Between Two Worlds

This morning I woke up to rain pounding on my tent...definitely not motivating in the least. I knew we had a shuttle coming at 10 so I made myself pack up and get hiking. After the rain we got last night, the trail had turned into river and there were times I questioned if I was still on the trail as I walked across these waterfalls.

After about an hour and a half, Ringer and I made it into Deep Gap. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because our shuttle driver, Bobby the Greek, was pulling up. He was hands down the best shuttle driver I’ve had so far. He had Gatorade and soda in a bag for us and had gone by his mom’s house and had some homemade cookies too. We sat in the warmth of his car as we waited for Sparky and Laura to get there. Bobby gave us a tour of Franklin and all the fun hiker spots before dropping us off at Gooder Grove Hostel.

That place was an experience for sure. After finally getting settled in, I showered and took a quick nap. Feeling refreshed, Sparky and I went out to check out the town. Our first stop was to Outdoor 76 where they hooked us up with a free Buff and I got a little can of fuel to tie me over. They were out of body glide, but they told me to come back when the store was about to close since they were getting stock in from their other location.

Stop number 2 was a solid Dollar General run. Got the essentials for a resupply and a family pack of double stuf Oreos to eat along the way.

We went to the way cute food truck outside of the Lazy Hiker Brewery for dinner. While waiting for our food, we dug into of Oreos. I had a chicken black bean burrito and it was so good. The ingredients were so fresh. On top of the amazing food, they even let us send a postcard back home. During dinner, Sparky and I were talking about the difficulties of being away from home. For me, I’m thankful for technology and being able to talk with my family back home. I told her the hardest thing is that when things happen back home, you aren’t there. Not that being there helps anything, but it’s comforting to know you’re there in the midst of it.

Sparky headed back to the hostel while I ran back by Outdoor 76 to pick up that body glide. On my walk back to the hostel, I FaceTimed my mom. We were talking about communication about things back home and how much I wanted to know. Being on the trail is truly like living in another world, or a bubble. Even though your days may seem repetitive, the world keeps spinning and life back home keeps moving.

The more she talked, I realized something happened. Finally she told me that one of my friends back home had flipped his car into a creek and was in critical condition. My strides as I walked up the hill slowed as my thoughts just stopped. As I got back to the hostel, I was in shock as I listened to my mom tell me the details of the accident. I spent the rest of the night on the phone, with my mom, my sister, a friend, and his sister who is one of my really good friends. Today was such a reminder that I am living between two worlds, and though most of my energy is put into this world of hiking, my world back home is still very much real and very much still moving without me.

Today I was reminded to be extra grateful for the people in my life. Don’t live with regrets...live big and love even bigger.