Date: 2015-06-19
From: William B. Douglas Shelter

To: Lost Pond Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

It rained really hard last night. I occasionally woke up to hear rain beating down on the metal roof of this shelter. It¢s somewhat nice, actually.I left this morning and wasn¢t in the best mood. I was again in the mindset of being bored and not enjoying myself lately. I couldn¢t shake it. I needed to find out if this feeling is just me or if other hikers were feeling the same. I texted another hiker I know; we had both started at the same time, hiked together for some miles, keep in touch weekly via texts. He said he¢s a bit bored but reminded me that we are so close. It¢s good to hear I¢m not the only one. I texted Nikki my frustrations and how I didn¢t have the answer on how to be happy while hiking again. I was thinking that taking a couple days off would help. When hiking this many miles, it¢s easy to tell when my body feels it needs a rest. It¢s pretty easy to rest my body too: don¢t hike, take it easy, eat, and relax. When hiking this many miles, it¢s far more difficult to tell when my mind needs a rest. I have to mentally push through the miles, the weather, and other challenges along the way. I also have a wife and a life at home that is very much in the front of my mind too. Sometimes those things catch up, especially when I have taken only 6 days off this entire trip. It¢s sometimes tough to break out of a negative attitude sometimes. This, negative attitude, is not my personality anyway. That¢s what is compounding difficulty. But as I was hiking, I received a text that changed my outlook for the day. It was from a hiker named Stretch. Stretch, if you recall from my early posts on Trailjournals, I befriended when hiking in North Carolina and Tennessee. I had not seen him since Damascus, Virginia. Anyway, before he got off the trail in Damascus, he said when I get closer to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, let him know and he will try to come back to the trail and hike (he lives in Quebec). A few days earlier I emailed him and his response is that he will come out and hike roughly July 2nd ¢ 7th. That was such a boost! My friend that I had not seen in 1,200 miles will be hiking with me again in just a few weeks¢¦things sometimes have a way of working out.With good news in mind, I continued to hike and came to the summit of Bromley Mountain. It was cool to be at the top of a giant ski area, eating lunch on a warm, sunny day. A few other hikers were enjoying the views as well.Before leaving the summit, I figured I¢d download an audiobook to help me pass time. Since I went through Harpers Ferry, Virginia and other famous cities, I figured I¢d download a history of the Civil War book. I listened to the first chapter, about four hours in length. It was really helpful to have another voice to walk with and the content is extremely thorough and well presented. It¢s also great to hear the names of places and to have those pictures in my mind of when I walked through the cities, towns, or villages weeks before. It¢s like putting a face to a name. I have many more chapters to listen to and I think it will be helpful on those longer days.I got into camp and it¢s a bit chilly out too. It should be another nice night to sleep.