Bears den hostel, VA

Wow talk about a morale low. I was ready to quit the trail today. It was really really sucking. It was hot. There was one viewpoint and it was crappy and plagued with attack bugs. My shoulders are hurting because they are not used to the weight of my pack anymore, and my trail legs are basically gone (though I am still luckily faster than the weekenders). Oh and in case anyone was wondering, if you continue to eat trail food like pop tarts and cream cheese on graham crackers and pbjs as though you are on the trail but you're not, well, you're going to get a little bit FAT. Which naturally is UBER bad for morale.  

 I felt like a failure and now that I am in VA I have lots of family who would probably come and pick me up if I called them crying or something, thus it is logistically now possible for me to quit (no one would have picked me up in Maine or Massachusetts or anything that far north). 

Hit Man, a cool new Sobo I met this evening, said I should call all my family members and tell them that no matter what I say in the future they should not help me quit. Take that option off the table. 

It's true. I need to take the quitting option off of my mind's table. Then I will be content with what I am doing. Only then can I be happy. 

The trail feels lonely now. It is about a tenth as pretty and majestic as the northern section I left (and about a one hundredth as majestic as the mountains out west).  

We really had it good at first, Flora and I. Chip, Walker, and Brookie were some seriously good trail family members.

Well I'm tired of complaining. Goodnight.