Sunday, July 15 (Kreg)

Somehow, I woke up today feeling fine. 10 hours of sleep seemed to have cured all ails. I continued hiking with Blake (trail name “Smiles” – the man is positive ALL the time. Sometimes I see him standing by himself in camp, thinking about something and smiling). He has been a trainer at the YMCA in Ashville, NC for the last 10 years. At some point in his past, he went to school for Chinese Medicine and learned a great deal about Daoism, Buddhism, acupuncture, and pain relief. He also once went into the woods of the Smokey Mountains for 30 days, alone, with just backpack in order to meditate and fast. He walks and talks with a sense of calm that makes a lot of sense given some of these experiences. We saw some good views today, but I’m feeling the itch to get out of the wilderness. It’s been 8 days of no beds, no showers, and some grueling hiking. I need a reset, and then I need to go much more slowly. At this point, I’m pushing longer miles because it means that I’ll get out sooner, but I can tell it’s not good for my body. The last two miles today were agonizing – muscle spasms in the right side of my back that hurt so much I was cursing out loud whenever another uphill appeared. I only did these last four miles because it makes my last day into town a short ten miles, but I’m worried that I overdid it. I just hope that sleep and advil make the pain go away.