Day 137 – 9/6/13 – 28.6 mi (2547.3)

The rapidly approaching end of a thru hike leads to thoughtful reflection. This afternoon while huddled under a very worn and leaky piece of Tyvek, sandwiched between Ninja and Sweetfish in the 2 feet between tree and trail, which was temporarily serving as a river, attempting shelter from the downpour of rain and hail, and eating spoonfuls of this disgusting banana granola peanut butter I bought at a grocery outlet for $.50 a jar, I found myself asking the question: how did I end up here?

It was a rough day. When we woke up the sky was pretty clear and we were optimistic for a sunny day.

Hope faded as we dropped down into a valley where low clouds settled. The rest of the day cycled between downpours and teases of blue sky and sun. We took advantage of one 20 minute sunny spell to dry out our tents from last night. The rest of the time we just sloshed along the mud puddles of trail. Even when it wasn’t actively raining, we were getting repeatedly drenched from the overgrown plants along the side of the trail scrubbing us like a car wash.

What the hail?