Date: 2007-06-12
From: Big Meadows Campground

To: Pass Moutain Hut
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Note for Readers: from Birdlegs' Transcriber:I have been out of town for a week, and I have received two large updates from Birdlegs. I will try to get these posted as quickly as possible. Sorry for the delay.What does the hiker hobble look like? Picture River Dance on qualudes, and you've pretty much got the idea. Bad Influence and I are nearing the end of our Odyssey of fried food in the Shanandoahs, and to facilitate the almost non-stop gorging, we had to hike less than lazy miles the past two days. My body (well, pretty much everone's) gets a little contankerous when I pull anything past 17 miles. It gets stiff and tired, and I walk around like I've had a Nancy Kerigan job done on my knees. When I get to camp or go to town, the stiffness vanishes. It's like my body is a lazy horse who fakes a limp to get out of working. I have to wonder is my body conspiring against me?Today was awesome. We ate a massive breakfast at Big Meadows and got a pleasantly late start on the day, stopping at Skyland for a massive lunch. We found the world's friendliest horse at the stable before Skyland, and I promised him that I'd be back with wirecutters to spring him out of the pasture if he helped to carry my pack on the uphills. Right after Skyland, the view from Stony Man Mountain blew my mind. The valley below was dappled in light peeking through the cumulous clouds, and the parkway looked like a black ribbon threading through the gaps. To add to the day, we happened upon a picnic pavillion 5 minutes before a short but fierce rainstorm. TK Express were hanging out under the roof as well, and the four of us hopped off the AT to walk through the Mary Rock Tunnel on the Parkway after the storm had passed. TK Express, Bad Influence, Jim E Crickett, Dash, Mangrove, J Beard, and I are at Pass Mountain and a storm is rolling through whos thunder is making the boards on the shelter floor vibrate.Bad Influence will be finishing the first half of his hike soon and will be returning home to his wife and job in Vermont. He's been mulling over what he's learned from the hike. It's good to hear what he has to say, and it make me reflect on what I've gained from the trip so far. It's like a little AT-personal-growth-checkpoint-Charlie popping out of a booth and forcing me to think about my hike. This is good. One of the big things I've noticed out here is that competitive and type-A behavior arent' good on the trail. These behaviors are celebrated off of the trail (especially in NYC) and mark an individual who possesses them as "successful". Out here, however, they are out of place and counter-productive (and even a bit annoying). It seems as though the big wave of type-A people have raced past me and the folks left are those who, like me, appreciate naps, taking snack breaks at scenic overlooks, and generally stopping to smell the proverbial roses. We're going to Maine, but we're taking our sweet time. The only time I pull big miles is if there's a good meal in front of me, a thunder storm behind me, or if I'm taken by the sheer beauty of my body's mechanics which allow me to walk near-marathon distances over moutains.