- Miles 633.7-636.1 (2.4 mi.)
- Total ascent: 118′; descent 1801′
Covid-19 is, for us, over.
Rachel and I received our second vaccine dose at the Pearisburg Walmart today. So far, we feel no side effects.
Since we began planning our hike, the pandemic has hung over our heads. We worried until the second needle was out of our arms whether we were being irresponsible: What if we became seriously ill on the trail, hours from any medical facility? What if we were responsible for sickening the people we met in trail towns, many of whom are older and have similarly little access to healthcare?
I can’t say with certainty that we weren’t asymptomatic carriers, nor that we had no risky contacts. But I can say we got vaccinated at our first possible opportunity, and that we wore masks even when we got “you darn Yankees” looks for doing so.
Rachel and I did, ultimately, what every American on and off the AT did: continue living our lives while doing our duty to others, balancing the two moment-to-moment as best we could. Neither I nor she regret or feel guilty for how we navigated that tension.
We, and both of our families, have made it from infection to solution without illness. It seems like too much to ask, frankly, but it’s our blessing.
The other blessings of today aren’t to be forgotten: We got an on-demand ride to town, just after an initial response from tonight’s hostel that their shuttle vehicle wasn’t available; after we put down our bags, we bought bananas and strawberry danishes from a grocery store we hadn’t realized was just 0.2 miles from us; I saw a chiropractor — the owner of our hostel, it turns out — for just $30; we ate the best Mexican food yet (Rachel is nodding beside me); and the bed we have to sleep on tonight is at least as comfortable as ours at home.
Here at the hostel with us are Bambi and Blanc, with whom we also shared our tent site last night. After eight years together, Bambi and Blanc will be getting married next April. In the waiting room at the chiropractor, Bambi reassured us that the breaking sticks we heard in the middle of the night were just grazing deer. Blanc, while Bambi was with the chiropractor, spoke for the first time in the multiple days we’ve seen him. Blanc is like Rachel: Nice, but more than happy for his partner to do the talking.
Going on this weekend is Trail Days, the official festival of the AT. Although we aren’t attending, neither of us feels as if we’re missing out. We have so much to do and to celebrate right here, and thanks to our vaccinations, no concerns about how or with whom we celebrate it.
