Date: 2008-03-10
From: Rte 630

To: Rte 601
Miles today: 6.4

For hiking before March 10, see the 2008 Florida Trail Journal.Sunday, March 9, 2008 I leave Chattanooga for Pearisburg. Meet Purple Rose and Purple Sherpa and Dixie along Route 460, and fall in behind them. We stop at the little grocery store in Newport for a few last minute supplies. About 5:30 we pull into the parking area at the Sinking Creek trailhead. A happy reunion, inside the Purples¢ cozy VW camper bus, talking veterinary crises, weddings, presidential politics, and this and that. The 2007-8 presidential campaigns have ignited much interest and debate. A good thing, I think.I retire to the Element to sleep. I can¢t fall asleep right away because (1) I¢m too happy being with these good friends again, (2) I¢m too excited being back hiking the AT and (3) I¢m hearing loud wheezings and whistlings in my chest, and melodic musical rales.Me turning into a wind instrument turns the tables. Now I¢m experiencing what it's like for my hiking buddies trying to sleep while I¢m snoring.The flu I've had isn¢t over yet, and won¢t be for another 10 days. At least, thank goodness, I¢m no longer contagious. (P.S. More good news, Queen Diva didn¢t catch it!)Air is clear, stars are bright, crescent moon. Finally, sleep.Monday, March 10, 2008Hiking south, Sinking Creek trailhead (630) to Rocky Gap (601), 6.4 milesLooking out at hard frost and temps in the low 20¢s, we converse and eat a hot breakfast in the snug VW.The stitching on both of Purple Rose¢s boots, along the outer aspect where the toe crease is, gives out. Purple Sherpa repairs both boots with duct tape.Start 10:15AM, sunny, clouds. BACK ON THE AT!!!! Purple Sherpa takes a photo as Purple Rose and I clamber over our first stile.The AT. A visual joy I try to preserve snapping photo after photo. A physical joy I feel welling up from the trail, through my Crocs and socks, into my feet and legs and body.Again I¢m ¢walking with spring¢ (to use Earl Shaffer¢s phrase), my sixth year of greeting and chasing spring on the AT in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. I hope to do this every year for as long as I live.It warms up to about 40.Nothing¢s out yet, grass mostly straw-colored with hints of dull green. Juniper. Red cedar.We walk through farmland and pasture. Black cows with calves. Purple Rose says her dad raised Black Angus cattle, on his farm back home in Missouri.Purple Rose makes sport of her hydration system mouth piece that keeps falling out of the tube. Good thing I have my raincoat on, she says.We spy donkeys in a field across the road. Purple Rose says people in the neighborhood of their farm in Virginia are buying guard donkeys to protect their livestock from coyotes. Really? How do donkeys protect? Have you ever heard how loud a donkey brays? If the decibel level doesn't scare off the coyote, a donkey charge will. And, if the charge fails, a strike with both front feet will scare it away or worse. The key is to get the donkey bonded with the sheep, so both donkey and sheep see each other as "flockmates".We cross a little bridge over water in which small plants that look like watercress are growing in abundance. We taste these, then remember that pasture is no place to harvest water plants, bathed as they are in pasture runoff. Whoops.There are 6 donkeys grazing. Very friendly. Different colors. All have Hollywood ¢Cleopatra¢ eyes. We scritch them on their foreheads.Temps are in the 50¢s now. What was icy and crunchy underfoot at the beginning of today¢s hike is turning to mud.Lots of fresh trail trimming of cedars and pines, you can see sap running out of the trunk scars.We cross many stiles (forget to count how many).Somewhere between Rte 42 and Laurel Creek Shelter, truly memorable events occur.We come to an abandoned house, in a state of serious decomposition. Black hand prints trace paths on exterior clapboards and interior walls and ceilings. As we explore the outside of the house, an apparition appears in the front doorway. Purple Rose grabs my camera and shoots. Usually ghosts don¢t show up in photos, but this one does.See photos. She¢s ferocious. She thrusts her hands at us. The hand prints on that house and her gloved hands? An uncanny match!After we talk with her a bit, and calm her down, she asks. Would you like me to grant you a wish?Oh yes! we say.Can we win the 2008 Leaf-catching game?That¢s a hard one. I¢m not sure my magic is as strong as the great Stumpknocker¢s. I¢ll try. I'll lead you to two secret locations (Leafy Hollow and Leafy Gap) where leaves fall on the AT in huge quantities, in short periods of time. Show up in mid-to-late fall. You should catch plenty.Oh, thank you, we breathe.I notice the ghost wears Crocs. Smart woman, I think. Then she evanesces.We go inside the house. There¢s a new puddle of water on the floor, and a vibration sound. We think of natural explanations for both. But because whether our wishcomes true rides on the reality of our apparition, we prefer to believe in a supernatural explanation.That ghost is real and she's going to help us!After lingering 45 minutes at the house, we hike on.We reach Laurel Creek Shelter and sign the register. Warren Doyle here on March 5, working on his 15th AT hike. Sgt Rock admonishing ¢no sniveling¢. Moler and Lively. My friend Randy Moler has hiked his way at least this far north from his home in Ceres. Randy will be joining Memere, Gray Feathers, Purple Rose and me in the Smokies next month.Trail passes through mountain laurel and rhododendron stands. Burgundy galax and wintergreen line its sides.As we ascend Johns Creek Mountain, both of us are out of breath. I¢ve got those flu remnants, and Purple Rose has just come down with a cold.I get lightheaded, the dead leaves on the trail seem unnaturally bright, and I have to stop and rest, every 100 yards or so. This is NOT like me! Usually I hustle up ascents. Can¢t wait for this flu to be gone and my energy to return.We leave a voicemail for Purple Sherpa that we¢re way behind schedule. Doubtful, however, that he¢ll get the message. There¢s not much cell signal in this area.Today, a lesson in humility, how it feels to be flummoxed by steep ascents. A lesson like so many others I've learned that I understand ¢in the moment¢, then forget once I¢ve got back my normal energy level, health, cheeriness, or whatever. I know I learned today's lesson many times in my first year of hiking carrying that 55-pound pack. Kinda like childbirth, says Purple Rose.Out at 4PM. 5.75 hours for 6.4 miles! We¢ll have to re-evaluate our ETA for tomorrow, Purple Sherpa. Bear with us!Dinner together in the VW. In the Element by 7:30. I work a couple of Sudoku puzzles and wheeze myself to sleep. Goodnight.