Another Short Day, but The Trail Provides

Today was another short hiking day, and to be honest I’m getting a little concerned about our pace.  We’ve covered fifty miles in four days, and that puts us off our pace by about a day and a half. It’s certainly not the end of the world, but we’re going to have to start stretching things out if we hope to make the Pacific before the weather in both the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest starts to make finishing the pilgrimage an unpleasant experience.

It’s fare too early to get really worried about those sorts of outcomes.  That’s especially true when one takes into account all the positive things that are happening along the way.

We set off early this morning, and the temperature was pretty chilly.  There was a brisk north wind that was right in our face the whole time.  Dad was wearing the hood of his rain jacket instead of his stocking cap because he thought he’d packed his stocking cap and didn't know where to look for it.

About five miles into the hike, he suddenly veered off to the left and said he was going to go into a convenience store to see if they had a replacement stocking cap.  I glanced around the neighborhood and wondered aloud if we shouldn’t just keep moving. He declined the offer of continued transit, and asked me if I was coming in with him to the store.

Now my habit has been to take my pack off at every opportunity, so I told him I was going to stay outside and wait.  I unhitched from my pack and commenced the wait.

While I was waiting, I peeked around the corner of the store and discovered what I can only describe as some sort of shrine made out of empty liquor bottles.  I glanced around and the quiet of the neighborhood was a little unsettling. It was like that feeling you get when you feel that you’re being watched. The feeling of being in the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time.  That feeling you get when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up just before something bad goes down.

I ate some trail mix.

I drank some water.

I glanced at my watch.

Twenty minutes.  It didn’t take twenty minutes to buy a stocking cap at a convenience store in the rough(ish) section of town.  WTF was the old man doing anyway?

Just as I was throwing on my pack to head into the store to find out what was going on, he came out the door with the store manager and the Coca Cola distributor in tow.

Making friends in North Providence, RI

Dad had been doing what he loves doing.  Making friends and influencing people. As you can see, he even managed to find himself a stocking cap.  Five bucks, and I’m pretty sure they could have sold it for twenty given how cold his shaved head had been all morning.

Although our pace has been slower than I would have liked, I cannot argue with the fact that time after time over the last four days the trail has provided just what we needed at exactly the right time.  If you want to restore your faith in humanity, I suggest that you take a long walk.