September 2nd
Segment 22
We camped at an RV campground last night in our tents. We chose to save money instead of sleeping inside at the hostel. I have been wanting to stay at the hostel but couldn’t come up with a good reason to justify the extra expense until later. I realized that sometimes it just feels nice to be inside and have the comforts of a roof and not have the wind or the sun or the threat of rain.
The community in Lake City is absolutely amazing! There is a hiker center run by the Minister Jason from the Presbyterian Church. It’s a specific ministry that he has adopted and we were extremely well-cared for. We had free espressos a charging station tables and chairs inside and outside. Lots of retired members of the community volunteer and visit with all the hikers as they arrived and love to hear our stories.
Ruth from The visitor Center gave us a ride to the grocery store and back so we wouldn’t have to walk and Donna Sue gave us a ride to the trailhead so we could have a little extra time to finish up all the things. We got to see Ruthless one last time and give her a hug before we left. She read some of our blogs and loved them both!
It’s funny how every time you approach the trail it feels different. We have one last town to visit before the final stretch home. We are desperate to push ourselves and not spend too much time in town. A lot of the hikers have been taking zeros and resting and relaxing. Jodie and I just take care of business and get back on the trail. We both are feeling like we’ve been out here too long and want to be done and home with our husbands but at the same time don’t want to give up. So today feels like I am voluntarily pushing myself back into the wilderness to face a very big climb and not feeling rested but not wanting to spend more time and money in town.
When we got dropped off at the trailhead I gave Donna Sue a hug, we were grateful for her generosity. She picked up another single woman hiker on the way back to town what a blessing for that young lady. A drop of rain hit me in the face and I pulled out my rain cover to cover my pack. I mentally prepared myself for what we might be walking into.
The rain kept threatening but didn’t let loose. We got close to six miles in and we were ready for dinner. The clouds were still threatening and set up our tents. It’s chilly and it felt nice to get inside!
Jodie’s blog bikehikerepeat.com