Date: 2011-06-12
From: Washington D.C.

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The traffic in D.C. did not stop all night. It wasn't distrupting because it was consistent, but i was surprised to see tighly packed, standstill traffic when i got up to pee at 2:00am. Today is a sad day because I have to let Serena and mum head back to Nashville. It has been such a fun time, i would have liked it to continue for just a little bit longer. I've been having a lot of mental doubts on the trail over the past few weeks. I know that I'm going to complete this thing even if my legs are broken in the process. Saying that, it's been a hard few weeks because I feel that the experiences that I'm fortunate enough to be having are not being had by the people I really care about. I'm in this by myself... it's hard to fully explain and I never thought that I would feel the way I do about the isolation. I wish that I could share more than just photographs and journal entries. I want peple to understand the physical and mental struggles that a journey like this does to a person. I can't pass on those feelings. One has to do it for themselves. I've always been strong emotionally, but this is a different animal altogether. I feel that I will be a better person in the end, having gone through more than I had bargained for. I have newly found respect for the simple things. I've traveled a lot more than most americans and been very fortunate in the experinces I've had and cultures I've seen. I used to have a bit of a negative outlook on typical american society but I've come to appreciate this country in a new light. This country is beautiful. Not just landscapes, forests and hillsides, but the people as well. I have seen so many great and generous things happen on and off the trail in the last 2 1/2 months than I have in the last 12 years of living here. It's not because it wasn't happening, but because I was taking it for granted. Now that my lifestyle is very simplistic, a ride to the supermarket goes a long way. I look forward to continuing the trail, I just wish I could bring Serena along too. We went down to the hotel breakfast buffet which was rather nice. They even had a man making custom omletes. Naturally I had him make me one with everything. Today was the first time I really looked at my pack within the past few days. I noticed that the stitching on my waist strap was tearing a bit, and the waist strap pockets were shredding a bit. I also found my sleeping bag a bit damp from my stupid camelbak leaking. Serena had already bought a new tent for me that we would swap out since my current one had devloped four holes in it (two of which were probably my fault, the other two were seam issues). I felt bad asking the ladies to take me to REI since they had such a long drive ahead of them, but they were more than happy to help me sort out my gear problems. I will now give mad props to REI as they will back up any purchase 100%. You could poop in the backpack and take it back explaining that you didn't like the color and they wouldn't bat and eye. My exchages were a bit more legitamate, and the people were great. I walked in and out in five minutes with a brand new pack and camelbak for no additional cost. Sweetness! I now have a brand new pack, new camelbak, new tent, my boots are fairly new still and my super fly kindle. Party on Garth. The ladies then drove me back to Harpers Ferry. We stopped on the way and had an early dinner. I took the leftovers with me for later consumption. It was a rainy miserable afternoon and that sealed the deal on my outcome for the day. I would start hiking in the morning. I went back to the Town's Inn and we did our tearful goodbyes. I enjoyed the company of the other hikers at the hostel; they kept me from being upset at seeing Serena off. The power was out for the entire afternoon ad most of the evening. We were rather worried that we would have to sleep in the furnace that the bunkroom was becoming. This also caused all of the restaurants to close even eariler than their scheduled times. The benefit to us was that the ice cream shop started giving away all of their ice cream for free since is was about to be ruined. I didn't bother with the ice cream, I din't feel up for it. Luckily the power came back on around 9:00 pm so we managed to cool the room down with the air conditioner. I finished the leftovers and went to bed early.