Date: 2018-08-18
From: Blackrock Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA Hiker Campsite
Miles today: 20.6

Today I hiked 20 miles from 8-3:30pm through consistent rain at top speeds of 3mph. It¢s crazy what you can accomplish when you¢re really feeling it. I was just trying to get to town by a decent time. Lol Tonight I¢m staying in Waynesboro, VA at a free hiker campsite just on the outskirts of town. Waynesboro is known for being a very hiker-friendly town. The campsite has solar-powered outlets to charge your phone and the YMCA across the street lets hikers shower there for free! I met two very interesting people today. The first one was a guy that gave me a ride into town. His name was Shannon and he was 47 yrs old. I don¢t know how to describe this guy without making him sound super sketchy and terrifying. But in all honesty, he was really nice. Maybe slightly sketchy, but still a solid dude. Lol He was parked in a parking lot when he saw me standing on the side of the road with my thumb out. He yelled out the window and asked where I was going. He agreed to give me a ride into town if I didn¢t mind waiting a couple minutes for his weed to show up. Haha! I didn¢t mind. I sat in his truck and talked with him while we waited. He told me that he had just gotten this truck from a friend who told him if he could get it to work he could have it. So he fixed the engine, but everything else that could possibly be broken was broken. Lol The ignition didn¢t work, so he took it out completely and now uses a screwdriver to start the car. The windshield wipers broke, so he tied a shoelace to the wiper on the driver¢s side and sticks his hand out the window and pulls on the shoelace to wipe the windshield when it¢s raining! Haha! It was very low class, but simultaneously very impressive. He told me all about his wayward lifestyle. Hitch hiking all over the country when he was 17. Joining a traveling circus and getting to live with a group of carnies for a year. Working dozens of temp jobs over the years, but only when he has too. All the different tricks and ways he¢s learned to get free food from restaurants or a night¢s stay at a church. He was essentially homeless, but doing it very well and seemed happy with it. No wife, kids, or job. He was such a free person. And for someone like myself, currently living on a trail, I was so intrigued by it all. He told me that tomorrow, he¢s gonna take this truck and just go. His small bit of belongings was already in the bed of the truck. He plans to go live on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina in one of these day-to-day cash-paid tent sites. He said he was gonna surf, fish, and not give two fucks about anything. Most people probably look at this guy¢s lifestyle as a ¢last resort¢ kind of life, but to me it just seems like another viable option, evidence that there¢s a lot of different ways to do this thing we call LIFE. The second person I met was a slightly older woman who¢s trail name was Wild Rose. I don¢t remember her real name. I was eating dinner by myself at the Chinese buffet in town and she walks up and tells me she just paid for my food! I guess I really do look like a hiker. Lol She proceeds to sit down with me and just chat up a storm. She told me about all the section hiking she¢s done on the AT, but how she can only do a handful of miles a day now because she had surgery on both of her knees. She was in the military for 29 years and it put a beating on her body. She kept telling me all these stories abt her on trail in a thunderstorm or nearly having a heatstroke, etc. She made it sound like she nearly died several times. Lol She also really liked to talk about gear (probably my least favorite topic). Told me how her base weight is nearly 10 lbs and how she¢s waiting for her super ultra light stove kit to come in mail and blah blah blah. We sat there for nearly an hour talking and I think I only said about four words. I was super grateful to have my meal paid for, but damn she could talk. Lol Eventually, the waitress came by and put fortune cookies on the table, ushering us to get the hell out. At the campsite tonight is just me and a different older woman doing some section hiking. I¢m hoping more hikers roll in tomorrow afternoon. I¢m looking forward to a chill day in town.