Date: 2009-10-02
From: Montebello, VA

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 341.0
Weather: few clouds

I am at a B&B in Montebello, VA. It is a nice place and they had a thru-hiker rate so I said, what the hell. I am coming down with a cold anyway. I woke up today with a sore throat and I didn't feel much like hiking. Also I ran out of food about halfway through the day so I had to stop here in Montebello. I have been on the trail for three months now and it has become a way of life. I enjoy some days, other days I can't wait to get stopped so I can relax, maybe read a little. I have been reading since I got on the trail. I read "The Sea Wolf", by Jack London, "The Adventures of Huck Finn", Twain, and "The Grapes of Wrath", by John Steinbeck. I was trying to read the classics that I never could get through in the real world. Now I'm reading "Illium", a sci-fi book about the Trojan War, set in the future on Mars. It is kind of hard to explain but pretty good. I wish I could fully explain this experience. But I feel that my best efforts would be in vain. This is such an odd and unique experience, it would be difficult to convey to someone who has never been here. I don't want to sound snotty here, sorry if I do. There are things out here on the trail that you experience that would never happen elsewhere. For example, the other day I woke up and I was cold and tired. I didn't sleep well the night before. Two section hikers showed up at the shelter after 10pm, long after I had been to bed. They started cooking, banging pots around, unpacking, and even had the nerve to start breaking up firewood to stoke up MY FIRE that I built hours before. So I got pissed, had words with them, packed up my stuff, and left. So I woke up after a restless sleep in the wind and started hiking. About an hour into my hike I came upon a day hiker going my direction. I asked him if he knew of a place in the upcoming town where I could do laundry and shower. He said he didn't know but he could give me a lift. I gladly accepted and starting walking behind him towards his car. This fellow, Dan, and I started talking. He told me that he hikes everyday now and he knew the area pretty well. As we walked he started opening up to me and told me how he used to drink a fifth of whiskey everyday and smoked 2 pack a day. He started hiking after he went cold turkey about a year ago. Well I kept listening and then just before we got to his car he says, "Well, why don't you just shower and do laundry at our house". So that's just what I did. But that wasn't all. I told him I need to go to the grocery store and he said to just resupply whatever I needed out of his pantry. So I did. We sat and drank coffee and chatted for about two or three hours. He told me about his past: riding Harleys, drinking, working for the telephone company as a lineman. He told me about his wife and son and his rot weilers. I told him about the trail and my future, but mostly I did a lot of listening. Once the laundry was done he gave me a ride back to the trail and we exchanged handshakes. The thing that is so amazing about the trail is that that experience has happened to me a handful of times. The places and people are different but the experiences are strikingly similar. I meet strangers and they are open and sincere and willing to help me. I have been willing to accept their help. In some ways, this trail has helped reinstill my faith in humanity. People are generally good. There are bad people, and I have had a run in with at least one of those characters. For the most part, though, people are good and willing to help out those in need.But the trail is so much more than just those type of experiences. I could never explain the joy I get from a cup of hot coffee after a day of hiking through a cold hard rain. It would be difficult to put into words just the day in day out struggle of the whole thing, or the logistics involved, the constant planning it takes: where to sleep, where to resupply, where to get water. Part of me can't wait to get this whole damn thing over with, but another part of me is becoming addicted to the freedom. I have no boss, no schedule, no workouts at the gym, no iPhone, nothing to attend to other than the most basic of needs. I believe it will be hard to transition back into my fledgling yuppie-hood. My only and greatest hope is that I can bring back with me the sense of giving and openness I have experienced so many times on the trail and that I can somehow tap into the memory of this carefree tramping lifestyle.Gabe