You get what you need

Hiking the trail, I am overwhelmed by how perfectly timing and circumstance work together to bring you exactly what you need when you need it. This feeling hit home last night as I shared a beer and listened to the radio with a south bounder named Zeus, and the radio played the Stone's song: "you can't always get what you want...but you get what you need". Let me explain how we got to that point. Tuesday morning we cross into Vermont,and trekked through the worst mud we've seen yet; my boots took on an extra couple of pounds in water and soil, but my spirits stayed high regardless. I've been looking forward to Vermont, and it has proven to be just as lush, green and beautiful as I could have hoped for. But by the end of the day, I was exhausted, (still recovering from our 23 mile day), and I was so hungry. Sometimes the hunger just creeps up on you and your body needs fuel before your stomach tells you to eat, and by the time you stop to eat, you feel pretty terrible. That's what happened Tuesday night, and then I realized that a strap had come unbuckled and I had lost a pair of socks, the bottom half to my pants, and a cup that I was re hydrating vegetables in. This only compounds my general feeling of doom and gloom, and I sink to the lowest point I've reached on the trail. I cowboy camp outside the shelter that night and sleep very restlessly. In the morning, I backtrack 3.5 miles, and luckily retrieve all my lost possessions. I'm feeling bummed about this set back, because it means we won't make the post office by Saturday at noon, and we'll loose track of some really cool people we've been traveling with. We cook lunch and then it starts to storm. We decide to wait out the rain, and as we wait, Cbass and another guy, (I've forgotten his name), show up and tell us about some hostel they heard about in Bennington, VT, 4.2 miles away. They weren't sure where; all they knew was that an old hippie couple ran it out of their home. This sounds exactly like what we need, so we hike 4 more muddy miles, and stick out our thumbs on route 9. Literally the first car that drives past, stops, and gives us a ride into town, but has never heard of the hostel. I ask many people about this hostel, and no one knows what I'm talking about until finally, a car full of young kids know what we mean, and tell us how to get there. It's not a business; they are just loving people that let hikers shower and stay in a barn that is electrified and furnished with a couch, pool table, radio, chairs, everything you need, and more. They are SO nice and welcoming. Upon arriving, my spirits were instantly renewed. So that's how I came to be listening to the radio, drinking a beer, and totally getting exactly what I needed at that exact time. Life is so beautiful! I Love it! Thank you all for your love and support! ~ Jonathan