#184 Tom Leonard Shelter to Upper Goose Pond Shelter - Day 108: MM1530.2-MM1551.5 TD109
Pack light, Travel light, Spread the light, Be the light - Unknown privy poet
5-5-2023
The soothing sound of the nearby cascading stream kept me sleeping all night. In fact, it kept me asleep too long. It’s a little past seven and I have twenty-one miles to cover today.
However, there’s no need to rush the morning, the days are growing longer and I’m growing stronger.
I casually go about my morning routines. The sun makes its way over a nearby hill, casting shadows on my little world.
And what a peaceful little world this is - the solitude, the birds, the stream, the sunshine, the crisp air - maybe I should just lay around here all day like a hobbit.
Someone had drawn and framed a picture of the shelter and its surrounding area, mapping out the details and basic camp rules, then fastened it to one of the walls.
Inside the privy some unknown poet had written on the inside wall -
Pack light
Travel light
Spread the light
Be the light
I like this very much, as these words are what this year’s hike has been about.
To unpack of concerns of the past
To travel freely through each day
To spread hope in hopeless places
To share my experiences
Like I’ve said before, my hikes aren’t vacations or about fun.
I’m feeling free and relaxed today. I feel in control of my head for the first time in a long time.
The blazes are playing hide and seek today. I've not wandered off trail as of yet, but the long intervals between blazes make me wonder from time to time if I have.
I come across a group of trees whose trunks are touching. They’re all growing out of the same spot, and in a circle with their trucks touching.
They are covered in red and blue blazes, indicators of other trails that have merged onto and are crossing the Appalachian Trail.
Hidden in the chaos are two white blazes - one blaze over the other with the top blaze painted slightly right of the bottom one, indicating a right turn ahead.
I don’t even begin to decipher the riddle the other blazes are telling.
