Date: 2019-04-29
From: Rich Mountain 

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 28 Mom¢s StoreAwhiles back I had had a engaging conversation with a fellow hiker about our three brains. There¢s the brain (some of us have) in our head called the cephalic brain, then there¢s the cardiac brain (the heart), and the enteric brain (the gut). Each organ has complex neuro-networks and is able to store and process information, and each has the capacity for neuroplasticity. I may sound quite an expert in this, but in reality my son has been studying medical science specialising in the ways the brain works. He has been the source of any medical terms that occasionally pop out!Many ancient wisdom teachings talk about this and the importance of checking into one¢s own innate intelligence, in particular following the wisdom of the heart and gut feelings. My colleague was using the through hike as a time to explore the balance between these brains. He suggested I do the same.After today, with hindsight, I perhaps should have followed his advice!The plan for my friends and I was an ambitious one: to hike 18 miles up and over a number of peaks. It would be our longest walking day yet!I got going well ... since we were at the top of a mountain that meant going down and I found that the easy part! However not long into the day I had this uneasy feeling ¢Go back to bed!¢ Now my heart brain was having none of that and wanted to keep going with my friends. Yet time and time again I heard this voice inside saying ¢Take a rest, take a rest!¢ At some point I stopped at a spring to get a drink of ice cold water fresh out of the mountain side. My friends past me by and I said I¢d catch up that night when we camped. It must have been wishful thinking as my steps were getting slower and shorter. At the bottom of the mountain was a derelict masonry block structure with a neon light in the window saying ¢Open¢. I stepped inside to a place back in time. It was ¢Mom¢s Store¢ AKA ¢The State Line Grocery and Service Station¢ (located on the border with Tennessee). It was a thriving business in the 1950¢s and Dwayne the owner continued to run it in memory of his Mom who had spent so many years of her life serving the local community. The fuel pumps were now gone and the grocery shelves bare but there were snacks, microwave sandwiches and drinks for sale. I sat by an old stove having a great chat with Dwayne who recalls Grandma Gatewood the first woman to through hike the AT, calling by in the 1960¢s. He remembered when there would be only one or two through hikers a year. Then the 70¢s came and for a time there were 40 a day! Then it died down, and now there has been a resurgence although he reckons numbers are down quite a lot this year. Our conversation included many of the characters he¢d met. He left me with this classic line talking about egos and the trumped up opinions some folks have of themselves: ¢Some folks you meet ...you would like to buy ¢em for what they are worth and sell ¢em for what they thought they are worth!¢ I left feeling quite content after a rewarding time with a local character. But when I  stepped outside my body seized up! My knees were swollen and painful to bend. I thought ¢My goodness my hike is over ... I¢ve damaged my joints ... maybe I¢ve done a tendon or something.¢ Every step was a nightmare. I knew I couldn¢t possibly make it the18 miles to the agreed campsite. Somehow I shuffled forward reaching the next shelter where I collapsed on the ground under a shady tree and slept for a couple of hours. Later I found a flat spot and put up my tent. I was done for the day.