Date: 2019-04-07
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Old Cheese Factory Site
Miles today: 13.4

Hemp JuiceA couple of years back I was chatting to my daughter who told of a chemist who could legally supply the oil from the marijuana plant. It reportedly has some surprising medicinal effects including pain relief, reducing anxiety and depression, suppressing cancer symptoms, alleviating acne, minimising epilepsy, MS, and heart disease. The list goes on. No doubt there will be new medical studies that find all sorts of new discoveries some perhaps not so beneficial.All of this was news to me. Initially I was quite skeptic although. I am a conservative at heart and I went to bed that night with very mixed emotions. But in the morning I did some research and learnt that Cannabidoil better known as CBD has no mind altering effects and indeed all sorts of medical professionals were quite enthusiastic about its therapeutic properties. So then I had quite a change of mind. I even then thought that there might be some ways to invest in this and went so far as to research small cap health care companies that were participating in the sector and might be worth investing in. My financial genius partner was most intrigued and was quick to actually buy shares of one. A week later the stock price doubled in value, then up it went again and again! It seems I was not the only one to be intrigued by the potentials of CBD and the value to be had in investing in its potential.Of course at this point there is little connection between this tale and my Appalachian Trail through hike.My plan for Day 6 was to hike from Low Gap Shelter to the Old Cheese Factory camping site. It had been a wet rainy night and the showers had sprayed mud all over my tent. Packing up was not fun. But once done I made good time along an easy gradient path to Blue Mountain then down to Unicoi Gap. The sun was doing its best to burn off the mist, it was tiring exercise and I was becoming famished and thirsty.What joy to meet ¢Magic Mike¢ at the parking lot there. He was providing an array of donuts from a huge box and to top it off he even asked if I¢d like to sample the refreshments in a chest filled with an assortment of beers on ice. What a trail angel!Anyways they were local beers and he suggested an IPA. This is a beefed up version of a bitter beer and it sure tasted nice. I was thirsty and when I was offered another I could hardly refuse. Amazingly it tasted quite well with the lemon curd donut I had in the other hand.I didn¢t take too much notice of the beer variety at first but as I started to relax I cast a closer eye over the label. It was called ¢The Hempora¢ and was a Hemp Pale Ale, brewed presumably with hops infused with some form of CBD. It seems that the use of cannabidoil has expanded from medical products to the brewery!Well I don¢t remember too much of my climb up Rocky Mountain or my descent to Indian Grave Gap and then the climb back up to Old Cheese Factory campsite although it was very steep and strenuous.Now in my opinion I reckon that there will need to be many more studies to prove  if cannabidoil actually does reduce anxiety, depression, acne,joint pain and it¢s many other alleged benefits. However there is no doubt that many people do swear by the stuff.As for its use in beer, well I did rest happy and content that night. It had been a good day.As for the cannabidoil company we invested in? Well, like all good small cap stocks it rose quickly in price and then fell down again just as quick. But it is still showing a healthy profit!!