Bad Neighborhoods and Busy Highways

This morning we slept in until about 6am at the room. Or I suppose you could say 5am, depending on what time zone we’re going by. We slept in eastern time and are heading  back into central time to began walking again. Then we got packed up at the room and headed down to see Fresh Ground. He had breakfast and coffee waiting for us. What a guy!

After that we loaded into the van and headed back to where we finished up yesterday afternoon. Then began another day of road walking! Making our way through Alabama. We should be doing the Alabama road walking for the next 5 days, then arriving at the Pinhoti trail toward the middle end of next week. I’m so excited to be back on some actual trail! And climb my first mountain of the year.

The sunrise this morning was beautiful.

It wasn’t even dark out when we began walking around 6am central time. Then we just continued along the road for a couple of hours. When we passed by one of the next gas stations we saw Fresh Grounds van. So we walked across the street to see him. I was talking to my mom on the phone just before that briefly. But the had to run, so we’ll continue our chat later on today.

The sun rising up over the road as we walked the road.


The people inside the gas station were ridiculously nice and asked us loads of questions. Fresh Grounds always talks us up to everyone we come across. Telling them what we’re doing and how far we’ve come. The ladies inside wanted to take a picture of us to post on their local Facebook page. And even gave us sausage egg and cheese biscuits on the house! While we sat there I drank a chocolate milk. Then took the breakfast sandwich on the road as we continued along. I was hardly even hungry, but I know I can use all of the calories that I can get.

Heading toward Dothan this morning.

So while we walked I forced myself to eat the sandwich. Which was delicious! The biscuit was so soft. I’m trying to do my best to eat as much as humanly possible right now. I know I’ve already lost a few pounds from this last month. But I also intentionally put on a little bit of weight before this hike started. Knowing that you normally lose a handful of pounds pretty quickly at the start of a thru hike.

This morning my mom sent me this blast from the past! A photo of me at the PCT terminus in 2017. It was my first ever thru hike or backpacking trip and I was 21 years old.

Signing the trail register at Campo in 2017. I had no idea what was to come!

Then we just kept on walking the road, heading into Dothan. I listened to some music while I walked. Then got a blog and a video up for the day. Only an hour or so later we passed by another dollar general. There hasn’t really been any wooded areas or bushes, so I really needed to pee. That’s a hard aspect of road walking at times. You can’t just pee wherever you want to when you’re walking along a road.

Fresh Ground was there at the dollar general when we arrived. He had gotten some cotton candy grapes so I ate a few of those. Then stretched super quick before we continued along. We’re going to stop off for lunch in Dothan, so we wanted to push on to get there before stopping next. The road that we were walking on was pretty busy. But there was a large shoulder to walk along. Then once we got closer to town we got onto a nice paved sidewalk for the rest of the way.

Making our way through Dothan, headed in the general direction of Montgomery, Alabama.

By the time that we got into Dothan it was only around 10:30am. Another super early day! I was barely even hungry, but we went right past a chic fil a. Punisher and I have been talking about chic fil a since going through Tallahassee. But the only one there was a little bit out of the way. So now was our chance. Fresh Ground met us there and we all sat inside to eat lunch together.

Fresh Ground, Punisher, and I at chic fil a.

I got a spicy deluxe chicken sandwich with waffle fries. Then got this frozen key lime lemonade drink which looked tasty. It tasted just like key lime pie! It was like key lime lemonade blended with vanilla ice cream. That was so delicious! I ate everything, managing to take down about 1300 calories in about 15 minutes. Today might be the best I’ve done all year when it comes to my along down calories. And I’m quite proud of that. I know that I need to be eating a whole lot to balance out the 3,000-4,000 calories that we’re burning per day.

This frozen key lime lemonade with ice cream was unreal!

Once we finished up inside we headed out to the van. I grabbed a charging brick for my phone and then sat on the curb to stretch. And one of the ladies working at chic fil a hollered over to ask if we were thru hikers. Then she recognized Fresh Ground! Apparently it’s always been a dream of hers to hike the Appalachian trail. So Fresh Ground let her know where we would be winding up this evening so that she could come and say hello and talk trail if she wanted to.

Then we got back on the road and continued to make our way through Dothan. The part of town that we had just walked through was quite nice. There were tons of stores and restaurants. The we walked through the Main Street area, which was quiet and historic. That was pretty cute. But as we continued along we got out of the nice side of town and headed into a very run down area. I think it was even worse than Perry.

Walking in the grass because there was no longer a shoulder to walk in.

We walked for an hour or two through a really seedy area on the outskirts of Dothan. It was a little bit wild. But having spent many years living in cities, and particularly living in some rougher neighborhoods, it wasn’t something that made me uncomfortable. But I could see how someone else might have felt that way. Especially if they have never lived in a city or a “bad neighborhood” before. We just continued along though without any issues. The biggest issue was that sense the area wasn’t great, none of the establishments allowed customers to use the bathrooms. Which I also understand. But that wasn’t ideal. So. I just had to wait for a while until we got into a busier area again with more stores.

By around 1pm we were out of the rough part of town and back in a busy shopping area. There was all kinds of stores, restaurants, and other businesses. And eventually we even got back onto a sidewalk again! Though it was a brief experience. We even walked right past a porta potty at one point so I could finally go pee. That was quite convenient.

Drinking a road side sprite, waiting for Fresh Ground.

Then the sidewalk ended and we were back walking along the shoulder or in the grass next to the road. Depending on traffic or how wide the shoulder was. It wasn’t too bad though. I’m so used to the road at this point. It really doesn’t even bother me at all. I could see how all of the road noise or cars whipping past could get to someone. But we’ve done more road walking this past month than anything else. I don’t even mind anymore. Luckily though we only have less than 200 miles of road walk remaining before we hit the Pinhoti! Where we will still have to do something more road walking. But will at least get to experience some trail in between.

Not long after that we stopped off quickly at a McDonald’s so that I could fill up my water bottle. We wouldn’t be going by another gas station or anything for 4-5 more miles after that. Then the road continued to be just as busy, but we didn’t keep going by any more stores for a while. This road was really rough to walk along as well. For the last couple of hours there was basically no shoulder to walk on. So we just had to walk on the lumpy grass.

The sun beginning to go down as we wrapped up another long day.

Then when there was a shoulder it had a large rumble strip on it, which made it really annoying to walk. The left side of the rumble strip is too narrow. And the right side leaves you too close to close to traffic. It wasn’t ideal!

Around 3pm we passed by a gas station and Fresh Ground said he was on his way. I grabbed a sprite inside and then we sat in the shade and waited for Fresh Ground. We all hung out there for a little bit before continuing on. There was another 6 or so miles to go for the day to get to the next gas station. That would make for an easy place to get picked up at the end of the day. Fresh Ground is going to bring us to a KOA to tent tonight. There really isn’t anything alongside this busy highway.

The road was super busy and narrow for those next couple of hours. Fresh Ground walked with us for a mile or so after we left that gas station. That was fun! Then we got onto a narrow bridge and he headed back to the van. It wasn’t the worst road walking ever, but certainly wasn’t the most enjoyable. And we’re going to be on this exact same road for 80 more miles as we head up toward Montgomery.

Punisher and Fresh Ground walking alongside the road.

This isn’t the same route that I took on the Alabama road walk last time. That route was much less direct. But took you on quieter back roads and past more churches and cemeteries. So there were more options for camping. By it prolonged the road walk by a significant mileage. Doing this shorter route just makes more sense to us currently. And luckily Fresh Ground came out to support because he knew this would be a more difficult area. Especially for camping. It’s been a godsend having him around the last couple days. Being able to get a ride to a camp site or a room at the end of the day is unreal. Otherwise we would be doing some questionable stealth camping just off the highway, while trying to avoid private property

Our adorable camp at the KOA! There was a pond right next to us with cute colorful lights surrounding it.

Around 5pm we wrapped the day up and made it to the next gas station. Fresh Ground was there waiting for us. Then drove us 10 miles down the road to a KOA where he could park and we could tent for the night. I’m definitely “glamping” this time around on the Alabama road walk. Last time around though I was a bit more flexible with mileage. I didn’t mind doing a slightly shorter day to end at a church or other place to camp. This time though we’re really trying to hit a mileage goal around 30 miles every day.

Fresh Ground set up to make dinner for us.

Once we got to the KOA we got our tents set up. Then Fresh Ground started to make spaghetti with sauce and garlic bread for dinner. We even had a surprise guest for dinner! Shep! A Chaplin who serves hikers around the Alabama road walk, Pinhoti trail, and Appalachian trail. I met him for the first time on the Pinhoti trail. Then again at trail days the last 2 years. He was also at the Florida trail kick off. But is local to the area so he came out to join us for dinner.

This was probably one of the coolest camp sites I’ve ever set my tent up at. The lights over the pond beside our tents looked awesome.

It was a nice time talking with everyone and enjoying a delicious dinner. Fresh Ground brought the fire pit out after dinner and we sat by that for hours. It was a really awesome way to end another 31 mile day. After a while Shep headed home. Then we stayed up joking around for a bit longer before calling it a night. I swear I laughed more today than I ever have in my life.

Around 9pm we finally called it a night. Then I got some video work done and writing before going to bed.

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Comments 13

  • Thru-reader : Feb 2nd

    We’re missing a post — last one was day 30 ending at a campground.

    Reply
  • Lish : Feb 2nd

    Thank you for another terrific post- so glad you guys are having a blast while roadwalking!

    Reply
  • Jamie : Feb 2nd

    Wow!!! This hike is ALREADY Epic!! What an absolutely fantastic crew! I am loving the posts and find myself anxiously awaiting each new post!! Fresh Grounds is the HOF trail angel of all time! He totally rocks!

    My wife and I used to have some really close friends who lived in Dothan. We used to drive there and visit them twice yearly! There are some VERY sketchy places in Dothan. Thank the Lord that Punisher and Fresh Grounds are with you! We’re pushing 70 years old, or we’d be joining you to start off.. Stay fresh! Stay Safe! Peace Out!

    Reply
  • Old Man Paul : Feb 2nd

    Awesome post and congratulations on reaching ‘Bama. You two and Fresh Ground are a great team and are making lifelong memories. Just a note… both of you might consider wearing fluorescent shirts like Fresh Ground wears while on the roads. We don’t want to see you hit by a distracted driver.
    Be safe and God Bless.

    Reply
  • Devilhorn : Feb 3rd

    Hey Peg Leg – what tents are you all using in that pic by the pond with the cool lights?

    – keep on postin’!

    🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

    Reply
    • Peg Leg : Feb 3rd

      A zpacks plex solo!!

      Reply
  • Ronald L Mittelman : Feb 3rd

    As always, really enjoying your journey. Thanks so much for posting. Fresh Ground is quite a guy. A true human being.

    Be well. Keep on keeping on my friend. Hope to run into you and Fresh Ground when you’re in Central VA.

    Dothan worse than Perry??? LOL…… Flip a coin, eh?

    Cheers.!!

    Reply
  • Will Ludwig : Feb 3rd

    I’ve been following you and Punisher since Day 1 and congrats on finishing Florida. I never thought 30 miles / day was going to work when you were back in Big Cypress, but I didn’t know the trail followed so many roads. Still a very impressive feat. I Thru hiked the AT in 81 and can’t wait to see you get there.
    You do a great job of posting locations so I enjoy following the weather and the trail on google maps. GoodLuck.

    Reply
  • Dan D : Feb 3rd

    Hey PL love the post and especially the blast from the past picture from 2017. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you wearing boots instead of trail runners! Because of some foot problems I wear strictly mid boots. When did you switch or was that just a Pacific trail thing? They kind of look like Oboz, might go to.

    Reply

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