Date: 2019-04-25
From: Recovering

To: Recovering
Miles today: 0.0

I'm still not right. Siliva and tastebuds still off and I'm still too easily exhausted. I'd say about 75-80% recovered. So taking some time to reflect on the hike so far. One of the things that amazed me 20 years ago and again now is the fast and also enduring creation of the season's hiker community. 300 plus miles. By this time on the trail, many of us have seen and met many in our cohort of hikers, not just once but sometimes dozens of times in dozen's of places. We know each other, whether by face or name or trail name. We might know why someone's hiking or where they're from or some other idiosyncrasy, but we're not deeply acquainted. None of that matters, we are now sharing a difficult challenge together and it seems to bring out the best in people. The day before I got sick, three thru hikers with a dog (Arrow) were slack packing because one of their families lived close by. Since I wasn't sure if I had enough food for Leila to make it all the way to Erwin I asked them if they could bring me a little extra dog food the next day to supplement what I had. The next day when I was struggling with my last section, sure enough Puppet and Pic come by with a bag of extra food for Leila. A few miles onward I meet Quest, another thru hiker on his own journey. He is a bit older and hikes with a knee brace due to arthritis, so he is attempting to slack pack as much of the trail as possible. He is one man on the trail with two cars. Every hiking day he drives one car approximately 15 miles north of the place he parked his other car. He then hikes south to the other car which he drives 15 miles north of the previous parked car, thus leap frogging his way north but hiking south. Quest saw I was in trouble and asked to help. Could he take some of the things from my pack to lighten my load? Anything? He'd be happy to bring it to Erwin for me. And finally on the last stretch another hiker I recognized passed me by as I was resting. I asked if he had any sort of electrolytes to help me make it the rest of the way. Sure he said and gave me a bit of what he had. There is incredible respect, ethics and integrity among thru hikers. A pack might have more than a thousand dollars worth of gear but it would never cross anyone's mind to thieve. Our packs are our survival gear and no one would harm someone else's ability to survive. We help each other, advise, support and do whatever is necessary for everyone to succeed. Both Trail Magic and Trail Angels are born from this tradition. Almost across the board, such services are provided by previous years' hikers in their efforts to try to, not specifically recapture, but to give back, relive a bit and positively contribute to the success of the new season. They too were helped by others both on and off the trail and know how much it meant to them to receive that support when they needed it. When crossing the road at Devils Fork Gap a loaded trail stickered truck came around the bend and pulled over for me. Torch (2016) and Tam (2007) hopped out, "Something to drink? to eat? Dog treats?" On this day alone they had already driven over 100 miles in service to helping hikers. Its not only the hike that makes this experience phenomenal it is the hiker community that forms and then remains like a high school class with all the memories of the trials and tribulations of your year. The "Where were you when..." questions. From 20 years ago the one that still stands out is, "Where were you when Hurricane Floyd came through?" Any alumni can tell you in detail.If there is trouble on the trail it's almost guaranteed to be from an outsider. 20 years ago we worried about the Atlanta GA abortion clinic bomber who was supposedly on the trail. This year we already had an incident with an unstable man threatening hikers at a shelter with a knife and otherwise being unruly. The information was broadly communicated to all the hikers who where on the lookout and the man was just arrested with hikers coming forward to press charges. Its an amazing community to be a part of and I am proud to be included.