Day 31

Weather:
Nice, no rain.

Today’s Hike:
Stream Campsite @ mile 257.2 to Hot Springs, NC – 15.0 miles

Last night as I tried to fall asleep Muster and I started talking about the trail, trail life and what hiking the trail teaches you. When you're out here, almost nothing is within your control. You can't control where the trail takes you, you can't control the weather, you can't control all the loud owls and other wildlife that scream throughout the night keeping you awake. The only thing you can control is your attitude. If you accept what is and just see what is presented to you for what it is then the days hike is a new challenge and nothing more. If you get mad at some aspect of it, your day is rotten. The same principle is applied to life in the "real world." I remember talking about acceptance of what is in life as it applied to the "real world" before coming out here. It's so easy to know and talk about acceptance and entirely other thing to actually practice it. Out here you don't have much of a choice but to practice acceptance. If you don't you won't enjoy the journey, and you won't gain anything from your experience. I think this is why so many people quit. They come out expecting a joyful walk in the woods. What you get is a new relationship with Mother Nature, with yourself, and with those that you choose to travel with.

After breakfast I packed up my pack and hiked 15 miles into the town of Hot Springs, NC. Muster and I are staying at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, a Bed and Breakfast that caters to AT Hikers. The house is really neat - an old Victorian style home built in the late 1800's. They cook only vegetarian meals, and we had the pleasure of having a current AT thru-hiker, Tekla, who is trained as a culinary chef cook us the most amazing dinner.