Today was amazing. We hiked about 16 miles and ended at my favorite campsite yet. We started the morning pretty early and headed south from the Priest shelter. A few miles into the day we passed by a place called Spy Rock which had a short side trail to a rocky outcropping with 360 degree views. We climbed up and sat to have a snack. My mind raced over thoughts of my life as it usually does. For some reason I thought back on all the stress I had as a kid. I remembered the countless DSS visits we'd had and being told far too many details about court and custody battles. I remembered all the fights that went on at home and between my divorced parents. Or how I'd have to tell the police that my dad wasn't kidnapping me when he was picking me up from my mom's. Or how I'd been kicked out of my house when I was 15 because my dad didn't approve of my high school relationships. All these thoughts and more came in a matter of seconds.

What really was clear through these thoughts was that I never really had a chance to be free as a kid. I don't remember a time in my childhood where I wasn't worried, anxious, or stressed. My thoughts could never just be about school, friends, playing games, etc. Instead I had to sit in school and think about how my dad told me he was going to court again with my mom. Or how I knew that when I came home I was going to get a two hour lecture about how I need to choose one parent over the other. I never felt free. And mainly, I still felt that way today. But in this moment sitting on Spy Rock I felt an overwhelming sense of freedom. It was simple, but profound. I realized that I didn't have to be that anxious kid anymore. The AT, for the first time in my life, has given me a chance to feel total freedom. I felt like I could leave it all behind right there on that mountaintop and just be free.

After we climbed down from Spy Rock I asked Sarah if I could hike alone for a while and I let her go ahead of me. I took my time and enjoyed the feeling of freedom and the lightness that came with it. We hiked until sunset. We ran into Ambush who we hadn't seen in weeks and we had a very nice chat and hugged. It felt nice to know that we'd moved on from the previous drama we had at the start of the AT. After having dinner we pushed a couple more miles and ended our night on a spectacular bald mountain. The sunset was incredible. We set up our tents against the one boulder that sat in the middle of the tall grass in hopes that it might give us some shelter from the wind. I'm thankful for today. I am happy and free.