15. Gratitude for the giver (Fontana Dam NC to Russell Field TN)

I just posted a book review of How to Be Perfect, comedy writer Michael Schur’s new book on moral philosophy that I recommend. Any book that I review is one I recommend. No reviews for lame books. How to Be Perfect was recommended to me by Cole Toothaker. Thanks Cole! 

How to Be Perfect (Michael Schur 2022)

I listened to the book on Libby, an app that, through membership at your local public library, will hopefully allow you to listen to the nicely produced audiobook for free too.

Accumulation of motivation

I learned yesterday that, to get through the Smokies ahead of the weather (more on that momentarily), Hannah and Sam skipped ahead to Fontana Dam. They will go back to the skipped section later. Last night, they camped at the first Smokies shelter 12 mi ahead of me, and I set the abitious goal of catching up today.

In the early dawn, I slipped out of the Fontana Hilton (it’s still a wooden shelter, but it’s a big double decker one and has a bathhouse with hot, running water, soap, and a shower, so it’s easily the nicest shelter.) The early start was quickly postponed when I stumbled upon an AT legend, Fresh Ground and his Leapfrog Café.

For 11 years, Fresh Ground has roamed the AT, cooking up gourmet meals from his van to keep hikers motivated and satiated. He built this operation into a 501(c)3 complete with board members, he explained to me. He had a propane fireplace, a bucket of fruit, fresh orange juice, and pancakes, eggs, and potatoes loaded with butter. He got started much earlier in the dawn than I

This guy knows how to cook. He encouraged us to eat as much as we could, to stretch our stomachs, to add extra maple syrup. I felt so blessed. To have Magic Mama and now Fresh Ground prepare homemade meals for me, just for being a hiker? It feels I do not deserve it. 

The response of gratitude

it’s like the springs I’ve been drinking from in the woods: I am grateful for them, and there is nothing I can offer in return other than sincere gratitude. It’s these acts of kindness from springs and strangers that keep you going strong, physically, socially, emotionally, and spirituality. 

The spiritual component is huge. We easily become jaded in our spirit, thinking that everyone else out there is seeking their own interests. But the spring does not seek its own interest. It provides abundance to enable the thriving of the forest and the hikers. Neither do most people seek their own interest. Fresh Ground may derive a lot of pleasure from seeing the happiness and gratitude of the many he feeds every day. But his actions are devoted to serving a community that he cares about and that cares for him.

Do the friends in your life or the causes you support display a commitment to the good of others, or are they focused on advancing their own interests? I thought about this for awhile, thinking in a more political direction than I will share here.

Then I asked this of myself. There’s a balance to be struck in giving. We should not all be the spring or Fresh Ground, completely devoted to giving. But I do not meet my own standard of generosity. This virtue must be cultivated.

Onward and upward

With a tremendous physical boost from Fresh Ground augmenting the existing social motivation to catch Hannah and Sam, I powered up the Smokies. After that breakfast, the hunger never hit me. I kept abundant snacks in my hip belt, a wonderful trick that allows much eating outside of meals. Terrific. 

I did not catch Hannah and Sam, though I hope to tomorrow. Still, the trail met the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and we camped on the Tennessee side – a new state. I camped with 5 others, a lovely crew: Socks, Moonpants, Blacksburg, Lady E, and Will.

Under the big warm sun out there, the potential return of winter felt distant. Yet this weekend and into next week, there are forecasted below-freezing lows and cold days. Already though, the forecast has mellowed substantially. Passing the Smokies and returning to lower elevation in time for the next front will be of comfort. The main risk is getting wet in the rain and then freezing in the subsequent cold. There’s a high density of hostels after the Smokies, so I know I will be able to dry out.