Today’s Miles: 18.7
Total Miles: 1,010.9
Umbukta – August 13, 2016
Rain drains off me as I stand by the road. The cold seeps in through the seams of my jacket. I walk back and forth to stay warm, watching a distant curve of road to know when I need to stand still, pull my hood back, and smile past the cold.
I watch cars pass for hours, slowly inching my way down the road, not because I think of walking the 35 kilometers to the grocery stores in Mo i Rana, but to stay warm as the rain saps away at me.
The grocery store is bigger than any I’ve been in. I wonder through the aisles, fill my cart, and race back to the road, hoping to get back to the trail before night. I stand for an two hours as darkness creeps in and the trickle of cars dwindles to nothing. Then I slink off into the woods to camp and hope for better luck in the morning.
After dinner, I sit in my tent, wrapped up in my sleeping bag, and eating a chocolate bar as rain falls through the trees and runs down the nylon walls.
“A thousand miles behind me,” I tell myself as I break off another piece of chocolate to celebrate.
