Date: 2004-03-23
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: clear sky

The Trail led steep up Blood Mountain, breaking again and again into flights of rugged stone stairs. Even the soil was frozen as hard as concrete, colder still in the shadow of the mountain. I seem to be getting a bit more in shape; I could keep a slow but steady climb with no pauses for breath.   Finally only Danny, the young hiker I'd been passing and being passed by for two days, was still with me. We hiked together over the crest and partway down before he pulled ahead of me again this time for good.The descent was even more rugged, passing through wide slabs of exposed bedrock with the white blazes painted on the stone instead of trees to mark the way on and off the slabs. There began long gentle switchbacks that made for fast hiking mixed with even more rugged stone steps and scrambles through boulders.   Several times I had to take both poles in one hand to free the other to help me slide down steps too high for my knees to step down safely.For some time I heard the unfamiliar sound of passing cars and trucks. When I finally saw the roadway I let out a whoop. I was nearly there! Moments later I was signing up for a bunk, then spent the morning buying food, showering and doing laundry.   I ran into Danny and we agreed to put our laundry together. We keep running into each other anyway. Good thing I already have a Trail Name; having a Danny and a Danie hiking at once would be pretty confusing!Things have gone well so far, even if a bit cold. In the store they said a hiker's thermometer up on Blood Mountain the previous morning read 9 degrees! So it must have been in the teens where I was. Still, there are higher mountains and it could get colder still, as well as wet.   So I reluctantly splurged $80 on a sleeping bag cover and accepted the extra one and a quarter pounds in weight. Freezing to death is not a happy thought, and a warm sleeping bag is the last refuge in an emergency.Still, the extra weight rankles a bit. Most of the rest of my equipment performed pretty well. I did have trouble with my Smartwool socks gathering between my toes and the balls of my feet. Too much of that is sure to cause blisters, so I bought a pair of the next smaller size to see if that helps.I have not had a single blister or any serious aches or pains. My Ibuprofin stays unused in my pack. But I have probably been pushing much harder than is wise. It got me a bunk today, but I doubt that I should make a habit of it any time soon.   Too much too soon and I risk an injury. It was only last month I was doing physical therapy for a stretched hamstring and on the trainride from Philadelphia I had such shooting pains, I limped to the porter's station for ice to sooth it. So I really ought not to push my luck.   I also should stop skimping on food, one can't keep that up too long on the Trail either. Well, with my new "security blanket" I can worry less about cold nights.The outfitter here reminds me of "Clean Sweep", the show where professional organizers ruthlessly force people to abandon their clutter. If one asks for help reducing pack weight, they are just as thorough here. Cotton clothes? Replace them! Heavy stove? Replace it with a featherweight alcohol one. They will let you keep ONE luxury item, the rest goes home. One hiker in our group dropped 18 pounds from his pack! Other hikers need less help but are glad to send home boxes of excess gear. Every year they ship home vast numbers of boxes.I solved another mystery that afternoon. When I arrived at Neels Gap I noticed my glasses were rubbing my ear painfully. On examination I found a rough spot just as if they had been scrapped against a rock. This was odd since they had never left my head except to lay in my tent or safe inside a boot at night. Then I remembered the mouse I'd heard poking around my boots the previous night. That mouse must have chewed my glasses! I'd heard of them holing fabic and shredding toilet paper for nests, but never eating glasses!That evening anyone who wanted was shuttled to an all you can eat buffet in a nearby town. There I filled up on veggies and cottage cheese. Vitamins and calcium are hard to find in Trail food, which is heavy on fat protein and carbohydrates.By the time we'd all spent the day cleaning and laundering, having a meal together, watching a video of a movie and were going to bed the roomful of people no longer felt like strangers. We have acculterated into the thru-hiker community, a literal extended family that stretches out each year along the length of the Appalachian Trail.