Day 20

Day 20 (PT 5): 36 miles

Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Wave to car passing. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Look over shoulder at car riding the rumble strip in the middle of the road staring at me. Right foot. Wave to car passing. Left foot. Right foot. Try to enjoy music but have it drowned out by cars zooming by. Wave to car. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Look forward to 20 feet of shade coming up. Left foot. Right foot. Wave to car. Left foot. Prepare for dogs I see in a yard. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Repeat.

That’s pretty much what the day was. It was nearly all road walking on paved roads. It wasn’t the ideal hiking scenario, but I tried to make the most of it and appreciate the surroundings as much as I could while focusing on not getting hit by a car.

I think this trail has to have the highest number of dog assaults per mile. It’s multiple times every day that I am being chased and have to deal with them. There was one house today with 3 massive dogs (idk what kind they were but they looked scary) who fortunately were all looking the other direction. I basically tiptoed by the house and tried to be as quiet as possible while I passed. Thankfully they didn’t turn around until I was already passed and didn’t care.

I got some more gas station pizza and it was better. Not good, but better. The benefit of this much road walking is that I can pick up a lot of Dr Pepper along the way. And I don’t need to carry much food.

I finally picked up a couple buffs at a store so I can give my neck a little protection from the sun.

I made it south of Cave Springs and I’m staying in a shelter tonight (woohoo! Finally back in shelter territory) and sharing it with a hornet’s nest and a bird’s nest. It’s like its own little ecosystem in here. I setup my tent inside the shelter to give me a layer of protection. I don’t expect anyone else to come

Song of the day: roses-chainsmokers