900.8 miles
Back at it and lovin life.
On Tuesday afternoon we hiked up to the AT from Sugar Hollow with Leah, then said goodbye to my awesome sister a little sad to leave home, but excited to continue our journey north. It's a different feeling to be walking away from home rather than towards it, as we did for the first two months of the trail.
Yesterday we stood on top of Loft Mountain and caught our last glimpse of home. We could see Charlottesville below, the university and monticello in the distance, and Fox Mountain, where we'd spent two great weeks with Leah and Joe in their new beautiful home, just below us. Now the distance between us and home has grown, and Albemarle county is out of sight.
Do I detect a twinge of homesickness? Maybe so, it's a place to be missed, no doubt about that. But I'm happy to be back out here, getting my butt kicked by these hills, feeling the thrill of a free day, taking in the air the trees the birds the flowers the wide open sky. What beautiful country we live in.
We timed where we'd pick up the trail just right. When we got to Black Rock hut the first night there were a pile of familiar faces -and some new ones, too. The trail felt downright crowded today. We were in a pack of eight or ten other thru-hikers, which felt bizarre since we'll sometimes go a whole day without seeing anyone else. Those two weeks off took their toll on us, and we stopped to camp after a fifteen mile day while everyone else pressed on to the next shelter, another five miles up the trail.
We'll get our legs back in another couple days I bet. For now, feeling good enough, happy to be where I am, and can't get over the good fortune I have to be in the midst of such a fine adventure next to such a fine adventuresome man.
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