Whats the point of having a mind if you cant change it – 5 June

Well, thats of course if it is Trevor’s mind…..if I change mine there are many comments 😀

I reported (yesterday’s blog) that we did 33km yesterday but it was actually 34.5km as we did a 1.5km detour where the trail was closed for maintenance. In bed last night (which means in sleeping bag in tent) Trevor said very firmly that we are doing ONLY 25-28km today as he is NOT doing a 34/34 back to back.

Luckily I can see how his mind works so when he said to me – at 15h on 24km – “okay 10km to go” I didn’t blink, I knew the plan was building up in his mind during the last 2hours. He had reasons for the change of heart (don’t we always have reasons….) and it fits in with a rough plan I had (this will form part of tomorrow’s blog) so I just grinned and walked on, even though I am struggling to find my feet 😀 with the new boots.

So here we are, 34km (1400m ascent) done for the day. It seems as if this “slowing down” thing isn’t working out very well for us!

We had a cool and rainy day. Now wet socks and wet shoes suck, but a light rain makes for atmospheric views:

The deer in the Shenandoah Park must be quite tame as we have seen three and not once did they run away from us (which is what happened in the previous encounters).

The park is a popular holiday destination with many lodges and resorts. Today we skirted the one resort and stepped off the trail to visit the “camp store” – only 100m off the AT and there to service the resort’s camping area (and AT hikers).

What a treat. Firstly it is a newly renovated, clean, light, airy building (coin operated washing machines, tumble dryers and showers, and tben of course the shop). The shop is nothing like the Fanta&Gun selling General Dealer from a few days (weeks?) ago. This is a nice, modern, well stocked store. Outside the shop they have undercover benches for hikers to sit snd several plug points for charging.

The hikers arrive and follow this pattern: Put down rucksak, plug in phone to charge, go to the toilet, go into the shop and buy something to eat/drink. Consume what you have bought, go back into the shop, buy something more. Repeat a few times. All the hikers (about 12 while we were there) had this “pure bliss” expression on their faces. Not to be limited by WHAT is in your pantry, or for HOW LONG you have to get through on that. To have retail access allowing you to just buy one more thing, then again one more thing, untill you really have eaten as much as you can. At some point I realised none of us were eating or drinking anymore, all just sitting, reluctant to leave the place where you have access to all this food.

Life currently revolves around food. Low energy: eat, Cold: eat, Tired: eat, Treat yourself: eat. Eating is (for now) the solution to any problem. We will have to “unlearn” this when this trip is over!