Date: 2004-03-27
From: Cheoah Bald

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

A Day Journal (it's long)It's about 11:30 am and we've covered 5.5 miles of about 14. I've stopped with the Roman Noodles for a lunch break, dried fruit... yay! This is my first day journal, but I felt the need to describe some different people on the trail. Before I do that I will mention 3 things:1. I have now identified a new type of fern called maiden hair fern (I accidentally call it "Angel Hair Fern" but thats a type of pasta).2. I now know the plant galax (pronounced gay-lax), while I originally thought these were lilacs with an alternative lifestyle, they are actually reddish-green leaved plant I had previously, and mistakenly, referred to as blood-root.3. The joy of my journey; How Great? I saw my first snake. As a note the previous 2 sentences are riddled with sarcasm. Snakes make my blood curdle, and while I prefer dead ones to live ones I don't even like them.People groups on the trail:Through Hikers- The 1,500 to 2,000 people who attempt to hike the 2,174 miles of the A.T. in one continuous journey every year. Some do it for reasons of escape, adventure, love of nature, boredom or some combination thereof. Most thru hikers are mildly insane, you have to be to walk 2,100 miles.Section Hikers- Many people dream of hiking the entire A.T. It's hard however, to get 5-7 months free let alone handle all of the ongoing responsibilities of life. Section hikers knock off the A.T. a section at a time. Some take a few years, some take 40, but in the end the goal is the same.Weekend Hikers- These are people who come out for a weekend on the trail. Some weekend hikers are very nice and knowledgable about the trail. Others fall into the idiots, dopers, or drunks categorized below.Spring breakers- College students or in some cases teachers who come on the trail to spend Spring Break vacation.Type 1- Type 1 spring breakers are nice. They may stay up late and be loud but they are good spirited and love fun. On my second day on the trail I met 3 great spring breakers (shart, keri and kelly).Type 2- These fools could be placed in the idiot category below. They usuaully are out only to drink and smoke dope. They like large fires, loud noises, curse words and littering. An example would be the loud idiots who kept the Roman Noodles up by drinking until 4am in the rain and running drunk into the shelter fence.Day Hikers- Day hikers are those who are out for a day. Most are nice; though there are always exceptions. Day hikers often are less familiar with thru-hikers and are more prone to give away food and ask quite interesting questions. Day hikers often have dogs which is cool. I met 2 day hikers today with a beautiful golden retriever.M & M story- How can you tell the difference between a day hiker, section hiker, and a thru hiker? If an M&M is in the trail, a day hiker steps on it, a section hiker eats it and walks on, a thru-hiker eats it then falls to his knees and digs for more.Trail Friends/Buddies- The people you meet and hike with on the trail. Long lasting friendships are often forged in one day on the trail.Trail Hookups- When 2 hikers (usually a male and female) overcome their foul stenches to join together for hiker companionship (e.g. happy and dutch)White Blazers- The A.T. is marked with white blazers (paint stripes). A white blazer is determined to pass every white blaze. This means no shortcuts, loops or side trails. Often there are shortcuts one can take, but a white blazer or "purist" won't. I am a white blazer.Blue Blazers- A blue blaze marks either a trail to water or an alternative path. Blue blazed trails can avoid steep climbs or be part of shelter loops. Blue blazed trails often reunite with the A.T. Blue blazers often figure as long as they walk from Georgia to Maine (or vice versa) its good enough (e.g. happy)Yellow Blazers- Most people on the trial respect white or even to an extent blue blazers. This is not the case with yellow blazers. A yellow blazer is that of the middle of middle of the highway. A yellow blazer skips part of the trail by hitch-hiking ahead (e.g. bill bryson).Brown Blazers- A brown blazer refers not to the a.t. itself but rather to the trail, preferably 100 yards into the woods that a hiker "blazes" to go to deficate (e.g. shrimp, short, or myself).Red Blazers- This is a woman thing.... Enough said.NOBO- Nobo stands for the north bound and is also said GAME. This means Georgia to Maine. 90% of hikers, myself included, are NOBO hikers.SOBO- Sobo is for southbound. Maine to Georgia hikers are fewer and face a difficult begining to their hike.HOBO- A hobo is a hiker who lives on or around the trail. Some are moochers (see below) some are not. These hikers do not necessarilly have a destination, but live on the trail. I met a hiker "smoky mt. steve" who is frequently near the NOC but expressed no destination.Moochers- Moochers are hikers who seek money or other peoples food/water. As with homeless people, a couple of moochers can give hikers a bad name. Sometimes hikers have real needs. Moochers abuse trailmagic for personal gain. I met a hiker "reverend" who seemed to be marching from churches that were hiker-friendly.Racers- These are hikers who speed throug the trail. I once heard that only 10% of hikers who avg over 20 miles per day finish. Many get bad injuries. "Yurtle" is a example of a nice racer, he avgs 25 miles per day... we will see.Pacers- This is the name for hikers who more carefully pace themselves whether slow or fast. 12 miles per day finishes the trail in 6 months. 15.5 per day is 5 months. 8 miles a day and a pacer becomes a "trail snail".Trail Snails- Hikers who are VERY slow. These hikers are often are simply too slow to finish by October 15, when Mt Katahdin Maine is closed to the public.Schizophrenic Hikers- These have a different style every day. They hike 20 miles in 2 days and take 4 zero days the next. Very funny!Zero dayers- People who are in love with doing nothing for a day often go into town and take zero days. Too many zero days greatly reduces a thru-hikers chance to finish. They can also be good and allow recooperation.Boy Scouts (groups of boy scouts or other youth groups in the woods)- Good- Good boy scouts are polite and very knowledgable for their age. They may be young, but they take care of the trail, are friendly and they do not stay up all night.Bad- Bad boy scouts can be heard miles away by their farting noises and whining. A bad boy scout groups leaders are more concened with smoking cigaretes than teaching students about the woods. Loud and obnoxious, these groups scare many hikers from shelters.Drunks- I enjoy a beer or 2. This is NOT the category for me. Drunks are often spoted with 2 Nalgene bottles, one for the hiking day (water) and one for the night (who knows). Some drunkds are fun, most are dangerous due to either carelessness or beligerency. I met a hiker I few to as "bacardi" who loved his 2nd Nalgene.Dopers- Dopers are those who believe that everything in life is better high. Some dopers go out of their way to stay to themselves, but many just light up at the shelter. Whether or not pot should be legal is another story. Dopers packs can be easily be pilfered at 3 AM in the morning .Soapers/Townies- Soapers love showers. So much they go to town/camp every time they can. This is one for of "townies". Townies (not locals) are hikers obsessed with some ammenity of town. This often includes, food, showers, beer, a clean bed, tv. It costs a lot to be a townie. My friend "indianna jane" will hitch in for lunch, but is doing ok so far.Idiots (this category describes a group of people who exist in every realm of life who are generally imbeciles, make moronic decisions, and ofen atempt to ruin your hiking experience)-examples:-Litterbugs- People who throw bottles, candy wrappers, toilet paper all over cmp/the woods. Nonetheless these people are shocked when bears visit.-Pyros... Pyromaniacs- "Huh, huh... fire". Pyros not only love fire but also using alcohol, large amounts of hairspray, fireworks, etc. in their fire. BEWARE-Lumberjacks- These are not idiots in flanel shirts, but people who saw down green trees. Green trees dont burn well, but their loss ruins the woods for future hikers.-BearBait- While this includes the "litterbugs" above, these people do not believe bears are in the woods. they use "bearbags" for pillows. A man "santa the jerk" recently mocked me for hanging my food where a bear could not attack me. These people endanger not just themselves, but all who sleep near them.-Careless Fools- Certain idiots have a clear aura of dont stand within 50 feet of me... im a ticking time bomb They leave fires buring and step on unstable picnic tables. They will break your gear and should be avoided at all costs. I lost a pot stand and bowl of grits to an idiot.-Other (genear imbeciles)- Any other fool doing something in the woods that is so insane, you mush say "what an idiot".Trail Angels- The joy of the trail. A trail angel or t.a. is any person on the trail who is randomly kind to hikers. Last week a t.a. left a cooler of cherry pie and soda on the trail. the hikers i was with were sooo hapy. Trail angels are wonderful!Locals- Type 1 locals are the sweet people who give a town its character. They may ot all be rocket scientists, but their kindness and stories is key to any town visit.Type 2 locals are mildly scary. In the south, type 2 characters seem to be living Jeff Foxworthy characters. In the north these are the people who throw bottles at hikers. I prefer type 1 locals.Hiker Friends- Those who are "hiker friendly". These are people, often past hikers, who watch out for hiker concerns and help hikers out. I have met 3 very hiker friendly hotel operators, Gary, Linnie and Ron from Blueberry patch Hosel and he Haven Motel, repsectively. They were kind, gave advice, offered shuttles, ec. Another famed hiker friend is "Sarge".Yogier- Any person (hiker) who practices the art of yogi-ing. Named for yogi the bear. This is getting food from tourists/others without officially ever asking--look pathetic!Ultra Light Hiker- Hikes with extremely light packs. They cut off all extra fabric and often dont carry stoves or full tents. These hikers have few/no luxuries but very comfy feet.Light weight hiker- Almost ultra lightweight, these hikers still count ounces. All gear is considered for weight and few luxuries are taken. Although my dry pack is 11 lbs. I have taken a bible and camera. This is my category.Mid weight hikers- Hikers with 35-45 lb packs with food. Their feet may hurt some buy they have confort in camp (e.g. the Roman Noodles). Heavy weight hiker or I carry an axe- (see idiots) Hikers who carry massive loads. This makes trip success far less likely. I met on ehiker with a 65 lb pack. INSANE... but I do know a hiker, Red, who thru-hiked with a 60 lb. packI think that's the end of it.Carla's note--- Dang! I hope Shaun doesn't plan on writing many more of these... if he does, I may not post it.