Date: 2008-03-30
From: Stealth spot between Hog Camp and Salt Log

To: Fish Hatchery Rd
Miles today: 10.0

Sunday, March 30, 2008Stealth spot between Hog Camp and Salt Log Gaps to Fish Hatchery Rd, 10 miles4:30 AM A persistent sound of pelting fine white sand partially rouses me from deep sleep.   A sandstorm? Here on the AT? It can't be a sandstorm I say to my half-asleep self. Stay in the warmth of your bag until daybreak, and go back to dreamland if you can. I can.5:45 AM How come half my butt is wet and cold? Those aren¢t sand grains, they're little balls of ice, lots of little balls of ice. Still too dark to get up. Awake now, I move my butt off the wet place where the snow melted because I rolled over on a patch of it, and curl up in the dry part of my bag.7AM I¢m up, packed and on my way to Dutch Haus. A good dusting of snow is on the ground and it¢s still coming down pretty good. I¢m snug in my snow clothes, rain jacket over fleece jacket, rain pants, tights, white kerchief, hat, smartwools and Crocs. My hands are a little cold. I didn¢t backpack the wool mittens. I stow my hiking poles and put on the largest pair of gloves, the leather ones, which allow for circulation of warm air around my hands. One at a time I stick a gloved hand under an armpit, glove and air pocket between the leather and my skin warming nicely.I call Lois and she says Vagus and Stride are there! Still in the sack at the moment. That¢ll be fun, to spend more time with Vagus and Stride.I pee. I decide I¢m not going to eat until I have to. I should be out before lunchtime. I¢ve got gingersnaps if I get hungry.North of Salt Log, snow has stopped, wind has died, I can¢t ask for a better day. No bugs, cool enough, in my rhythm, happy being right here right now. Happy about yesterday¢s decisions, continuing on to beautiful Cold Mtn and cowboy camping. With hiking experience, you have more options. On my first AT hike, I was limited by preconceived ideas of where I could bed down and in what daylight and weather conditions I could hike.Daydreaming today. Like Dan.Tread sounds today are like crunching sugar. Not a powdery snow. Crunchy grains of ice.Hello to 3 men, 2 wearing camo, lugging lots of gear. They¢re not hunters. The 2 men wearing camo say they wanted lightweight shells and all they could find was camo. Out for the weekend. They tell me the weather forecast yesterday was for snow to start between 4 and 6 AM this morning. For once, a forecast has nailed it.Stop for a drink. My water solution has crystals in it that make my sinuses hurt. Have to drink it slow.2 footprints in the snow going my way, one large like a man¢s boot print, one small like a woman¢s boot print.I get confused by all the red paint marking boundaries or trees to be cut in the woods near Fish Hatchery Rd. I go farther north towards the Priest. There¢s the sign.Follow the road down, down, down to the yellow gate. There¢s the Hatchery. That looks the same. I pick up some trash along the road and take it to the recycle center which is right on the way.A mockingbird sings.Down into ¢downtown¢ Montebello, route tastefully blue-blazed by Earl. Turn onto Fork Mtn Rd. There¢s Earl in the 2008 tangerine Element coming to pick me up.Lots of conversation. Especially with Lois, who is like a sister. Little Earl is still in the throes of tax season during which time he lives in the basement. Tax season¢s almost over for this year. :- ))I luck out in a game of Super Scrabble with Vagus and Stride, getting all the good letters.Wonderful meals by Lois. I more than make up for my calorie deficit this morning.I show physician-of-tomorrow, Vagus, the rashes on my legs. His theory: dead poison ivy leaves are mingled with other dead leaves from last year.   Particles of these, still containing urushiol, are getting in contact with my skin through the pores in my tights.We compare feet. Vagus is obviously jealous of my Croc-callused foot-soles. Gee, you can walk around on just about anything, he says. You¢re young and still tender, I say. I¢m calcified.It¢s early in the hiking season and I don¢t yet know if I¢ll be finishing hike #2 in Sept as hoped, but if I do do what¢s planned, Lois and Earl, could you loan me a DH bathrobe to wear up Katahdin?Absolutely! We¢ll send one to you in Maine. That¢s settled. No more Katahdin what-to-wear worries.I like talking with Big Earl. He¢s in charge of the DH garden. I tell him the one at Bears Den will soon be planted by Marie. He better keep up.Big Earl is a wood carver. He¢s carved a wood duck out of redwood. Also an eagle. When he took the wood duck to be painted, the woman said to him what kind of duck is this? A wood duck. I know, but what kind of duck is this. It¢s a wood duck. I KNOW, but what KIND of duck is it? A WOOD duck.