Date: 2005-04-26
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Sams Gap
Miles today: 19.0

Some days out here are less than wonderful, and today was one of those less than wonderful days. To begin with, when I went to bed last night it was about 40 degrees, and I was pretty cold. I went ahead and fixed the sleeping bag all tight, only to wake up at 11:30 drenched in sweat. My clothes and sleeping bag were soaked. When that happens there's not much you can do. You can open the bag up and try to air it out. I spent all night freezing my ass off with the bag partially open and flapping it to get my body heat to dry it out. I didn't get alot of sleep- between that, and my right knee is giving me alot of problems and pain from skidding around on the ice and snow the day before. Any kind of lateral movement on my knee is bad news, and I had plenty of that on the snow day. I'm still glad I walked out in the snow, instead of hiding in town like some other people did. It was very adventurous, very cool and very exciting. Being from Florida I dont get to see snow very often. Right now I can hear the coyotes singing in the hills somewhere. My knees gave me alot of difficulty today on the downhills especially. It would just not support my weight. I had to walk slowly to try to use it, to try to walk it out, with not alot of effect to it. My morning stop I took a Vicodin and a Tylenol. It's the first Vicodin I've used on the Trail so far. I really don't want to get in the habit of using them, but they helped alot with the pain. That stop was only a couple of minutes - long enough to use the bathroom and take my pills, and get moving again.The first part of the morning was actually a pleasant hike. There were some uphills, but also alot of flat level Trail free of roots, rocks, and snow. At the higher elevations there was still snow, there weren't many places that it messed up the Trail, but still 3-4 inches in some higher places. I didnt really stop very much all day. A few times I stopped to grab a cigaror to take a drink of water. My first real stop was at 2:30 at Hogback Ridge Shelter and I had already done 15 miles. I was really afraid that if I stopped my legs would cool down and I'd be in pain.I made pretty good time. I made it to Hogback Ridge Shelter at 2:30, it was packed as hell and too early to stop. I ate my package of lemon garlic tunafish and started walking again with the intention of walking 3-4 miles to the diner at Sams Gap. I wanted to get some 'real' food and get out of there. I got out on to 26 the new road here. The route had changed from the last time I was here, The Diner was not in the same place anymore. I got picked up fast hitchhiking. This guy Walter gave me a ride to the diner, only to find it closed. He offered me a ride back to the Trail, before I left, he asked me "Have you ever considered letting Christ into your life?" I spent 5 minutes listening to him tell me about how Jesus had turned his life around and how I should consider taking Christ into mine. It's a hard situation being in, sitting in someone's car, listening to them talk about something you don't want to discuss. Just as I got back on the Trail, a bunch of hiker's I haven't seen yet popped out, so obviously Im catching up. The Seattle Crew was there, and I gave them the bad news about the diner being closed. I got right back on the Trail with the intention of finding water and a level place to pitch my tent. It was 4:30, I was tired and in pain and it was time to stop. A couple of miles out of Sams Gap, I found a place. I set up quickly because I was starting to feel drops of rain. I set up my tent, got everything inside of it, just before a nasty downpour of water and viscious wind went through. It's been very windy all day long. Even though it wasnt extremely cold, it always threatened to rain and the wind howled all day. The wind here was just awful, I havent experienced wind like that since being in the middle of a hurricane in Florida. I was really worrying about my tent blowing down while I was in it. Amazingly enough it held up. Very sturdy tent, all the kudos to the Hubba Tent from MSR, it kicks ass!! In this pouring rain, I sat in the vestibule, sorted out my stuff, cooked dinner, and worked on my journal. It's 8:15, I'm dead, well hydrated, my stuff is dry, except for my sleeping bag. I'm going to turn my radio on and catch up on some news.