 3 days I've covered 60 miles. Tomorrow, I hit the Shenandoah's for some smooth sailing. The terrain now flattens out and changes. We won't see 4000' again until VT. It will be easier, but no part of this trail is easy. I've grown accustomed to this wet, humid environment. I don't prefer it by any means, but the struggle of the simplest day to day activities strengthens me. You can spend time trying to avoid the mud and getting your gear covered in slop, but really the best way to cope is to dive head first into that slop. I read in a book at a hostel the other day that these hikers called wet feet freedom. Why? Because freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. The tip of the hat to Janis Joplin gave me a good smile, and I really can't agree more. I ran out of fuel for my stove last night. The logical solution, make a fire and cook over it, right? What do you do when it's raining and all of your wood is soaked? You make a fire or you go hungry. Like Yoda said, "Do or do not. There is no try." With all of my philosophical ranting in this journal, it was only a matter of time before I quoted the Yoda. So, for over an hour I struggled to get a fire going. I understood the basic concept, find the smallest pieces possible and as many as you can. In my experience fire building, you absolutely need to be prepared. All of your kindling and fuel have to be laid out right in front of you so that you can give the fire exactly what it needs at a consistent rate. All I could think about it is the project where the teacher sends you home with an egg, tells you to pretend it's a baby, and don't break it. To me, a fire is very much like that. When you depend on that fire, it is going to depend on you back to grow and be productive. After exploring different techniques, and failing quite a bit, I finally got it right. I took a small amount of toilet paper, covered it with hand sanitizer and stuck it over my kindling. The kindling was shavings from the inside of dry sticks that I had carved out with my knife. I cut away the wet parts, and used the dry inside portion to catch the flame. In time, I had enough of a fire to cook on. My instant mashed potatoes and Spanish rice might as well have been filet mignon. At many points, I contemplated giving up and going to bed hungry. It was taking too long, I had no idea what I was doing, and I was frustrated beyond belief. But what I thank the trail for is its way of providing those two options previously mentioned; do it or do not do it. There's always the option to be frustrated and walk away, but there is nothing to be gained from that. The advantages of this mentality, and overall ethic, will be more than beneficial off trail to me.This is one of the many reasons I am out here. This is what I learned today, and tomorrow I will be dealt another lesson from this great trail. But until then, I fall asleep and listen to the white noise of the rain falling through the leaves.