Gratitude

My main feeling so far on the trail has been gratitude.  We were stopped by a snowstorm for the first two days and we were fortunate enough to be able to volunteer at the Len Foote Inn while we holed up indoors.  It was a welcome rest to a 24 hour greyhound bus trip and a very cold night in a shelter.  We met two hikers - Catfish and GrandBob.  Catfish gave me his gloves when I told him I didn't have any and I was concerned about my slight nerve damage in my fingers and toes.  GrandBob was going to slackpack us over Blood Mountain.  Slackpacking is when someone else carries your pack while you hike.  He was going to drop it off at Neel Gap for us and take us back 10 miles.  Unfortunately, we missed our gap to be picked up, so we just packed it over.  GrandBob still drove to Neel Gap and tried to get us a cabin - but they didn't take reservations.  Fortuantely, we still were able to get a cabin when we got in.  A girl names Alpine gave me some Arnica for my back (which seized up 2 days ago, but is getting better). 

So many kind people, so much good Providence, beautiful scenery.  God is good.  And even most humans are good :-)

Gratitude... love it.

If you are in the ilk of praying, I would appreciate you prayers for my back.  Once the pack is on, it's OK, but lifting it up, or all the bending one does to set up camp and break it down in the morning is quite painful.  But, if that is my biggest complaint, I'd say life is pretty darn good right now. 

Hopefully, I can get a picture up here sometime, but let's tackle one techno-learning curve at a time.  Sorry for any typos, I won't be re-reading these posts as most of my computer time will be limited.