Date: 2023-09-23
From: Charlottesville, VA

To: Charlottesville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Google Photos Photo AlbumDay 101AT miles 0Miles hiked 8+Days Inn, CharlottesvilleI woke up to a windy, chilly, rainy day. But at least I was inside a warm hotel room rather than a wet tent with a day of wet hiking ahead of me. I went down to check out the complimentary breakfast and was not a fan. So, off to 7-11 for donuts and chocolate milk. Next order of business was buying a new cook system and fuel canisters. There was a hiking store down the street. I walked down and bought my MSR Windburner and two canisters of fuel. Then I went to Best Buy to hopefully buy a new charging cable for my phone. No luck at Best Buy and desperate for a cable the guy at Best Buy came up with a great suggestion: call Ragged Mountain running store. I did and they didn¢t have a cable. Disappointed, with 1 day of charge left on my watch I was wondering what I¢d do. A few minutes later the running store guy called back and said his sister would sell me her charging cable. More walking over to the UVA campus where the running store is located. I paid too much for the cable but it worked and was in my hands. Now for the long, wet walk back to the hotel. It was past lunch so I stopped at KFC for a mashed potato bowl, chicken tenders, fries, and mac and cheese to go.  I ate lunch while I started sorting out what I was keeping from what I was sending home plus double checking my first two weeks plan for my southbound hike. Especially for my first food carry. The rain was really coming down now so I took a nap before heading to Wal-Mart. It was a couple miles to Wal-Mart but they had everything I needed. By the time I was walking back to the hotel the rain had tapered off but the wind was still blowing.Back at the hotel I repackaged all my food, packed my pack, and coordinated Robin¢s visit for the next day. I also talked to Lynn to firm up our plans for when she, Phil, and Ethan were going to visit me on trail.  Dinner was from the Mexican restaurant then it was off to bed.Reflections on My Hike at the FlipAs I sat in a hotel room in Charlottesville, VA I thought back over the past three months and considered what I thought I knew, what I learned, and what I know now. So far, my hike has far exceeded my expectations. I'm really looking forward to my southbound journey. When I first learned about the trail in the 1970s, fewer than 100 people had hiked the trail since 1936. The first being Earl Schaeffer in 1948. I met the 80th thru hiker in Vermont and he did that in, I believe, 1974. He told me that during his hike he would go days without seeing another person. This was the kind of hiking experience I¢d always envisioned. But reality was much different and I believe, better.So much has changed in the ensuing years. In the past 50 years the number of hikers attempting a thru hike has increased from less than 100 per year to perhaps 4000 per year. This number does not include day hikers and section hikers. What I'm getting at is that a hiker is unlikely to hike for any significant amount of time without seeing other hikers. So far on my journey I've not hiked a single day without seeing other hikers. I have, however, camped a few times by myself and hike almost every day by myself. I've also arrived at campsites that seemed like tent cities.  When I started the trail I still had that original vision of solitude on the trail in my head. I somehow thought that despite all these people on the trail I'd still be out there all by myself living in my own little world. My hike started out like that. Little did I realize at the time how much the hikers and the hiking community add to the thru hiking experience.At first I was hesitant to interact with other hikers because in my mind, having hiked all the way from Georgia elevated them to superstar status. Seasoned veterans with hardened feet and toughened muscles who knew all the ins and outs of the trail and were too busy putting in the miles to associate with a wet behind the ears newbie. I figured I was on my own for a while. That is until I met C T about a week into my hike. We started talking and he congratulated me on my retirement and expressed how awesome he thought it was that I carried through on a dream I'd had for so long. He told me that I'm one of them now that I'm on the trail and that nobody cares how many miles I've hiked. We are all chasing and sharing the same dream. I cautiously joined others at meal time and was surprised at how gregarious other hikers were. Unless somebody was a total jerk nobody was left out of anything. Hikers are also very generous and will go way out of their way to help other hikers. Then there are the trail angels who offer rides, snacks, meals, shelter, whatever they can do to help with the journey. The kindness of strangers is very humbling.A phrase I've often heard and kind of scoffed at is, "the trail provides." Like, really? So you're having a bad day or something goes wrong and just like that the situation is remedied? Right. But then¢¦One day several of us were cooking dinner at a picnic table when I ran out of fuel two days before resupply. Fuel is a precious commodity and no way was I going to ask to borrow fuel. I'd just have to suck it up. Sitting at that same table was another hiker who had just lamented he only had two meals left and we were in the process of seeing what we could spare. Then, out of the blue, a weekend hiker comes into the shelter and announces that she and her husband are getting off the trail early because of the incoming storm. She then dumped her food bag out on the picnic table telling us to take what we want and by the way, they don't need their fuel canister either. That gave me goosebumps. That was one example of many I either experienced or witnessed. Everytime it happens I shake my head in wonder and amazement and say, "Once again, the trail provides."  Another thing I learned is that you have to take breaks. The body needs rest. A tired body gets injured or sick more easily and a tired hiker might make bad decisions. Either of these can have dire consequences. I'm not talking about being tired at the end of the day. I'm talking about cumulative fatigue. I thought I would be able to hike with no zero days. After wondering why I was so tired all the time I found out the rejuvenating effects of rest when I fell asleep waiting for my ride back to the trail. One of the younger hikers told me if I slept like that it was my body telling me to rest. I felt much better after that day off. Also, the hike is not a race where you push through pain and fatigue to get to the finish line. There's a saying among thru hikers that drives home this point: "Last one to Katahdin wins." Sometimes your legs say, "We're done" and the best thing to do is to listen and stop hiking. If you don't believe me, try hiking on rubbery, tired legs in Pennsylvania or the New England states. The trail is not forgiving and when you take a tumble more than your ego may get bruised or broken.There's a lot of fear mongering on the trail. We heard over and over how hard this or that section of the trail is only to hike through that section wondering what we missed. Another common hiker misinformation ploy is to downplay a section of trail. "Oh, that section is flat. You'll be able to cruise." I'm not sure what trail they hiked but the AT we were on went mercilessly up and down or was a tangle of tree roots, a morass of mud, a jumble of rocks or some combination of all those. Oh, I nearly forgot about the sections nobody talks about. Yeah. "Saddleback is really hard but you gotta watch out on the Horn because lots of hikers get injured there." Do ti dododo. Pretty much just another hike. Then Saddleback Junior, the descent nobody talks about has you wondering if your advanced medical directive and will are up to date. The white blaze. A symbol synonymous with the AT. Some say that because of the white blazes thru hikers really don't need maps. Those who believe that have never hiked in New Hampshire. In the rain. At night. With a messed up phone. There must be some sort of law forbidding the use of white paint on natural surfaces. Except in Northern New Hampshire where a trail maintainer from Maine crossed the border and marked the trail after receiving so many compliments on his trail marking acumen in Maine and the dearth of markings in the Live Free or Die state. It's almost always wet. The only time any of my shoes have been dry was the day I bought them. The expert who said to always bring two pairs of socks was not a bad weather hiker. Both pairs of socks will be wet until the next laundry opportunity. A wet pair of extra socks equals extra weight. Hanging wet stuff on your pack to dry while hiking doesn't work in the green tunnel. Cold, wet clothes are a way of life out here. You never really get used to it, you just do it. Quickly. Then get moving to get warm.The magic of the trail is more than a rooty, rocky path in the woods. It's the kindness and generosity of strangers caring for and about one another.Some of us were talking about how similar the trail is to the military. A group of strangers come together to accomplish a mission. In the process that common goal creates a tight bond among the team. They help each other, they look out for each other, and they encourage each other. By the time they accomplish the mission they are like brothers. Then the team breaks up and everybody goes their separate ways. That moment of triumph is also a moment of loss.  Hiking the Dream!