Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike 2024 | Day 138 | Vortex! I Think I Live Here Now!

good morning I'm here in my tent laying down which I'm sure you could tell it's about 6:10 I've been awake for like 10 or 15 minutes but feels so good here hearing that water rush I actually was contemplating just staying here all day in the spot this spot is so comfortable and homey and relaxing and being in this tent and it's supposed to rain later today I'm not getting any signal here though so I can't look to see when it's supposed to start I actually contemplated just hanging out here all day and taking a day to camp in this spot and then taking off tomorrow because I would hate to go and make it four or 5 miles it then start raining hard and end up have to set up my t way and calling it a early day or something cuz I don't want to get wet I don't want to get soaked again it's only one day of rain it's supposed to be clear for four or five days so I know it's supposed to start later in the afternoon I just don't know when and this is the perfect spot I mean it is perfect this is by far my favorite Camp SP spot that I've had uh since I've been out here I really dig it a lot water is right next to me there's a bench next to me to eat the tent's nice and flat and roomy it's just it's off the trail anyway I suppose I should get up and get at it or decide if I'm going to stay here all day a zero and a tent would not be a bad idea I still have I'm still going to be a kaded in 2 weeks so it wouldn't hurt me to even take a day it would be fun and relaxing and I could probably use it I don't know thinking about it I'll get back to you on that most likely I'm going to walk but I'll see what happens when I get up and go get my food and see if I decide I'm just going to stay here all righty that's what my brain does in the morning it thinks of everything and sometimes things that are just weird for oh jeez Fortune are we ever going to leave I'm just sitting here watching you lay down and your sleeping bag and I'm getting bored give me something to do maybe I could go down to the creek get some water and filter it I know I can do it maybe something else just give me something to do do you want me to cook us breakfast I don't know I know I can do it just let me do it Jas I'm bored [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] so I got out of my tent a little while ago and over here where the creek is right across there I don't know if you could see it but there's a couple spots on the other side of the creek where I guess the people came in at like 9:30 at night and couldn't see anything in the dark and it was the first place they found so they set up there so we were talking across the creek each other this morning uh I guess they're just coming back to finish up the at I don't know really know the details if uh you know if they had started last year or something just didn't finish it or if it was something from earlier this year but uh good luck to them and the next few weeks getting it all done um I was also reminded of a dream I had last night I grabbed my wallet cuz I was going to go Upstream a little bit to get some water and you know just sit on a rock and relax and take it all in today by the way I have decided that I'm just going to Camp here all day there's a few things that everybody should do on a through height one is zero in a tent just take one day to camp and this is the perfect place by far the most perfect place I've been at in the first 19950 miles uh just that nice beautiful sound I'm up high enough where if it did rain and flood it's not flooding up here so I'm going to stay dry my tent might not but I will stay dry uh but just that beautiful sound it's not too hard of a rushing sound the breeze from the trees right now probably rain moving in and it's starting to get breezier I don't know there's just something magical about this place and it's nothing great to look at when you look at like wow it just look like any other place but somehow it's like causing bubbles in my gut in such just a beautiful spot and uh very relaxed here but anyway some things that I think everybody should do like one is take one day to just Camp be alone in solitude enjoy nature without walking and pushing yourself preferably nextx to water so you have an endless supply of water for the day make sure you have enough food which I do uh cuz I'll probably stop at rangley or a town that's on the other side of the ATA kingford or King I can't remember what it is one of those two will be my next stop in about 40 miles um yeah that's one thing is just take one day at least on your through hike to just Camp take a day off but don't go to town don't be around people just Camp uh so that's what I'm doing the other thing is uh that I think everybody should do at least once is push yourself to see how much you can do in one day like I did on that four State Challenge it doesn't mean you have to do 40 something miles but it means push yourself it's definitely something you should do and the other thing I want to add to it is what I did in the white I would implore anyone going on the at to at least try one time get the experience of staying in one of those Huts it's expensive but it's uh kind of a cool thing and the way they feed you and those meals they take care of you no heat it's it's not it's damp in those buildings at least the one I was in the lakes of the clouds but anyway those are the three things there's there's other things but those are the three big ones that I I'm glad I'm experiencing I mean on the PCT I did this one time it was right after I summoned Mount Whitney took the whole Nix day off in my tent sunbathed at 10,000 ft in the air it was fun not going to be sunbathing today just going to be relaxing might do some writing just going to enjoy the beautiful sounds I mean it I'm feeling so much in my soul at peace right now I almost I almost want to cry I don't know it just feeling a lot of peace I I've had a hard last few months obviously with lime and you know some other things I'm not even going to talk about that's went on um and I'm at peace right now I feel good my body feels good my mind feels good I'm just going to take this time to enjoy and show you I don't know maybe we have a moose walk through and be able to show you a clip of that uh here maybe not I don't know it's going to be a beautiful day and uh I'll leave I'll I'll do some clips or something uh here you know some really cool things later on uh if I can if not I'll just enjoy the day and see you all tomorrow but I'm sure I'll show you some more of what's going on here as the day progresses but uh it's going to be a beautiful day but it reminds me of a dream I had actually a dream last night uh I went wallet shopping had to get myself a new wallet so I went shopping for this wallet and I was sitting this Store where all the wallets were the size of women's purses and I couldn't fit any of them in my pocket I'm like how am I supposed to do this wallet in my pocket how am I supposed to carry this with me I can't carry my backpack I need it in my pocket and I wasn't I wasn't through hiking or anything I was just shopping for a wallet so I first thing I did this morning is check to make sure I still had my wallet because it I don't know freaked me out a little bit like why am I thinking about this my subconscious trying to tell me I forgot my wallet or something but I had my wallet so uh the way your mind works oh wow I just realized this down here if it wasn't so cold oh my goodness look at that there's a little swimming hole right there oh my goodness that's beautiful close where I'm camping I didn't even notice it wow gorgeous stuff anyway I'll probably explore a little bit in this area before the rain sets in and uh like I said I'm just going to take a day for me a zero day in my tant my new home for the day well and last night too I signed a lease at everything but uh it's going to be a great day hope you all are doing something great today too things that make you live life not make you but things that allow you to live life and things that bring peace to your soul it's all very worth it nothing better than nature find a nice spot in nature today just enjoy it even if it's for 30 minutes just enjoy it push that reset button in your life that's what I'm doing today enjoying the peace that I'm feeling before heading back to Trail tomorrow with right around 250 mil to go talk to you soon those of you who have followed me for some time know that I record in a way that makes you feel like you're right here with me and on a zero day in my tent camping I want to have that same feel right up here where the sun has been shining through for about the last 30 minutes and now it's back the cloud covered again it hasn't started raining yet I uh laid down in my tent for a minute and dozed on and off with a nap for about 30 minutes never actually got fully asleep um which stinks I'm tired or was tired so I was like I'm going to use today to catch up catch up on some sleep too but it didn't have happen yet but maybe if it starts raining it will it's just so relaxing here with these Cascades around me and the the Babbling Brook that's babbling down there that swimming hole is the Cascade so that's where most of that noise comes from that little Cascade down there but anyway uh the Sun was shining through for a minute so I was kind of standing in it getting some vitamin D but it's gone back and it's kind of chilly when it's not there or shining through and Breeze it definitely makes it chilly I think tonight is supposed to get down in the mid-30s um so I'm obviously prepared for that but there's a part of me that's being driven crazy because I'm not out there hiking and making miles but that's a small part normally that would be a huge part I wouldn't do this most days but today I felt like I wanted to do this most time I just need to keep progressing but today I'm progressing mentally I think just letting myself enjoy the peace and the rest haven't had a lot of Peace lately so it feels good to be at peace and enjoying things by path right over here that's the at just on the other side of that Creek and believe it or not I haven't seen any hikers come down there yet so must not been anybody too close behind me um so I'll go up here this little blue blaze will join up with the at on the other side of the brook where I came down last night to get this touch spot but anyway got a little chill there Breeze came through uh there's a road up here that I hear every once in a while uh cars go by but it's not a busy road at all just like a little Mountain Road I guess oh there's one as I speak right now a white truck I don't know if it's the same white truck but I've seen two white trucks go by earlier so I don't know if it's the same one or this everybody has a white truck today um yeah it's uh it's enjoyable being here I'm going to eat here soon hope try not to eat too much food CU I have just enough to get me where I'm going for my next resupplies so I don't want to eat too much today but it sure is gorgeous out here sure is gorgeous all righty I will talk to you all later probably show you the rain if it rains I don't know if I will or not I just want you to feel like you're here with me enjoying this with me uh this is either going to be really interesting to some people or really boring to some people or a little bit of both you choose you don't have to watch it if you don't want but I'll let you in on my day here as the day progresses little by little uh but I'm just looking forward to the Peace Quiet and rest the rain has begun I don't know if you can hear it it's not coming down too hard yet but it's definitely coming down hard enough glad I'm in here I have gotten to the point of my day day where i'm calculating things sitting in the tent making some more coffee yes in the tent went through my bear can here counted up all the calories uh so I see what I can have today that I still need for the next two days uh before I go into town to resupply so I have my dinner here that I will be making I'm going to have a snack now with the coffee and a snack after dinner and then and everything else is dized up for the next two days uh partially because I'm bored but partially because I want to know how much I can eat because that's the problem with being here all day on basically a zero is that I just want to eat all day long and I can't do that but I need to make sure I have enough calories for tomorrow and the next day and today as well and most likely I'll do a few hours that next morning before I do go into town so I need to make sure I have food for all of that I got plenty of food but I just need to make sure I have enough and I don't eat too much today so that's what I'm doing now um I was calculating out some miles for the end of the trip as well uh I'm still in really good shape uh to be done within a couple weeks so that help me my peace that I'm wanting to get today helped me be more at peace knowing that I'm not like making it tougher on myself I mean a little tougher but maybe I'll do an extra mile a day I'm not really worried about it U not I'm at that point now where I'm not trying to rush yeah I could do 20 25 mile days they would be really hard here I'm not going to lie Southern Maine is a slow slow haul for the first few days uh I could still get to 20 I know I could uh just based on what I get you know when I'm out there U except that one day I wouldn't have been able to do it then on the day of the notch uh but weather plays a part and I'm just taking my time I'm enjoying it and I still need to push I still need to work every day till a certain point because I I'm not the guy that could take off at 1 or 2 in the afternoon today was easier cuz I never started walking if I started walking I wouldn't be able to stop until I was done for the day uh it's just who I am but anyway I'm going to drink this coffee in another hour or so I'm going to eat my dinner and then I'm going to get into the sack early tonight and uh hopefully this tent will be all dried out on the outside in the morning when I uh pack it down to uh get back on the trail hopefully it won't rain too much tonight hopefully the most of it is done but anyway calculating and peace and enjoying nature that's been my day and I am going to drink this coffee and have a snack eat my food for dinner and then have another snack and then probably go get some more water at the creek and turn in for the night this is probably the last time you'll see me I'll see youall in the morning live life