Date: 2003-07-19
From: Humpback Visitors center

To: Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: light rain

start Humpback Visitors Centerdestination Rockfish GapAnother day of slack packing for us. We have both gotten sucked into Rusty's Hard Time Hollow. Now you may wonder how one could get sucked into staying at a place that has no electricity, no indoor plumbing, your bed is a bunk made of plywood with a cheap foam mattress in a room with no windows. But, you have a wood heated hot tub to soak in while you gaze up at the millions of stars visible. You can sit and watch the deer come out of the woods in the evening. There is no artificial stimulation, or distractions. You sit and interact with other people, and relax. Anyway, we got sucked in.... I am very much aware today of how light I feel today. Not to have a pack on my back makes such a difference. I am reminded (again)of how the Lord stands ready to take our burdens and cares from us. I too often neglect to take them to him, or to leave them with him. I pass through the remains of an old settlement. I look for the cemetary, but it is overgrown and hidden from the eyes that pass this way. I take a picture of the remains of a cabin. All that is left is two rock corner walls and a fireplace. I try to envision the family that lived there, a tiny one room house tucked into the side of a mountain. I meet Mudbutt for lunch. We sit atop a huge rock and discuss the trail, the fun that we are having, the people we are meeting and the things we are seeing. The rest of the day goes by pretty fast and before I know it I am walking out onto a highway. I am always suprised whenever I come out of the woods and off of the trail right into civilization. I think and feel that I am in the middle of no where and in reality I am very close to town. I grab a cold drink free to hikers from the Rockfish Gap Visitors Center and check my email. I only had 3 and was disappointed. I was hoping for several messages from friends. I also call home and talk to my sweetie. He is getting ready to go to New Orleans to run my favorite run the Swamp Run. You literally run through a swamp and at the end a fire truck hoses the leaches and poison ivy off of you. I am momentarily homesick. I realize that I have missed yet another favorite activity. One that had been a regular event. I think about all the things I am missing at home, my husband, my children, my grandchildren. Even thoughts of my home sends my heart into a mini panic. I realize that I will probably be a different person when I complete the trail. I just wonder how and in what way things will be different. Before I can get too distraught Rusty comes to pick us up. We are having sloppy joes for dinner tonight along with fried potatoes. We stop at the YMCA and pick up three more hikers to take back to the hollow. I feel priviledged when Rusty allows me to help him cook on his wood stove. He fills me in on the fine workings of it. The skillet I am cooking hamburger in is a monstrosity. I have never seen such a big skillet. It is probably 24 inches in diameter. The potatoes are sliced and Pirate is put in charged of frying them on a gas stove outside. Rusty has his own special way of cooking sloppy joes, and we are rewarded by delicious tasting sandwiches. Our plates are piled high with fried potatoes also. We all eat until we are too stuffed to move. It is almost dark when Rusty goes down the hill and fires up his hot tub. When the water is almost ready, he calls Mudbutt and I to come get in. His Amish religion dictates that women and men do not mingle in situations like this. I am very glad that Mudbutt and I are to be the first ones to get in the hot tub. We sink down into the warm water, heated by wood, and gaze up into the open night sky. There are no city lights to keep the stars out of sight. Without those lights, there seem to be triple the number of stars usually visible to the human eye. Too soon it is time to let the guys have there turn, so we get out and head to our room. We have steam rising off of our bodies as we make our way up the hill. Lightning from a far away storm sends flashes across the sky. What a great way to end another day.total miles 8.8