TRAIL DAY 18
Wed, Mar 9, 2016 With a second zero in Franklin, I was getting to be a regular in town. I spent a good bit of time on logistics this last day and I took a picture of a long list of items including “bounce (how long hold?).” I must have purchased food to last a couple weeks. I remember trying to pack olive oil so it wouldn’t leak and debating the merits of this wonder food. It was supposed to be good for you with its “monounsaturated, omega-9 fatty oleic acid” (had to look that up).
My considerations, however, were: weight, volume of plastic bottle that doesn’t decrease with use, ease of use versus mess, nutritional value, ease of resupply, available quantities. In time, I would rely on heavy peanut butter, topping the hiker’s list of best foods. It met all criteria but weight. It’s value won out – and it came in a suitably sized plastic jar. I’d eventually roll gobs of peanut butter in a tortilla flat. I abandoned the idea of squeezing honey or jelly onto the flat because they simply squished out with each bite. My fix was a cleaned-out plastic wide-mouthed almond butter jar which I’d fill with jelly or jam emptied from their glass jars and I’d take a small spoon full with each bite of the tortilla. Perfect!
Oh! There is so much to share about every little decision on the trail and each new system that worked well. I love small, useful, tidy, minimal, efficient and light. In time, however, I would accept that utility can outweigh light. Peanut butter is not light but essential. A 3-charge battery is not light but indispensable. It was deeply satisfying to discover the new and the best and implement it.
Once packed, I did AWOL planning to determine the destination and worked out the mailing and postage issues with Baltimore Jack.
That long list I mentioned was continued on an AWOL page and included:
Food
AZ (Amazon for returns)
Taxes (the season)
VZ (Verizon phone)
Pharm (acy)
Mag
Ticks (they’d be coming soon)
Melatonin (natural sleep aid, not used)
Neproxin (for pain, seldom used)
tooth brush
Gold bond (more available than preferred J&J)
There were many such long lists of things to tend to back home or with some supplier or other. It is amazing what you can do, when there is cell phone coverage as there was more than I would have expected. Catch up with family or some pending legal matter while just sitting in the woods on the side of the trail.
I don’t remember lunch but there was only one place for supper – back to Mulligans. I felt at home there but I was looking forward to getting back to the woods – it was time to move on. I had tended to phone, food, bills, some law case issues, laundry and was ready to get back to the proving grounds of that Mother who celebrates your manhood, your strength of body and will, your purpose for the day and the long haul in her company.
Time to bed down for dawn’s next curtain call.
Day #18 Franklin, NC 0 miles