Date: 2017-08-27
From: Columbus, OH

To: Stanimal's 328 Hostel, Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0

8/27/17, Stanimal's 328 Hostel, Waynesboro, VAMiles hiked: 1862.4, Miles to go: 317.9Annddd.....I'm back!! After a two week rest at home, it's time to knock this hike down. "Rest" is a bit of a misnomer. It was actually a busy two weeks. The trip home from Millinockett was long but uneventful. Two regional bus rides got me to Bangor and then on to Portland, where I caught a flight to Atlanta and then on to Knoxville, arriving home around around 1:00 AM. We are adding a master bedroom suite onto our house in Knoxville, so Marguerite and I spent the first couple of days picking out such things as faucets, sinks, and countertops. Then came the eclipse. We were located just north of the path of totality, so we had family come visit from NJ to see the eclipse. We traveled with Rick and Debbie Bland to Sweetwater, TN, about an hour's drive south of Knoxville, to view the eclipse. It was one of the most spectacular natural phenomena I have ever experienced! It was well worth the three hour traffic jam we endured to get home afterward. After the eclipse came the job interviews. I interviewed with two local ambulance services for a full time paramedic position when I return from the trail in mid-September. Both interviews went quite well. I have been offered a position at one service already and am expecting a formal offer from the other in the next day or two. Then, after the job interviews came the wedding. Marguerite and I drove to Columbus, OH, on Friday for the wedding of Daniel Rine (son of Lisa and GARY RINE) and Joely Henriquez. It was a fun affair, with much dancing, laughter, general merry-making, and time spent with family. This morning, Marguerite dropped me off at the Columbus airport for a flight to Charlottesville, VA. My son, Zack, picked me up at the airport in Charlottesville, where we had dinner at a Thai restaurant before he delivered me to Rockfish Gap. Although I'm ready to be done with my thru hike and return to normal life, slipping on the backpack and stepping onto the trail at Rockfish Gap just felt right - like putting on a comfortable pair of old jeans. Its kind of fun to still be a thru hiker. I have talked to several of my thru hiker friends since summiting Katahdin and most of them are missing the trail already - maybe not the long days hiking and sore feet, but the community of like-minded people who don't think you are crazy for wanting to walk 2200 miles. I get to experience that feeling of belonging and inclusion for just a little while longer. I had walked less than a mile when I felt a pop and the left side of my backpack slid off my back. I stopped and removed my backpack and examined it to figure out what had happened. It turns out that the left shoulder strap had worn through about an inch above where it is attached to the body of the pack. Bummer!With no way to fix it on the trail, my only option was to call Zack to come back and pick me up. He drove me to Waynesboro and dropped me off at Stanimal's 328 Hostel. It is a very nice hostel In the basement of a house of a former thru hiker. I have the whole place to myself tonight. In the morning, the owner will shuttle me to a tailor to get the pack strap repaired or to an outfitter to get the pack replaced. I'm hoping for the former (cheaper) option. This is a fairly inauspicious beginning to this last segment of my hike; however, at least the strap did not break when I was two days' hike from a town. Hopefully, I can get it repaired and be on my way late morning tomorrow.