May 14, 2017
8:45 pm
Total Miles: 589
Yesterday was a beautiful day. No rain. Clear skies and cool weather could not of asked for anything better.
Ate breakfast at the barn restaurant and headed out of Atkins.
The trail is full of water.
and its extremely muddy but I don’t mind it as long as it isn’t currently raining.
Virginia is pretty.. the open pastures are breath taking!
This morning was surprisingly cold! Definitely took a while to get out of my sleeping bag.
Slept pretty good, took a while with my oatmeal and coffee and headed out last for the 23 miles we had planned.
Not sure what started it but my mood became blue pretty fast. My heart suddenly felt heavy. As if someone had sucker punched my heart.
I let my thoughts snow ball and had tears pooling up and had to stop to catch my breath.
So I made it to a super cool shelter and met up with the tramily for lunch.
It even had a fire place 😉
But didn’t want to hike with them after.
I needed to be solo today.
I needed to go through whatever was on my mind. I needed to process it… I needed to cry.
After a while I came to a rock and semi view and dropped my pack and sat my butt down and cried.
I didn’t cry about one particular thing. I just bawled because I needed to.
After a while I collected myself and headed on the trail. I felt some strange sort of relief.
I caught up to planner and we walked the rest together. She was so understanding about me distancing myself And said we could talk about it if I wanted to.
It was just one of those days where I became overwhelmed with emotions.
But the biggest part for me was to actually cry. To ride this wave of emotion that was coming and to let it happen, let it out, then move on. Instead of bottling it up like I normally would in “real life”.
I was told the mountains and this trail change you and teach you. You just have to listen.
We ended the day by a big gorgeous river that we all stood in. I wanted to swim and completely dunk myself.. But the water was so cold!
I feel peaceful going to sleep tonight.
I am excited for tomorrow. We get free breakfast!!
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 
Izzy, love your blogs and your honesty. Crying is good for the soul. Relieves tension and blue feelings and makes you feel refreshed and ready to carry on, no matter where you are. (I have cried plenty over the years). Just cry, dry your tears, count your blessings, thank God and continue moving on, wherever you are in life. Good time to think on those bible verses . 🙂 ily
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Izzy, I can so relate as I read your words. I’m so proud of you for just allowing your feelings and doing some processing. Being in nature, the sweet greenness of the mountains and the freshness of the air begins to strip away layers we didn’t even know we had, and things begin to move and what is no longer needed surfaces and can be released when we allow it like you did. And then in their place is new clear space for love, for dreams, for peace. The trail healed our relationship. And it healed my relationship to myself. I’m just so impressed with your willingness to just Be. I believe your journey will be so profound💜
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Oh yes, and that cool Shelter–so cool to see it all green! It was covered in snow when we were there!
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I love reading your blog when I get the chance. It makes me wish I could join you! I love your adventures, your honesty, your courage your love for life. I’ve had many cry days. About once each semester in college I’d close my door, stay in my room and for no reason that I knew of spend several hour crying. The next day was new and good and life would go on! I love that you can be on this adventure! Praying for you!
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