Day 20

Day 20: 24 miles

I am a pretty self aware person. Sometimes I like to take a step back and look at the absurdity of what I am doing. Today was one of those days. The forecast for the winter storm rose from 5-7 inches of snow to 8-12 inches. And that is for in town. From Hampton TN where I was to Damascus VA, where I’ll be tomorrow, is ridge walking for most of the way so that snow forecast is likely on the lower end since it’s for a lower elevation.

With this forecast, my great hosts in Hampton offered to let me stay a few more days. But my engine was revving to keep moving, blizzard or not. I haven’t been covering big miles lately so i want to keep moving consistently. I won’t be successful by putting forth huge efforts here and there but instead by consistent days strung together. So even expecting a foot of snow, I joyfully marched down the trail today. I enjoyed my time indoors last night but kept moving after a slightly later start having to go to the post office and store.

I got a new pair of shoes today and it was really nice having all of the lace straps and not having gaping holes in the side of them for a change. I also picked up my new mittens. I splurged on heavy duty outdoor research Alti mittens. My hands are basically the poster boy for hamburger helper. I never thought I’d spend this much money on a pair of hand wear but imma protect my hands. Multiple people that I’ve talked to that have had them have said they’re too warm for skiing in Colorado in winter which was music to my ears.

It was snowing before I left, snowed all day, and is going to snow overnight and into tomorrow. It wasn’t terribly hard to walk through today. I just hope it doesn’t drift overnight. This is a pretty remote part of trail so there will definitely be no tracks from other people.

Even though it was snowing all day and I could’ve let that ruin my day, I was in a great mood all day and just happy to be alive, outside, and doing what I love even if the weather wasn’t the best.

From when I weighed myself yesterday to this morning before I left, I gained 10 pounds. I just need eat like this all the time in town.