The sunlight woke me from my slumber. Scott, with the assistance of Lucky Charm and Half and Half made us pancakes and waffles. I love this guy so much.
Bard, unasked, decided to perform one of his songs and 5 seconds in, it seemed in my best interest to continue my packing up outside. As Lavalamp dryly said after some minutes had passed: ‘That’s a long song.’ I’m most likely being too harsh, but it’s tough taking this guy serious.
We took some group photos with Scott and Sailor and headed back to trail. I hope we see Sailor again further down the line.
5 minutes in we got our first trail magic in weeks. A woman named Smidge had chips, candy and soda for us. She seemed as delighted to see us as the other way around. I was once again reminded of the kindness of people on and around this trail.
The hiking felt great today. I felt great, constantly cruising far ahead of the group. A passage from Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe came to mind. In it, main character Severian muses about how man seeks out the wilderness to shed his ego. That’s how today was. I was part of this landscape. Not thinking about the past, future or present. I was simply there.
