Date: 2018-09-18
From: Double Springs shelter

To: Hampton, TN
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Rainy, foggy morning. Started my day by putting my very wet and very cold hiking clothes on my body from the previous day and cringed through the whole process. I actually woke up and started hiking before Buddy and Disco did, which is insane because they¢re usually up and out by 6:30am. But with the rain and fog and the fact that the sun doesn¢t rise until 7am these days, you really couldn¢t see shit until about 8am. Lol I planned for today to be a heavy mile day, so I was a little more motivated to get moving then they were. I wanted to reach Hampton today, and they don¢t plan to get there until tomorrow. I wasn¢t really thinking about it this morning, but unless I take another zero day or two soon I¢ll likely never see them again. Which is a weird and kinda sad thought. I left saying ¢see you later¢, but that actually might not happen. The sun came out later in the afternoon and actually turned into a nice day. The trail had a lot of overgrowth on it and tree blow downs. There¢s these godforsaken knee-high, stinging nettle weed-type plants that hang over the trail sometimes and it¢s nearly impossible to not touch them. I grazed up against about a dozen or so throughout the day, so now my legs are covered in tiny welts and itch like hell. This actually has happened a bunch while hiking through the south, but why I¢m just now complaining about it I don¢t know. LolI tried to keep a 3mph pace all day, so that I could reach town with time to spare. And I did it, but now my feet hurt like hell. Lol I hitched into town and got dropped at Subway, which was all I could think about all day. While I was eating my dinner at a table outside, a woman passed me and then turned around and asked if I was hiking the AT. I told her I was, and then she immediately sat down across from me and opened with ¢Oh my god, you¢re my hero.¢ Haha! Her name was Debra and she was in her like mid 50s. She proceeded to tell me her whole life story and her dream of hiking the AT. She¢s had some health setbacks that have prevented her from doing it, but she seemed to be fascinated with my journey and was super encouraging which was nice. Tonight I¢m staying at a donation-based hostel in town owned and operated by the legendary Bob Peoples. Bob is 73 yrs old, retired Air Force, and the most involved/popular trail maintainer along the whole AT. He¢s won an award almost every year for the past ten years for his work on the trail. I stayed up talking to him until nearly 11pm. Just a wealth of knowledge and information. The amount of work that goes into building and maintaining the AT is absolutely unfathomable. So many organizations at the local, state, and federal level are involved. Doing the work he does (all volunteer based) takes an incredible amount of labor and patience to which I have the utmost respect. Also, this guy has hiked tons of trails literally all over the world. He told me he makes a point to hike one trail a year. Right when he¢s finished with one, he starts planning the next. Says it¢s the only way to keep his sanity. Lol What a life. Bob was really trying to convince me to do the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain next summer over the PCT. The Camino trail is a historical network of spiritual pilgrimages that lead to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where supposedly the apostle Saint James the Great was buried. It¢s a completely different kind of hike when compared to the AT. You don¢t carry a tent or stove because everyday you hike from hostel to hostel, and they provide you with dinner. Instead of tracking the mileage you do everyday like on the AT, on The Camino you¢re hiking from cathedral to cathedral, whether that be 7 miles or 30 miles. It¢s a trail with deep, historical roots and traversed by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world every year. Just a completely different hike. Bob has done it, obviously. And he was pretty convincing, but I don¢t think it¢ll be my next hike. It sounds really cool, but in all honesty I don¢t think I¢d appreciate it very much at the age of 23. I don¢t really care for history and never have. Why? Because I¢m really young and still think the whole world revolves around myself. Lol So I might have to save that for later in life. I don¢t know what it is with donation-based hostels and cats, but Bob has 8 of them and they all live in the bunk room. Lol Luckily Bob is a super great guy, so when I mentioned I was allergic, he moved me to this separate little, secluded cabin house that I could have all to myself. This is gonna make me sound pretentious as fuck, but the cabin was covered with dust and spider webs as if it hadn¢t been used all year. Like I could leave a handprint in the grime on the bed sheets. So I set up my entire tent in the middle of the room and am sleeping inside it. Lol I know I¢ve been living in the woods for months, but I swear the woods is 9 times out of 10 WAY more sanitary then most of the towns and hostels I pass through. So, in the tent I stay. Side Note: Amongst all the clutter this hostel has, I found a poem framed and hung on the wall that almost perfectly incapsulates all my bipolar feelings and emotions throughout this trail. At first, I hardly noticed it. From a far, it looked like the Lord¢s Prayer incased in this dingy, lacy bordered frame. Like something your grandmother would have hanging in her guest bathroom. But it¢s truly a perfect gem of words. So great, I¢m sharing it below... ¢After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul. And you learn, that love doesn¢t mean leaning and company doesn¢t mean security.And you begin, to learn that kisses aren¢t contracts and presents aren¢t promises. And you begin, to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child. And you learn, to build all your roads on today because tomorrow¢s ground is too uncertain for plans. After a while, you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much. So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn, that you really can endure, that you really are strong, and you really do have worth.¢