Date: 2004-06-12
From: Wapiti Shelter, VA

To: Ever the Purist
Miles today: 16.2

It rained last night but I remained dry, albeit clammy, in the hammock.This morning, like the previous morning, the forest remained shrouded in a mist with droplets of water falling from the trees. There was no wind to clear the air.Some deer showed up at the periphery of the shelter area. They were licking on the ground where people had taken pees in order to consume the salt. Zip Off joked that the deer had a preference for Kato's piss. I had seen these deer doing the same thing last night. This morning, I made a point of remembering the exact spot where I took a pee. It did not take long for a deer to find the spot and partake of my salt.I read some of the entries in the trail register at this shelter and at the next shelter where I stopped for lunch.A hiker named Freebird wrote an entry about a wonderful time camping by the waterfall which I had not visited yesterday. Reading his entry gave me pause for reflection. I wondered if perhaps I am not enjoying¢or allowing myself to enjoy¢the natural settings of this trail as much as I could. Lately, I seem more concerned with practical matters like getting to a shelter before it rains, or hiking an adequate number of miles per day.I need to make some changes to my gear that will enable me to better deal with the rain and subsequently find a greater pleasure in the surroundings. Accordingly, I need to obtain some hiking sandals to wear during the rain; they would enable me to keep dry my shoes and socks for later walking. I need a larger rain tarp for my hammock; the extra protection would create additional space under the hammock for cooking and accessing my gear. A larger tarp would enable me to camp away from the shelters, like I sometimes did with my teepee tarp. I will look into these changes during my next town visit beginning tomorrow.Another hiker penned a long entry into a register. One sentence read, "The storm has overtaken me and my spirit is failing." This hiker shared his struggle with loneliness, and a "loosing battle to stay the course." I appreciated the honesty of his remarks.Another hiker named Santa penned in five oversized letters followed by single words. It read something like this:B - BasicI - InstructionsB - BeforeL - LeavingE - EarthThis person usually pens Christian messages into the registers. I am told that he is a young man who is hiking the Appalachian Trail with a religious zeal and minimal supplies. He apparently got his trail name, Santa, because he started hiking with only a sack resting across his shoulders. I have not met him, but will probably run into him somewhere along the way because his entries are dated recently.At 10:59¢I actually checked the time on my watch¢I felt a breeze. A second breeze occurred a few minutes later. After that, there was no relief from the damp air. A breeze is a welcomed relief when I am ascending a slope and sweating profusely. My shoes and socks became soaked from the wet conditions on the trail. At lunch, I changed into my dry pair of socks because I knew that later in the day I would be visiting a town for rest and resupply. The wet socks were ratty and permeated with grains of sand and mud. I decided to never wear that pair of socks again. A woman hiking southbound with a dog passed by. She remarked how beautiful the forest looked with the mist permeating it. Hearing this, I again questioned whether I am becoming too hung up with practical matters and not appreciating the beauty of the forest I am passing through.Later in the afternoon, I ascended a slope which led me to a wooded ridgeline. Here, a breeze funneled the mist through the trees and cooled me off.Along this stretch of trail, I stopped and chatted with Zip Off and Kato. I mentioned to them my concern about placing too much emphasis on practical concerns and not paying enough attention to the positive aspects of the areas through which we were hiking.Zip Off replied that it takes a certain discipline to hike on this trail. I interpreted his remark as an affirmation that a hiker must emphasize practical matters if he wishes to successfully hike the length of the Appalachian Trail.Late in the afternoon, I descended a steep slope of a mountain which led into Pearisburg, Virginia. During the descent, my feet were getting especially sore, notably the area around the toes.I followed a road which led to a parking lot where Zip Off and Kato had parked their truck several days ago. They offered to drive me over to the hostel in town.Before driving off, Zip Off mentioned to Kato and I that we had skipped part of the trail when we had approached the parking lot. We should have taken a different turn and looped about 1\3 of a mile along the official route of the Appalachian Trail. Hearing this, I walked off to make up the difference. It was starting to rain so I had to hustle to get back to their truck. After walking a short ways, I realized that my backpack was not on my back. The pack had been placed in the pickup truck. Ever the purist, I turned around, retrieved the backpack, and then walked along the short and official part of the trail which I had overlooked. Zip Off and Kato got a laugh out of this display of purism. It is my goal to carry my backpack all the way from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. I did not want to slack pack a 1/3 mile stretch here in Pearisburg, Virginia.We drove over to the Holy Name Hostel but the place was full with hikers. So we booked our rooms in a motel.Kato described the motel as a working man's motel. It is three sided with a large parking lot in the middle. Many of the vehicles in the parking lot are older models. There are two tiers of rooms facing the parking lot. The guests are partying on the upper tiers, with country music coming through the open doors to their rooms. Some of the patrons hanging out around here, on the tiers, are men with partially shaved heads, or men with long hair and pony tails. Confederate symbols are in evidence. The scene, especially with the tiers on three sides, reminds me of a prison.It might be a tad loud outside my room, but given my exhaustion from hiking, I anticipate sleeping like a log tonight.