Hiawasee

   I took a zero day with Trent and Ben in Hiawasee. My toe needs time to heal. It doesn't seem any better but it could take weeks for it to really truely heal. I'm pretty sure the nail isn't attatched anymore, to the nail root (?) But it's still connected to the skin holding it in place since it's so easy to wiggle. The doctor told me if the nail does die to not pull it off and to just let it work it's own way off. It would be easy for me to pick up an infection if I just take it off. I kinda want it off though. I'm pretty sure that there's some kind of blister or puss under the nail putting painful stress on the nail. It's just really not happy. I've been icing it and elevating it all day long.

   For lunch I tried bagged ramen, something recommended by Ben. I decided to boil my water outside and the owner kept walking by giving me dirty looks. It took a lot of tries to get the thing lit, I hope it didn't get damaged because it usually lights up really quickly normally. I know the ignition mechanism can break easily but mines been going strong for years. I've been using a jet boil sol. The owner comes back out with this insecticide and starts spraying the porch working her way towards me. I know she only started doing that because i was out there bare footed trying to boil water. Back to the ramen part of this story. I took the package of ramen out and placed it in a zip block bag, added the powder then some of the hot water after it stopped boiling. I didn't measure the water but it was probably 10 oz. The bag was leaking a bit so i struggled to double bag it. I added some of this rock hard beef jerky that I had to it. It was too hard to eat so i thought it would be better off rehydrated. Then shake and massage the noodles until they are soft and I was good to go. I should have broken up the jerky into smaller pieces instead of sheets, that was a bit awkward but it works! Cheap dinner. I had no idea that ramen packages were so cheap, it was 25 cents a package. And so easy to prepare out on the trail.

   At some point I went to check out the outdoors store next to us, I ended up walking into this sewing store instead. At least I was able to pick up some sewing needles for popping blisters. The woman at the counter used this massive old fashioned register. Something you'd find at an antique store or in the movies. I believe she said it was made in the 1820's.

   The outdoors store just had bait, guns, and fishing gear. Absolutely nothing related to hikers. Slightly awkward being in there. I went to the Ingles (very large grocery store) across the street for some food and supplise and ran into a number of other hikers that I've met along the way so far. The stores in generally, particularly this store really cater to the hikers. They even had a stand of mountain house freeze dried meals right by the register! They were ample stocked in foods that a lot of the hikers tend to buy such as instant mashed potatoes, rice and noodle packages, and ramen. The potatoes and rice and Noodle packages, although they have stove cooking directions can indeed be cooked within their bag by just adding hot water, stirring and holding the top closed for 10 min. I never would have guessed. I bought some ramen and rice because it'll take me longer to get to the next town than expected because of my toe. I'm going to try to make it to Franklin in 6 days. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning and going like a snail. I need to go slow and take many breaks for the sake of my toe. I really shouldn't be on it at all for a week or 2. Part of me wants to just quit and try next year after it healed up and not make the same mistakes that lead me to this.