Today I passed through a cute town, Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania.

An older man walked up to me, exchanging my maps for new ones at the post office. He said to me “I envy you. I respect what you are doing. And I wish I could be out there too.” He has passed the point in his life where he is free to safely roam and explore. Its a strange thought imagining that at some point in my life, I will find that some things that seemed normal will no longer be possible. I can’t imagine; I’m still on the uphill.

My two friends Cheesemeyer and Twisted Hair left the trail for Thanksgiving and my plan of double ramen noodles seems to be a respectable meal for tomorrow night.

I met a lady named Mossy who finished her thru-hike on October 15, this year. She has only been home for little over a month so it was great to talk to someone who has experienced everything I have been through. She lives just outside of Boiling Springs. We knew many of the same people, some of which I had to break the news to her had gone home.

When we were heading our separate ways, she turned around and said “Oh yeah and Happy Thanksgiving.”

I am in the shelter with a man far from as sweet as Mossy. He is also a thru hiker finishing his trip two days from now. A veteran just released, he served a few years in Iraq.

“Were you in the action?”

“Yeah, it was awesome,” he responded confidently.

That is enough to make any stranger wonder.