Date: 2015-04-16
From: Woods Hole

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I had a very comfortable night sleeping on a real mattress, though it was disturbed by one of the cats coming to sleep on my feet. I stayed in bed until after 7am, which is quite late for these days. Breakfast was served around 8, and it was really delicious. There was more home made bread, with some scrambled eggs and a couple other things that I don't even know what they were. It all tasted fantastic though. After breakfast, Brightside decided that she would be staying at Woods Hole for at least one more night. She made this decision because her feet are in a very bad state. She needs some different shoes, and she needs to let her feet rest. Brightside can be admired for her strength and ability to ignore pain when hiking, but unfortunately it also means that she has allowed her feet to get to the point where she needs to let them heal before going on. So, I left the hostel at about 9.30 after saying goodbye to Brightside. After 43 days of hiking together it was a little strange to separate, but we both felt confident that she would be able to catch up in short order. I headed off into poor weather. The fog and pouring rain from the day before continued, and the temperature had also dropped. The trail was mostly a muddy stream except where it was extremely rocky. I did not remotely enjoy hiking today, even with the knowledge that I would be heading into town. My right foot is painful on literally every side- sole, toes, heel, ankle. It's mostly blisters. I've noticed that my left foot also has a couple of bruises, though from what I'm not entirely sure. Today, my body, the weather, the terrain, and the absence of Brightside all combined to make me feel quite demotivated. When I got to Pearisburg, I was quickly followed by the majority of our group (except for the Rhode Island Express). Despite leaving later than me, it hadn't taken them long to catch up to me limping along the trail. I split from them and got a hitch into town, where I resupplied at the Dollar General. Then I got another hitch into Walmart (for gas), and then back into the town where I met the others again. The people of Pearisburg have been very friendly to me. At least 5 people in the stores have asked me about my hike, and the two people who gave me lifts were also very kind. After meeting the others, and realising the time, I decided to stay in town for the night. I am currently checked in at the Holiday Lodge bunk room, which has a surprisingly high standard for $20. More than what I got at the NOC and some other places we have stayed. Most importantly, it has wifi, so I have finally been able to update and catch up on everything. After, I went to the post office to send some spare clothes to Brightside's home. I haven't worn my base layer or glove liners for weeks now, and I don't think I will need them until the Whites. I have kept my thick/heavy pj bottoms for a bit longer though. My pillow/dry bag is getting smaller and smaller.I bought a box of mac and cheese for dinner, as well as cereal. I ended up only eating the cereal though, so I will probably leave the mac and cheese in a hiker box for some lucky person tomorrow. It is a bit strange that cereal is such a huge craving out here. I've noticed that in almost every resupply so far, someone will buy and eat a box of cereal. Today I saw Stealth doing so, which reminded me to get some. A couple days ago, the others had cereal at Trent's. You would imagine that we would crave other things, like fruit or vegetables maybe. But no, it's just cereal. Tomorrow I do not know how far I will go. I do know that there is an 8 mile climb at least awaiting me, and I really do not look forward to that with my full pack. I hope the weather will clear up so that I have some motivation to leave town.