The Tennessee Turnpike

Miles: 16 Today I learned Modelo, my friend from Taiwan, must go home for important family reasons. We met day one and hiked from Hawk Mountain together so its news that weighs heavy on my heart. At the end of the day the trail will always be around but family and people come first no matter what. So tomorrow we’re crossing over into Damascus VA and staying at a hostel there. So luckily I’m still going to have another full day with him. The past few days we’ve been hiking together and our conversations have been getting better. It broke me when he gave me his remaining gas from his cooking stove and his special patch he brought from Taiwan. Anyways tomorrow is his last day and I’ll dedicate the post tomorrow to him as well. Our day consisted of what is called the Tennessee Turnpike. It’s called this because it’s a relatively flat and easy part of the trail. Two older thru hikers I met, Bobcat and Condor decided to do the Damascus Marathon and hike from the shelter we started at 26…