Date: 2004-05-08
From: punchbowl shelter

To: North Forks of Piney River
Miles today: 23.0

the day had a lot of flow in it and i met many people today unexpectedly. after my discovery of the perpetual 'no', which you'll get to read about in a few days, i've felt an alignment of the pieces of self. talking in a classical metaphysics way, the alignment of the physical, emotional, mental, and spirtual manifestations of self. what feels different? the four manifestations finally feel like they're all present at the same time. usually they're not in alignment or not all there. for example: my mental body, the thoughts i have, are usually about the past or future. sometimes this can be entertaining, but most times it's a drag. my emotional body... hmm... what? what's that? another thing i've learned but not typed up yet is that what most people (myself included) consider their emotions or emotional body is just the mind's idea of what the emotional body should be, not what it really is. i'll go into this more as the miles go by.so, today, i'm finally getting to experience what "being in the moment" feels like, and experiencing a lot of trail magic along the way. first stop of the day was brown creek shelter. i didn't need water or anything, just wanted to take a break and read the register. there i met former thru hikers, flash ('87) and hot flash ('87). we talked a little and they offered me a pepsi and some donuts. they also told me about a water spigot on rt. 60 that's not listed in the guidebook. this saves me from carrying two extra pounds of water until i really need to. the extra calories from the donuts and soda propelled me on down the trail. arriving at US route 60, there sitting at a picnic table were wildcat and his son, el blanco. what a surprise. (remember i hadn't seen dragon slayer in 500 miles? same for wildcat.) i had finally caught up with him. as i approached wildcat said, "what took ya so long?". smiles and laughs were shared all around. he introduced his son to me and we chit-chatted and caught up on where we've been and who we've seen.wildcat asked me why i wasn't wearing my kilt. i told him it didn't dry fast enough. in the 80* heat of the past few days i would have drenched it. and since it doesn't dry fast, i can't wash it quickly to get the salt out. i've been getting abrasions from the salt in my clothing lately. but, being fair to kilts, they do keep you cooler where it counts. ;-)now, this is cool. talk about timing. as i'm talking with wildcat a white suburban pulls up. that's hippie's boyfriend's truck. inside are tripod, hippie, and poptart. to refresh your memory, hippie was getting off-trail in glasgow to take a side trip. we stopped hiking together a few days ago. now, she's here at this particular road crossing to drop off some trail magic (sodas) before going home to NJ. it gets better...she also says, "did you lose your rope a few shelters ago? i thought it was yours so i picked it up." hippie goes to the front of the truck and produces the rope i lost a few days before. i'm floored. i stopped my mind because it was trying to get a handle on all the space-time events that would have to happen between all the parties involved, for the past few days, and have it happen just right, for me to be on this spot, at this time, to receive this rope.the mind can't conceive it because it is outside the boundary of the mind. this event is pure essence... (trail) magic, if you will. this is how life works in a feminine flow. this is were we need to go to have movement in this world. ...to have real change happen that doesn't blow up in our faces later on. the masculine way of doing things (using the mind) has been abused and totally maxed out. for example: look at how many companies are being charged with fraud trying make a buck these days? they are trying to bend a system, a structure, that has been squeezed dry already. there is no more room for movement to make money so the Enron's of the world go into deception to create fictitious money. there is no more.people/companies/world governments must start embracing feminine principles to move forward. it's getting down to do or die time. (my consulting fee will be in the 6 figure range if anyone wants my services after i summit big 'K') :-Djust to clarify, i'm using masculine and feminine to describe a structured and unstructured way of being. i'm not refering to men and women. sorry ladies, you do everything in a masculine way too. everyone's gotta learn.whew... ok... switching gears here... later in the day i met southbounders sprinkles and double-e on bald knob. we had a long discussion about kilts and skirts (double-e really didn't get into this one) and also info on the shenandoah park which is my next section.the last peak of the day was cold mountain. on top i met up with a group of firefighters. half from lynchburg and the other half from france. the french firefighters were from the local station's sister city.the lynchburg firefighers went to france months ago and the french group is now visiting america. the french firefighters had a lot of questions about the trail and the logistics of doing a thru hike. i have forgotten all my french but one of the local ff's was doing a great job translating for me.staying in the moment seems to reap lots of rewards. i'm going to continue playing with it and see what happens. i had a wonderful day of magic and connections with people. isn't that what the trail's all about?