Date: 2014-04-29
From: Roanoke

To: Roanoke part 2
Miles today: 0.0

Familial DaysPerhaps you have not picked up on my appreciation for family. I like mine. They're a pretty dandy bunch of people, if you don't mind my bragging about it a bit. Both my immediate and extended families are made up of good and enjoyable folks, and I do my best to spend as much time with them as possible. But life occasionally requires separation, and hiking most assuredly necessitates it. Everyone out here is family starved. "Family?" is one of the most common questions. A one word question, and yet it encompasses so much and engenders the longest conversations. The trail is full of fathers who want to brag about their kids and husbands who miss their wives. Children miss their parents and siblings. We miss our friends. We miss home and the comforts that it affords. And so we make families to try to fill the void. It's true that wherever you end up for the night is home and whoever is in it is kin, but we also make more deliberate choices about who we end up being around again and again. Groups form and reform, but there are also some units that are now as solid as steel because they have forged through so much together. I tend to hop from group to group, spending a week or so with people, but then breaking off to pursue my own interests. It can be lonesome sometime, like the night coming out of Pearisburg. But I decided before I left on this venture that I wanted to remain generally solo. Hiking alone allows you complete control over how much you want to do. You do not have to be influenced by anyone else's hiking needs. And that was perfect for the first 500 miles or so. I was able to figure out my own pace and limits, what I liked and what I could not mentally push myself through alone. But I've noticed in the last hundred and fifty miles that there are some real detriments to the solo hike. What's that George R R Martin quote? "The lone wolf dies while the pack survives."The day I came into Woods Hole hostel was the beginning of a bit of a lag. I couldn't seem to motivate myself and after my parents left after their brief visit I felt the pull towards stagnation worse than ever. Besides hiking with my mother out of the NOC and Bonnie Rascal out of Franklin I have hardly WALKED with anyone. There have been brief sections- several miles at a time- but never for an entire day, let alone multiple days. But after Pearisburg I desperately needed a change. I hiked in and around a larger group for two days and made sure to take breaks with them. This was a bit of a novelty to me. Obviously I take breaks when I hike alone but they are short things in which I stuff my face as quickly as I can and then move on... Always pushing for my final destination. Rarely on my own do I really stop at overlooks and views to revel for more than a minute or two. But hiking with the Legs, Kristo, Safari, Gandalf, Redwood, G, Pop-A-Leg and crew was different. They were leisurely about their breaks, but they still managed to get in all the miles I was wanting to do. Plus I had people to talk to, listen to and be entertained by. What a treat! Then the rains came and the company split ways. Half the group pushed on and I ended up at Whiskey Ridge with Prom Queen's truly terrific family, eating like an emperor and generally avoiding nature's more unappealing side. And so I acquired a new family. Prom Queen, Geared Up and Wingin' It have been hiking together since just above the Smokies and work together like a well oiled machine. They are a relaxed and good natured group that avoids any potential towards drama. Prom Queen, the only girl, rolls with the punches and adds a sense of order to what might otherwise be seen as an unruly male duo. She is calm, steady, forthright and exceedingly generous. She's an immediately likeable person. Geared Up is a teddy bear. The first time I saw him I wanted to give him a hug. He's a previous through hiker who did the PCT last year. He got his name because he went through so much gear trying to figure out what worked for him. As of now he is light weight to an extreme. His pack is a 5 gallon ziplock bag that he has engineered straps for out of gorilla tape. He carries little to no food with him and he sleeps either under an emergency bivy or with a fleece blanket. I believe right now he's using his poncho for a tarp if it rains. He's quite a sight. But I've got to admit, even with that ridiculous backpack, Wingin' It has got Geared Up beat in the hiker-trash-appearance department. Wingin' It is 6' 3" tall and wears a kilt. He's tall and attractive looking anyway, so he already stood out, but the kilt, and the purple, polyester Hawaiian shirt that he's paired with it, make him really stand out. He has a ready sense of humor, an easy laugh and the confidence to pull off almost anything. He knows the words to seemingly every song. They welcomed Kristo and me into their group with welcome arms and the 5 of us, plus Wees, Ice Party, Sassafras and Hyperbole (4 girls that have been hiking together for a long time), spent 2 very comfortable zero days lazing around Roanoke area. We ate, went to town for resupplies, slept, watched movies (Fried Green Tomatoes and Deer Hunter), and sang and played guitar in the evenings. Kristo, Wingin' It, Ice Party, Carolyn and Mike Day (Prom Queen's mom and stepdad) all play either the guitar or mandolin and so we enjoyed some really good music. We had some exceptional singers in the group as well. As music swirled about on that first night we could hear rain pat across the roof of the house in waves of cold fury. It is hard to describe how good it feels to sit back a realize you are in a state of perfect contentment. To look outside a window and realize you a physically protected and comfortable and safe. To feel comfort all the way to your toes. To feel like you belong and are liked, welcomed, even loved. These are things that I can put words to and identify to you, but yet, still cannot fully make comprehensible with letters on a page. It is beyond description. It is family.