Rain, Zero, and My Trail Name

Day 8

The breakfast at the Blueberry Patch Hostel was phenomenal. There was scrambled eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, cheese biscuits, pancakes with the most wonderful homemade blueberry syrup, and coffee. Gary said a prayer asking God to help us see the beauty of Him and the beauty of His will for our lives. After that he drove us back to the Trail and hugged us goodbye. Feeling rejuvenated, we hiked the first several miles quickly. After winding around a mountain a few times a small wooden sign on a tree let us know we had crossed into North Carolina. Soon after we had to climb the steepest ascent we've encountered yet which was tough. Right after we had another steep ascent to make it up Couthouse Bald. At long last we made it to Muskrat Creek Shelter where we had decided to stay the night. We had walked twelve miles to get there. As we sat resting we noticed the shelter was pretty trashed. Bits of garbage were strewn all over and someone had left some dirty socks at the back of the shelter. The shelter itself wad covered with much more graffiti than any other. We cooked dinner, ate, and picked out a place to pitch our tent. Christine went to use the privy and came back horrified. Apparently it was horrible. So we decided to move on to the next shelter even though it was already late in the day. It was slow moving, but we pushed ourselves to Standing Indian Shelter. We arrived just before dark where hikers huddled around a fire shouted my name. It was a bunch of the young hikers who had been at the first and second shelter with us. We sat with them for a bit, but since we were exhausted from so much hiking and it was already late we went to sleep soon after. When we told them we didn't have trail names yet the husband remarked that it can be very empowering to name yourself. I had been really thinking about doing that, creating a name that would help me 

Miles hiked today : 16.7 Total AT miles: 86.3 Total AT miles left to hike: 2099

Day 9

Since our legs were still sore from yesterday we started out later than usual. We hiked the gradual ascent to Standing Indian Mountain at 5498 ft. elevation, our highest yet. Then we made the gradual descent to Carter Gap Shelter, making for a nice short day after a long one. When we set up our tent in the woods nearby the shelter, we found a plastic bag with a can on generic Dr. Pepper and a can of Georgian beer. We dont know how they got there, but we thoroughly enjoyed them with dinner.

Miles hiked today: 7.6 Total AT miles: 93.9 Total AT miles left to hike: 2091.4

Day 10

We started to hear the patter of rain on our tent in the early morning. When we normally would be packing up, we stayed under our quilt. When the rain didn't go away we got everything ready in our tent and in a lull of rain emerged to pack away our wet tent. Armed with ponchos we began hiking and soon it began to rain again. It was extremely foggy so we didn't see any good views. It rained off and on all day, but that didn't matter because even when it wasn't actually raining the tree canopy leaked drops of water on us. So it was as if it was raining all day long. Hiking in the rain is a completely different experience from hiking in the sun. Everything is damp and chilled so my body stiffens and my movements become more machine-like. Covered by a poncho I feel more disconnected from the different parts of my body and it feels as if my body is propelling itself forward of its own volition. With the hood up my vision is limited to a small space in front of me as I peer out of the plastic tunnel. I do not look around me, but mostly fix my eyes on the ground to avoid slippery roots or rocks. Since I am a thinking introvert I live inside my own head a lot. Hiking in the rain amplifies this and even as my feet take me down a very specific path marked with white blazes, my mind takes me to far off and unfriendly places. As my mind sometimes does, it took me this day to a place filled with all kinds of off-hand comments and unexplained actions by my friends and family. These are probably the things they forgot instantly and I have held on to. I regret to inform you that most are silly and most are years now in the past. Some are about people I barely even know anymore. But each hurtful memory ran into the next, gaining momentum as they gathered together into a large ball of anger and sadness. Thankfully a steep climb up the slippery rocks of Mount Albert took my mind away from these things. It is there we passed our first one hundred miles on the Appalachian Trail. There was a tower on top of the mountain that was supposed to provide great views, but we literally could only see a few feet in front of us until the scenery disappeared into a sheet of white. We continued on through the wetness. At times it looked like we were in a rain forrest and I kept thinking I was in Jurassic Park. We arrived at the Rock Gap Shelter and decided to sleep inside rather than put up a wet tent. A lot more thruhikers arrived and filled it up, hanging wet clothing all over. A couple that had married only three days before starting the Trail was there. When we told them we didn't have trail names yet the husband remarked that it can be very empowering to give yourself your own name. That started me thinking that I could give myself a name that would help me make this journey what I want it to be. The husband's name was Stick in the Mud.

Miles hiked today: 12.1 Total AT miles: 106 Total AT miles left to hike: 2079.3

Day 11

We woke up at 6 am in total darkness. We packed up our stuff as quietly as possible and must have done a good job since the others in the shelter jokingly expressed fear that we had been eaten by a bear. We walked up a small mountain and back down to a parking lot where a shuttle picked us up to go to the small town of Franklin. The shuttle took us to a motel where we booked two nights. We decided to take our first 'zero day' here, a day of absolutely no hiking on the Trail. It felt nice to walk around the town without packs, enjoying real food at local restaurants. We enjoyed going to the Gem and Mineral Museum and an outfitter for some more food in their hiker box. When we saw there was a donut shop nearby we walked over there and ate the most fantastic donuts I've ever had. It was a pretty restful day and we went to bed fairly early.

Miles hiked today: 3.8 Total AT miles: 109.8 Total AT miles left to hike: 2075.5

Day 12

Our first official zero day began with two large vans from First Baptist Church pulling up to the motel to whisk all thruhikers away to their church for a free pancake and bacon breakfast. They also took our photo and printed it out there and provided paper and envelopes for us to send a letter to someone. They stamped and mailed it for us. They make free breakfast every morning during thruhiking season. After we had our fill, we went to the local supermarket to resupply on food. After that we walked to another outfitter/coffee shop where we got more free food from the hiker box, free coffee and bagels for being thruhikers and a chance to use an actual computer. It is there that I settled on the trail name of Hesychast. One of the definitions of this word is one who practices "inner prayer, aiming at union with God on a level beyond images, concepts and language." Repetition of the Jesus Prayer is a recognized approach to seeking this union. During this hike I hope to draw closer to God which I can only do if I give up on my unceasing mental wanderings. From the outfitter/coffee shop, we walked over another mile to the local movie theater to watch Muppets Most Wanted which was fun. After the movie we had a more than three mile walk back to the motel, but thankfully a local man recognized us as thruhikers and gave us a ride back. When we got back we packed to hit the trails again tomorrow!