Date: 2015-06-06
From: Old Orchard Shelter 

To: Marion VA
Miles today: 9.3

1671.4 miles to go.I woke up around 6:30 to the sound of rain, so I pulled the tarp over my hammock (glad I took the time to hang it last night!), rolled over, and went back to sleep. I heard people leaving, but didn't really resurface into consciousness again until about 9 am. By then the rain had stopped, so I crawled out of my hammock. So much for an early start, but I'd rather be dry than early, so that's a pretty easy decision.As I was packing my hammock, an older gentleman with no backpack came strolling down the trail. He asked if I had found a pair of eyeglasses, and explained that he had lost them yesterday. I told him I had not, and then he did that thing - you know that thing people in our society do, that token symbol of getting to know you and caring about you? He asked where I was from. I said "North Carolina," and he seemed pleased by my choice of 'being from.' He responded with "Oh, me too! Where at?" When I replied "Fayetteville," he didn't say another word and turned to resume his walk.I thought about it probably an inordinate amount of time today, but I have plenty of time to think on the trail. Is it telling that our society places so much stock in the source of one's belonging? I mean, he didn't even ask my name, for crying out loud ... just my origin. Especially on the trail, where everyone accepts (sometimes begrudgingly, sometimes gladly) their trail name, I think that a name is much more insightful than where you're from. After all, I knew right away that This Guy was a fun loving dude, and Chef likes to cook .... to me, if you want to pretend to get to know someone (at least on the trail), ask them their name, and more importantly: the story behind the name.But what is it with our society's concern for pretending to get to know someone, and establish common ground, only to then turn and never give that person another thought in your life? Don't get me wrong: I'm not against getting to know somebody. But why do we bother to pretend to get to know somebody, knowing we're not really concerned or interested in that person? And I'm just as guilty as he was, I played my part right alongside him. I gave him my stock answer used for people I don't care about, people that I'm not actually interested in getting to know. I would rather spend an hour working on a meaningful, lasting friendship with one person, that spend a minute with 60 different random people, pretending to 'get to know' them but not really knowing anything, well, _real_ about them. Is it a sign that of our inability as a culture to develop real, actual, meaningful relationships? In this fast-food, instant gratification culture, do we accept these 'minute friends' instead of the real thing, perhaps out of our inability (or unwillingness to invest the requisite time) to form true bonds?I stopped for lunch at Hurricane Mountain Shelter, and had the whole place to myself for an hour. I guess everybody was in a hurry to get to town. I finally got to Dickey Gap around 3pm, and hitched a ride into Marion, VA, myself. Once in town, I found the local coffee shop, Kohi Cafe, and picked up my resupply box. I also got a Mountain Dew, then a chicken salad croissant, and a smoothie ... I decided to leave then, before I hurt myself with food. It was a great place though, obviously a local hang out, with customers ranging from teenager to retired. The owner came out frequently and kibitzed with everyone, and the different age groups freely talked back and forth to each other - clearly a small town where everybody knows everybody, but also a very friendly, relaxed cafe where everybody felt comfortable hanging out.From there I hitched a ride across town to meet This Guy and Twister. We all did some shopping, and then headed to the local hotel where I think we ran into every other hiker in town. There was pizza, drinks, showers .... I watched the UFC at a nearby Mexican joint while demolishing some fajitas and margaritas, then went back to T-bird and Gadabout's room and found them deep in a game of Magic. Apparently Theseus brought several decks on the trail? I don't even want to know how heavy his pack is. I had planned to hitch two towns over to stay at a church hostel on the trail, but after watching the fights it was late and I was tired, so I stretched out on the floor of Foxfeet, Half Full, and Black Dynamite's room and went to sleep, using my quilt as a blanket and my long sleeve shirt as a pillow.