Blood, Bruises & the Wisdom of Nimblewill Nomad

April 14, 2023 Day 14

mile 258.7 to 268.4 (9.7 miles)

Didn't set an alarm this morning but still woke up around 5:30. Henry was in a lot of pain this morning from his back which made for a bad morning. He did find me a pretty pink rock and gave it to me as a gift to apologize for being grumpy.

My new shoes are unfortunately causing me trouble now. They are so comfy except they've started rubbing my ankles in a weird spot and making them feel bruised.

The entire last mile to town my nose bled constantly with no stopping. I gave up getting it to stop and just stooped over and continued hiking while blood splashed all over my legs and new shoes.

Voodoo and Eagle were at the road and while I was so excited to finally have caught up with them, I wish I wasn't actively bleeding every drop of blood from my body and close to a breakdown when seeing them for the first time. I swear I run into people at the worst possible times. I was hoping they were heading into town too but they were just getting back on trail after a town stay. An old man pulled up and offered to take us into Kearny and we gratefully hopped in while I held a ziploc bag between my legs and bled into it. The kindness of strangers never fails to amaze me, I cannot possibly imagine what I looked like although I did try to splash as much of the blood off my legs as possible with water and Henry's help before climbing into his car.

He dropped us off at IGA where we walked around like zombies and collected some food. Kearny is known for being the friendliest trail town and it's really living up to its name. A store employee made sure to let us know we get a free donut and coffee because we're hikers. Outside I sat on a bench and tried to collect myself but I was feeling drained, dehydrated and sad. Another hiker came over and said he just walked over and got a hotel room and my heart dropped because I'd called tomorrow and they said they were full. After sitting there close to tears I decided to walk over myself and see if miraculously they had another room.

I stood there holding my breath at the front desk while the lady scrolled endlessly before she said "oh yes, we have a room and it'll be ready in 10 minutes." She looked at me somewhat quizzically when I jumped up and down and thanked her about 20 times. I walked back to the grocery store to tell Henry the good news. 

The hiker box here at the hotel was full of goodies- I actually found a pair of Lone Peak Olympus' in my size!! The tread is worn pretty bad but at least my ankles will be saved from my new Hokas. There were also bags of epsom salts, lotions, and passion fruit conditioner. 

I took a shower, made a salad, resupplied, and walked across the street to Dollar General where I bought a $1 pair of flip flops to save myself from having to wear my trail shoes in town. Henry and I walked down the street to get pizza at the only restaurant in town. It was super busy with a busload of kids coming back from some kind of sports game. Katie and Michael showed up and sat at the table with us where we all read the hiker log book that was kept beside the hiker box.

Here is a quote from Nimblewill Nomad I found in there from 2019-

"Here's to all the hearts of that cold, lonesome track, 

To the life of the wanderlust... free.

To all who have gone and never come back,

Here's a tribute to you and to me.

With our feet in the dirt we're the grit of the earth,

Heads a-ridin in the heavens overhead.

And they won't find a nickel of value or worth,

When our fortunes are tallied in red.

But no richer clan has there ever been known,

Since the times of all ruin and wrack;

Than those of us lost to the dust outward blown,

who have gone and NEVER CAME BACK!"