More mud and more fantastic views from another fire tower. Maybe I should “copy and paste” from the day before. I won’t.
This was a long day. We covered 21.5 miles. They were somewhat challenging miles too. We were motivated though. Rain is coming tonight and there’s a promise of staying inside of a warming hut on top of a mountain. If we don’t have to get the tent wet, that’ll be awesome. The ski lodge leaves this warming hut open for hikers to use. It’s so generous. There is even a privy just inside the woods. As we hiked up a ski run, I wondered if during the winter season any of the skiers and snowboarders have any clue how the hill is traveled in the summer. As I huffed and puffed to get up the hill, I also pictured coming down the hill on a snowboard. It seemed much more fun than walking up it.
Earlier in the day we stopped at a place called Prospect Rock. It was a lookout point with the mountain wrapping around and the city nestled in the valley below. It looked so vast and I instantly felt small. I remembered a conversation around this feeling that I had with Atlas probably hundreds of miles back. We were coming down the side of the mountain talking about nature and weather on the trail. I think I was talking about how this whole thing makes me rely more on God. How beautiful it is that the AT makes you feel small. It’s a relief to be reminded that there is more to this world than just you. Sometimes in life we can get worked up about inconsequential things; what he/she said to you, your food isn’t just right, your day is going horrible, etc. Sometimes they are valid moments of frustration and sometimes we just need to feel a bit small, a bit less important. It’s part of why I love being out here.
Speaking of Atlas. I realized I haven’t given an update on our “tramily” in a while. Atlas and Lotus are still a bit behind. They are all well and are starting to close in on us. I have high hopes we will be able to hike at least the last 100 miles together. That would be absolutely amazing. Kirby unfortunately had to go home. The week after his family was in he rolled his ankle and the following day had his backpack stolen. His plan was to go back to Florida (his dad’s place) to regroup and resupply what he can. Apparently he had some extra gear there. After getting home and doing the math for what the cost would be to get fully outfitted again, he realized it was outside of is capabilities for this year. He had to call it. We were all sad to see him stay home. However, we all fully understand the financial stress this journey can have. Kirby met a lot of his goals while he was out here. It sounds like he has plans to return to finish the trail. When he does, we may have to take a week and join him. In fact, we will. Sometimes (or, rather, a lot of times) the trail doesn’t go as planned. When you are able, you roll with the punches. Other times the punch knocks you down. You’ll get back up again, you just may need time to rally.
-ansel