Date: 2013-05-17
From: Campsite by Creek

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

When I first crawled in my tent to got to bed, a perfect line divided down the middle of the ceiling. The left half of the tent glowed bright under the light of the moon; the right side was pitch black. On the left side, leaves and twigs and low plants stood out perfectly. The right, it was might as well have been the dark side of the moon, unknown. For a moment, my imagination ran wild. What would I do if the silhouette of a bear or wolf suddenly appeared? I scooted closer to the right. I pulled the sleeping bag high over my head and laid like that until the air got to thin and had to labor to breathe. I felt silly, shuttering like a puffy blue sausage. But for a moment, I understood the peace and ostrich feels when it buries its head in the sand. Interestingly, the pitch black side of the tent didn't bother me at all. Luckily, I fell asleep before I could suffocate myself in fear. When I got up a few hours later, the moon had shifted and the whole tent glowed uniformly. The shadows and silhouettes were gone. Show over.I woke up with a cough. Allergies or just morning congestion. the weather has been so weird, it's a wonder i haven't dealt with it before now. i tried to hacked and and sneeze quietly as to not disturb Dreamer, but she piped up from across the campsite to ask if I was okay. I'm not sure if I woke her or not. We packed up in the morning stillness. Not a leaf rustled or insect buzzed. A singular bird sang its morning song. It was a calm and quiet I hadn't experienced in a while. We had breakfast and were off before 8.There was a morning climb and my heels were burning. I tried to adjust my foot placement in my boots, but it didn't seem to help. There was still lots of hill to go, so I stopped to assess the damage. Both heels looked red and angry. They weren't blistered, but the skin wasn't completely intact either. The creases of skin along my Achilles' tendon were raw and splitting. The skin on my heels were translucent and purplish with raw red patches underneath. My heels were severely chaffed or perhaps I was toting around a foot fungus. Either way, I came to the sad conclusion that my days as a foot model were probably over. I covered both heels in layers of moleskin and non-medicated callus pads, hoping it would help stop any progression of skin deterioration. For some strange reason, it never dawned on me that my feet would need constant care and medical attention. I had just assumed that once I got out of Georgia my feet would be toughen up enough, and I wouldn't have to worry about them. They would take care of themselves. But now I realize that Dr. Scholls and the good people who make foot-cream still have plenty of money to be made from my callused, blistered, fungus-ridden feet.I caught back up with Dreamer about the time she caught up with Cass and Ripley (the hiker/dog combo from the day before). And the race was on. As long as we were in front, Ripley (the dog) was no more than a few inches from my heels. We'd stop and let them pass, and they'd stop a few feet ahead as Ripley collapsed in the grass, panting heavily. Cass would try to coax him him up, but he'd refuse. We'd head out, Ripley would jump upend take Cass with him. It felt like we were in a conga line, moving swiftly down the trail with a dog in the middle. The hike was pleasant, if a little warm. The air was still, and the sun came in and out of the clouds. The mountain laurels seemed to be seriously considering to bloom. I could hear trucks on the road below and knew we were getting close. There was a sound of rushing water that got increasingly louder. I could see it below through the rhododendron, but the trail turned and teased us as we followed 60 feet above it. The sound of water quieted as we came upon Kimberling Creek. It was wide and flat and deep. I would have called it a river if I didn't know better. There was a long, swaying suspension bridge we got to cross. I wanted to swim but opted for a picture on the bridge instead.We reached the paved country road on the other side and turned left towards Trent's Grocery. We walked down the hot pavement, stepping further into the grass as farm trucks with gooseneck trailers full of livestock and logging trucks full of timber barreled past us. Ingot excited when I could see a large building up head. For the last few days Trent's had been a beckon of high expectations in my mind. As we got closer, I realized I was looking at a saw mill. Hmm. I saw a small white building across the road with pastures on either side. In my mind's eye, Trent's was a pazazzi resupply Mecca, when in fact it was a small country store and gas station. It had mirrored glass with "Trent's Grocery" hand painted in a red arc across the front and two long wooden benches that could have easily been church pews sitting in front. We sat our packs down outside next to one other pack. A sign read "shoes and shirts required." Luckily we had on both. We opened the door and went inside.The first thing I saw was a rotating hot dog warmer, and my heart sank. Where was the deli? Then I saw the menu marquee on the wall behind the counter. All was going to be okay. I ordered a bacon Swiss burger, Cajun French fries, and chocolate milkshake. Then I took a look around. The back wall was devoted to taxidermy- an albino coyote, turkey, fox, squirrel, ferret- just to name a few. Next came the hardware- a rotating bin off nails, plumbing parts, hardwood floor samples. There was a jerky making section, a regular grocery section, a trapping section (complete with scary metal traps), camping supplies section, hiker food section, hunting section (you could buy zombie targets), and a vast fishing section that took up two side of an aisle. I was looking at little glass jars of fish eggs and what I thought was p¢t©s. Mmmmm, that might be interesting to try. I picked up one little jar and looked closer. Fish bait. I put it back. I grabbed a MoonPie instead. I needed something to curb this appetite before I accidentally dove into the styrofoam container of night crawlers. The food arrived, and we took our sweet time as the food disappeared. Once our plates were clean, we stocked up on a few items (no fish bait) and moved out on to the benches. Other hikers filtered in. Several we're headed to Damascus. I talked with Sherlock for a bit while Dreamer snoozed on one of the benches. I went back in for a lemonade. We watched locals and tourists and hikers filter in and out of Trent's. We were in no rush to get anywhere, and it was fantastic! Finally, around 12:30 we hefted ourselves and our packs off the benches and back tracked down the hot paved road and turned right into the woods. The trail took us back towards Trent's and the saw mill. We looked down on it from high above. It was an easy 2 mile hike to Dismal Falls. The sun was shining bright, but dark rain clouds hung on the periphery. I got to the falls first and disrobed. I covered my pack with my rain cover, because the rain seemed inevitable. The river curved around at a sharp angle, a series of cascades and rapids every few yards. It crescendoed into a large (not dismal in the least) waterfall with deep churning pool at the bottom. I stayed at the top of the falls and tried my best to get in. The water was so cold. Ice cold. It hurt just to put my feet in. I got in any way. Sort of. I walked , I sat, and I crawled on my hands and knees, but I could never convince myself to get all the way in. The clouds moved in and covered the sun, and the temperature cooled. We decided to move on.The next 7 miles were wonderfully flat. The trail followed along the river and was covered in soft rusty pine straw. We moved constantly but not too fast. We crossed several footbridges and streams. It opened into a calm, flat open pine forest, the forest floor covered in fresh ferns. I sat down beneath a wide straight pine for at least a half hour. I watched the birds dart from branch to branch and listened to them call to each other. I leaned my head on my pack and stared up at the branches. Hundreds of arms reaching towards each other. Dreamer arrived and we sat a bit longer. The stillness deserved appreciation. We crossed a few more creeks and passed a large new water pond. The dam and edges were covered in a mesh, encouraging vegetation to grow. We entered back into the woods, through rhododendron tunnels, past meandering streams and springs. We finally reached the turn off for Wapiti shelter and considered going farther. The guide showed a big climb coming up. We decided to stop. The shelter was full with a group of 6 section hikers. They apologized for taking over the shelter. I joked (half joked) that they looked like snorers so I preferred to tent anyway. I looked over towards the other tents, and there was Pathfinder! I'm so happy to have caught up with her. It's been almost a month since I saw her last. We all started comparing skin ailments. It turns out there was an ER doctor in the group so section hikers. The thru-hikers started stripping off clothes to ask his opinion on our various medical issues, each swatch of flesh a little bit grosser than the one before. He diagnosed my foot issue as trench-foot. One of the others in his group produced some Lotrimin (Initially I had some in my first aid kit but it was 'poo-pooed' in a shake down. Turns out that I've needed everything from my first aid kit that was ousted). The guy had accidentally packed it thinking it was toothpaste. My lucky day! We all-section and thru hikers alike- stayed up until after dark laughing and visiting. Finally I retreated into my tent. It started drizzling almost as soon as I zipped the tent. Ahhhhhh... What a day!