12 April – Rock Gap to Siler Bald Shelter. (7.9 miles)

One of my favorite parts about each day is, as night falls, the moment when from inside my tent I zipper up first the outside tent fly – then retreat a bit further in – and zipper up the tent itself.  Safe.   I savor being in my little tiny world with all my little tiny things just so…

And it is of course a paradox that I am out here on the Appalachian Trail to be in the wide open world of nature.  And indeed I love that too!  I enjoy that all day, hiking the Trail, rolling up and down mountains and valleys under the great blue sky above.

Back to the tent:  What is it about the confines that gives such special satisfaction?  I read an amazing article once in a scientific journal about how most zoo animals feel safe and good in their little spaces, (I’m not kidding- it was a very credible and researched piece)  and I don’t know how to feel about that.  Disappointed somehow?  But glad that I don’t have to feel bad for them too?  Is freedom terrifying to most animals most of the time?  And am I feeling that very visceral pull of the safety of a cave, all these tens of thousands of years later?

The reasons for the fear have subsided for us humans of course but the utter satisfaction of hiding still swims in our DNA. Especially at night.

For just a moment I feel very connected to those millions of poor souls, our ancestors , who really needed that cave, that place to hide and huddle, to protect the family group, to survive another day in their short brutal lives.

I am in a tent next to a river now and it will lull me to sleep tonight as the stars come out, and the cold and dark descend.

And that is something timeless.