Project Eveningland

3/21/2023 Tuesday

Wedge, L&F, and I have come to quite like Steve, the shuttler. He’s a retired postal worker, very helpful, really takes care of people, understands hikers. He dropped us at Spivey Gap just before eight.

The relatively gentle climb that opens the day braids itself with a gorgeous cascading creek, replete with small waterfalls. We passed crystal clear pools that seemed like glass and radiated a fresh scent in the cool morning air. Very subtle. The whole beautiful scene unfolds beneath an overhanging canopy of rhododendron, leaves curled against the cold.

Wedge and I gabbed the day away. On every topic. Personal topics. Very little off limits. It’s the kind of talk you have on the trail. It’s a strange, but very real, intimacy. If you want to learn a person’s secrets, fears, and hopes, hike with them for days, weeks, months. You learn things about yourself, in the sharing.

On one of the final ridges before the descent to the hostel (the one we’d stayed at last night and were planning to stay at for two more nights), the character of the day changed for me. I’m gonna nutshell this. I got a call from the hostel to the effect of, you don’t have two more nights, remove your belongings.

There must have been a mistake. I think I know what the mistake was and it wasn’t mine. I’m on a ridge, after ten miles of hiking, looking forward to a rest after just one more mile. I was spoken to in a way I did not appreciate. Did not care for it at all. I became more upset as I hiked down. And there I’ll leave it, because I haven’t yet decided whether I’ll share the full story.

L&F put me up on a couch in his deluxe cabin, since I had to move out of mine. Hide is staying also! It’s actually much more comfortable than my shabby lil cabin. Still, the events of the day left me rattled.

So I took a nap and did my best to move on. We all took the five o’clock shuttle for Mexican food—it adjoins a gas station, which I quite like because I could also pick up food for tomorrow.

We returned just after seven. It’s warm in here. It’s a “cabin” which in this case means a single-wide with wood paneling. It has its own bathroom.

Oh, gosh, I have buried the lead in today’s post! I am going to attempt my first 20-miler of this thru-hike tomorrow. It’s a slack pack, and we’re going backwards. The shuttler will drive us to Iron Mountain Gap (I may not have that name right). We’ll hike back down to the hostel. Then, the day after, we will get shuttled back to that same Gap, whereupon we will continue our hike northbound. On the one hand, I think it’s a little unsporting to hike in the wrong direction. On the other hand, eh, fuck it.

Must get packing for tomorrow. Pickup at six tomorrow morning. Might be rainy. We will hike in the dark for a little while. I predict the hike will take me around 12 hours. I will be taking full breaks. I will be eating tons.