ANOTHER ZERO

Hello all - still in Hot Springs, NC. I woke this morning and the skies were dark and rain was coming down, and my right foot was still hurting, so I decided better to take a second day of rest now to hopefully avoid a full week of recovery later. I have soreness in the tendons of my right foot, and its definitely better than it was two days ago, but it still hurts when standing on it. However, by this afternoon the weather cleared and three of my little group of five hiker friends headed on their way, leaving me and a young buck named C-Bass here. (Just found out how his name is spelled, and I'm dissappointed that its not "Seabass" like I thought. Apparently he's named after a character in Dumb and Dumber, but don't know who.) C-Bass also has a hurting foot.

So, we've been lounging at our fun haunted mansion hotel, watching movies and running errands, and plan on leaving first thing in the morning regardless of how our feet feel. Its a small town, and getting smaller by the minute. We'll try and do some big days and hopefully catch up with everyone else by the next town. Since they're ahead, we'll be able to track them through registers at the shelters, but they won't know about us. The AT is tricky like that, because if you leave towns even a few hours after someone else, you may not see them for weeks. Just now, a girl who I met the first day of my hike just showed up, despite persistant rumors that she had quit.

Since I have the time, I'm at the town library right now, where along with internet access, they have early voting - NC's primary isn't til later this week I think. Amazing how politics still finds us, despite being away from the news for long periods. Had heard about the PA primary as soon as the results were announced, though seems there was some confusion for a while. The hotel we're staying at right now is a lone outpost of blue in this red state - the owner is a former thru-hiker, and you know his lefty politics right as you walk in the door - bumperstickers and pins all over the place. I think he may even scan potential clients over to make sure they aren't Republicans.

As you may have guessed, most people on the Trail are definitely on the liberal side of the spectrum, given their youth and love of the natural environment, plus the plain hippiness of staying in the woods for this long. Obama is the clear favorite, enough so that the Dem race is not really discussed much. In fact, politics in general is seldom brought up. It could be because everyone is on the relative same page, but its probably because most people just want to get away from that stuff while out here. The one gentleman who insists on bringing up politics is a middle-aged Bush-lover who hiked the trail years ago and is simply bumming along from town to town to hang out. He's finding fewer friends each day.

OK, enough idle chatter. Will head back to the house and ready my stuff for an early start. Then on to dinner for yet another hamburger. You'd think I'd love eating bad pub food everyday while in town, but it gets old. I have gained back a halfpound though.

Thank you all so much for the care packages and cards. They are really helpful and keep me in good spirits. However, just a quick note about sending food (and thank you Elizabeth for writing the post below). Please directly send me all the cards and postcards and quickly-edible food that you would like to - but if you want to send anything like trail mix or other carry-out food, please send it to Elizabeth for her to pass along. She'll make sure there is no duplicate foods and that portions are sized for the distance I'm doing. Since leaving a town usually involves a long, slow uphill, every once counts, and I am trying to be very careful how much food I take with me. But thank you all for everything!!!