Bama to Baxter, day twelve: meeting new friends

As expected, the rain came last night around 11:00 am. I hadn’t really fallen asleep yet, but I remember seeing the first flash of lightning as I was finally falling asleep. As has been the case on the trail so far, I slept perfectly in two-hour chunks; It rained all night. When my alarm went off at 5am, it was pouring rain and the wind was howling. I stood there, knowing I had a short day. The motivation to pack my bags slipped away. Wide awake, but not wanting to step foot in the rain, I lay there and played a couple of games of solitaire on my phone. Eventually, my desire to get to the city overcame my fear of walking in the downpour. One thing I didn’t really notice while lying in my sleeping bag was how cold it had been. After packing up and dressing for the rain, I thought I’d check my thermometer. It read 39°F. I knew I was in for a cold morning.

On the way at 6:05, I noticed that the rain had let up a little, but the wind was still howling. I was worried about new landslides that I might have to cross along the way. I was worried about the slippery and muddy sections. I was worried about the wet, slippery leaves, but what I didn’t think about was the volume of water I ultimately encountered on the trail as I hiked. In some sections the water ran along the path as if it were the bed of a stream. In other places, there were torrents of water crossing the path, sort of like water coming out of the bottom of a slide at an amusement park. And of course, the stream crossings didn’t give me a chance to keep my feet dry, so I just sucked it up and walked as best I could. I knew I had at least one decent climb to get to the junction where I thought they could pick me up and take me to Piedmont. Fortunately for me, the trail up that mountain was of excellent quality: there were no stones, just a few roots, and many leaves were swept or blown off the trail.

I reached the top of the mountain just as it was time to take my first break after the two hours, and as I sat there trying to eat, I realized I was pretty cold. My hands were useless and I realized I would need to monitor my progress as I made my way down the other side of the mountain. I discovered that I am not a very efficient cold weather hiker. With the gloves on, I fumble through all the tasks I can normally do while hiking. Accessing my phone with numb fingers was almost impossible. I persevered and decided to spend some time at a shelter a few miles up the road to warm up when I got there. Because of the rain, I was hesitant to put the headphones on (not sure how waterproof they are), so I put all my electronics in my pockets, which made the morning a bit boring. I managed to get to the aforementioned shelter in time and began the process of thawing my hands.

Over time, my fingers became agile enough to allow me to open the zippers on my backpack. I put on my rain pants and even added my puffy layer under my rain jacket for the last 2 miles of the hike. I did some push-ups to warm up, I did some bodyweight squats to warm up, and of course I ate and drank, and within about thirty minutes I felt good enough to continue. I knew the hike from that point would be mostly downhill or flat, so I planned to enjoy it. On the map, it looked like the trail would intersect with a paved bike path that I would then take to a nearby county road and try to hitchhike or Uber into town.

When I got to County Road 94, I realized that it wouldn’t be a possible place for anyone to pick me up, as it was just a gravel road that stretched in both directions until I couldn’t see anything. The trail will provide. Upon arriving in the city I learned that there was a tracking angel in Piedmont. Brandon, owner of Elevated Grounds, Piedmont, AL, offered transportation to the city. I managed to contact him and he confirmed that I would have no luck getting transportation on County Road 94 and advised me to walk a couple more miles to State Route 70, where I would have a better chance of getting a car or an Uber. I thanked him and told him I hoped to meet him in town later that day. Without referencing FarOut, I began the hike toward State Route 70. Just five minutes into that walk, Brandon called me again and informed me that he had found a ride for me and that they would be waiting for me in the space on State Route 70 in about 40 minutes. I would have to hurry to avoid making this person wait.

I walked with a small laugh in my heart. I noticed that Brandon had mentioned that I would have to cross a hill, a small hill, on my way to the pickup point. Well, let me tell you, in those 1.7 miles I climbed almost 800 feet, but I was warm and had plenty of food and drink, so I didn’t worry. The grade was very accessible and the trail quality was excellent, so I was able to maintain a good pace uphill. I didn’t want to keep my ride waiting, so I continued to pick up the pace. When I finally reached the gap and the highway, I sat on the side for about a minute before a car came up the hill. It was my journey, my personal following angel. When the car stopped on the shoulder of the road, I got up, gathered my gear, and walked to the car. The driver, Wendy, a colleague of Brandon’s, rolled down her window, introduced herself, and told me to put my things in the back seat.

Wendy and I had a wonderful conversation about life in the Piedmont and growing up in the rural south. She was an excellent ambassador for the city. I don’t know if I expected this, but I’m really starting to love the conversations I have with the people in the towns here. Life in suburban Wilmington is very different from what people experience in the rural south.

After a 10-minute drive, Wendy pulled up in front of Elevated Grounds, Brandon’s coffee shop and coffee shop (actually one of two he owns, the other being in Heflin). Since I had previously contacted Hot Tang, I knew that he and Two Meals were already there. Cold and hungry, I asked the cowboy for breakfast and sweet tea. No, I don’t drink hot coffee, I never have and I doubt I ever will. I make my own iced coffee at home, but I never learned to love the taste of hot coffee. This sweet tea was homemade and delicious. It hit the nail on the head. As a man who went to college in the South, I developed a sophisticated taste for sweet tea. Now, I can drink sweet tea in almost any form – bottled, pre-packaged powder, whatever – but brewing sweet tea with the right amount of honey and sugar added while the tea is still hot and then letting it cool to room temperature before pouring it over ice is just an incredible treat. My breakfast was delicious. I can’t recommend Elevated Grounds enough. It’s worth a trip if you’re ever in that part of the state.

After finishing my meal, Two Meals, Hot Tang and I began our search for the only motel in town. According to the Hot Tang map app, it was only 0.6 miles away, so we decided to walk. The trip took us out of the quaint little downtown, but took us into what I would call the freeway commercial section of the city. Within walking distance of the motel we found several restaurants, a Piggly Wiggly, a Dollar General and a CVS. Yes, basically everything we needed to resupply for the next few days. We located a laundry nearby. So we went to the laundry. That task took us about an hour, so I took that time to write and post some things on Instagram. I was also able to communicate by phone with some people at home. After collecting our clothes from the dryer, we started the trip back to the hotel, but took a detour to have lunch at one of the fast food restaurants we had seen from the motel. Jack won the vote and I ate a modest lunch in anticipation of a big dinner.

As we walked from Jack’s down the highway to the motel, we decided to go ahead and destroy our resupply store. At lunch, we had decided to split the next section of the trail to Cave Spring, Georgia, into two days of hiking, so as we hiked, I quickly made a mental list of the food I would need for the next two days. My resupply wouldn’t involve much food. We opted for the Piggly Wiggly instead of the Dollar General, but since the Piggly Wiggly was right across the street from the Dollar General, and we would have to cross that street to get back to the motel, I figured I would go to the Dollar General on the way back if the Piggly Wiggly didn’t have everything I needed.

If you’ve been following me, then you know that I recently discovered the need to have electrolytes in your water. It’s making my walk much more enjoyable. Piggly Wiggly didn’t have electrolyte mixes so I went to Dollar General and they had just what I needed. I’m drinking four or five packets a day, so they will be a very consumable item when I move to Northwood. There seems to be a Dollar General everywhere, so I’m not too worried. Back at the hotel we rested a little and then started showering for dinner. While Hot Tang took a shower, I organized my food and finished packing my gear into my backpack for the next day. It is a pleasure to keep freshly washed clothes and freshly bought food in your backpack after a shower. The three of us just relaxed a little. I continued writing something. Around 5:30 pm we decided we were hungry. Back in the main town square, there was a pizzeria that had been recommended to us, but I didn’t want to have to make that walk at this time of day. So I tried to get us an Uber. Of course, I am 63 years old. I had never ridden in Uber before in my life, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was able to navigate the app without incident and soon learned that there were no drivers in the area, so we changed our plans. We had noticed a Mexican restaurant next to the Piggly Wiggly and decided that would be where we would have dinner. I had a wonderful taco salad with chicken and a bean and cheese enchilada on the side, and best of all, the restaurant served Pepsi products, so I was able to have a bottomless glass of Mountain Dew with my meal. (we will talk about my soda addiction in future days).

We took a quick, careful walk home along the road in the dark. We made it safely back to the motel and decided that the lights would go out at 9 o’clock. I checked my gear twice, made sure all the food I needed for tomorrow’s hike was in my fanny pack, and checked in one last time with the family at home. I was really hoping for a good night’s sleep, but as 9:00 pm got closer and closer, I realized that I was still too nervous to fall asleep, but I made my preparations anyway. I brushed my teeth, put on my pajamas, put a warmer blanket on the bed, and got ready to settle in.

At 9 the lights went out and I lay in bed wondering how long it would take to fall asleep. After 15 minutes of standing there fidgeting, I tried a homemade trick. In the past, I had managed to lull myself to sleep by deleting emails from my account when I couldn’t sleep. Usually after about 10 minutes I would start to fall asleep and that would be enough. Tonight, however, there is still no way out. After thirty minutes of checking my emails (I got to less than 1,000), I still didn’t feel sleepy. I emptied my bladder once again and resorted to a new trick. I learned along the way that playing solitaire on my phone helps me fall asleep. Thirty minutes of that didn’t help, and then I decided to check a couple of news stories I subscribe to and that’s the last thing I remember doing before falling asleep.

Happy trails. . .