Date: 2017-09-09
To: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

9/9Jim and Molly Denton shelter10 milesThe smoke shifted direction slightly. Less of it filled the shelter. This didn't diminish my headache. But worse was the leg pain. Not smoke related, of course. As I relaxed on my sleeping pad, new parts of my legs would speak up with painful clarity. I massaged spasms around my hips, knees, quads, and calves. I'm not sure if it was yesterday's slightly higher mileage or my body getting used to the trail again, but it sucked. The fast young sobos who stayed at the shelter last night were planning for a 24 mile day plus a town stop for groceries. They got up well before dawn. It was nice not to be first. I rolled over to snooze a little more but also got up before dawn. I shoved everything in my pack and walked to the old Dick's Dome shelter to make breakfast away from the smoke. My headache called for intervention so I took Advil. I don't like to do that before hiking but you gotta do what you gotta do. I've been thinking about a snippet of conversation I had with that neophyte hiker. He asked me what I carried for protection. I said I carried nothing. He was carrying a handgun and bear spray. I asked him if he carried at home, and he said yes. He always carried. Everyone at home did. He said he would rather do anything than kill someone. That seems not quite true, else why carry a killing tool? I think it's problematic because carrying it changes your point of view. It's always there. Every interaction carries the possibility of gunfire. In light of that, paranoia would seem to me to be hard to avoid. At some level you must view everyone you meet as a possible enemy. I don't see how that could not taint your view of the world. I know some former military folks who always carry. They fought in war zones and now they never truly feel safe. It's a reasonable response to that trauma, but I don't think it's a reasonable way to live if you haven't lived through that. I think those folks are permanently injured. They should be cherished for their sacrifice and we should care for them with their past in mind. But I don't want their mindset to spread to the general population. Living in fear and suspicion puts distance between people. We already have too much distance. We already see those around us as Other. We need to see those around us as Us. In lighter news, the weather today was spectacular. It's the kind of weather that makes you glad to be alive. It was a wonderful temperature for hiking. I cruised along at about two miles an hour, feeling great once the Advil kicked in. I texted JD to let him know I was ahead of schedule. He met me five minutes after I got to our planned meeting point. He whisked me away to Spelunkers in Front Royal for lunch. The food tasted great but the company was what really appealed. He dropped me back off at the trail with the bag of supplies I had packed before I left. Partway up the first hill, my body let me know that maybe a big greasy lunch hadn't been my best idea ever. I battened down the hatches and instituted code brown protocols. I held it together until I reached the shelter and it's beautiful, beautiful privy. It really is a nice privy, actually. That's not just me talking out of my butt. It was only three but I called it a day. This shelter is one of the nicest on the trail. There's a lovely deck on the front with an Adirondak bench. And a solar shower, a piped spring, horseshoe pits, mowed grass.. I've stayed at worse motels. Granted, most motels have four walls.