Disappointed with my new backpack, exhausted after a night in a shelter – no compromising, never again! – ended up in Appalachian Folk School without any ability to walk a single mile.

I saw a huge fat black snake crossing a path slowly, very slowly. I stopped and stared. I wasn’t afraid, nope. I just didn’t want to live. I just didn’t know what to live for if such horrible snakes exist.

In a half an hour I of zombie walk I was back to life. When twilights came, I came to the shelter and was glad to see a guy I saw earlier. My mistake. I asked him if he shores. He told nobody complained yet, so I also slept in the shelter. Nice said, slept. A long story short, I, zombie again, struggled to hike 10 miles to Mountain city, when Warren Doyle, the founder of the Appalachian Folk School, supposed to fetch me. He was the only person I called from the trail because of the magic of the word “folk”. He told I needed to come about one mile to meet him in McDonald’s. I told that I won’t able to make even one step. But the owner of the little shop, that I was sitting in without any movement, heard our conversation and just drove me there.

I spent a couple of days there. I like Tennessee the best of all since then. Probably because this folk school situated in a very picturesque place, probably because I learned about Bluegrass music there, probably because of folks around, probably because of pancakes someone was sending to me towards different points of the trail since then till the end. With different kinds of jam in separate little containers.

The smallest ultralight Z-pack backpack turned to be too big. To carry what?! Piano? Microwave oven? I sent it back that drove Z-packers crazy because I was the only person for whom their ultralight packs were not actually ultralight.

I’ve got my bedroom with an old fashion queen bed covered with quilts in the big old house with big windows so you watch starts.

Moved on towards Katahdin. Met hikers, who I heard many times about, considered themselves as “trash hikers”. Probably “trash” was said too soft.

Then met and chat with Erin, trail name Wired. That was a person I thought I could hike with. But I did not. I had an issue with my temporary backpack that slowed me down.