Date: 2004-06-16
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter 

To: Marble Springs
Miles today: 17.2

The following entry has been edited to obtain a PG rating. Enjoy.I woke up several times during the night dreading the thought of leaving this palace of a shelter. I finally woke up around 7:15, ate breakfast in bed (not as nice as it sounds- two packages of pop tarts) and was on the trail by 8. The day starts with a 9 mile, 3000 foot ascent of Apple Orchard Mountain, which has neither apples nor an orchard. About 3 miles in, I find a tick on my wrist near my watch. I give it a flick like I do most bugs, then another, then grab the stubborn SOB and pull on it. My skin on the inside of my wrist stretches but it does not come free. I try again, stretching the skin an inch off my wrist and still the little bastard doesn't come off. I'm pissed. I grab that little bugger as hard as I can and yank til he lets go or rips in half. He pops off, I look to see if the head is still there, but it's clean. I have a small kiss mark, looks like a mosquito bite from where it was. Now I've heard you're supposed to save the tick in case you get infected, but as i'm watching this little thing try to burrow underneath my fingernail, I don't ever want to see it again. Flick! Goodbye.I continue on another hour, where I see the sign to the Cornelius Creek Shelter. I've climbed almost 2000 feet in 5 miles, I'm ready for a break. The chafing yesterday is getting worse. My inner thighs feel like they are on fire. I look down my shorts to see a small trickle of blood run down my undercarraige. I get water and have a snack, a melter snickers bar, and some gummi bears. The snack tastes great and takes my mind off the rest of the climb. I hike another 5 and change over Apple Orchard Mtn. There is a rocky place for views, but the fog has rolled in, and I press on. The highlight of the day is passing under the guillotine, a boulder stuck between two cliffs. This is one of few places on the AT where you can actually walk Under a rock.I make the next shelte, get more water, I'm covered in sweat from head to toe. I eat as much as I can, eating and drinking for much of an hour. I think about cutting my hair, which is over my ears, and down to my brow. It is hot. My beard is long, I haven't cut it in over a month, but it doesn't bother me because it pulls the sweat away from my face. I hike on, and after a minute think of turning back. The chafing has gotten so painful that I am walking like I've just gotten a colonoscopy. Anything to keep the thighs from rubbing. I push on with legs being burned from sweat being burned like jellyfish stings, and try to think about other things. The bugs invade my air. One of the worst things about a hot, muggy day is the bugs. You attract lots of them, and they love to taunt you by swarming around your face. They buzz around your ear, sounding like miniature airplanes buzzing by. They fly in your hair and face, sticking until you wipe them away. They also- for some reason- think that your eye is a good place to fly into- especially on the rocky sections. I thought about putting earplugs in. I laugh about how silly I would look. I don't care, but I don't put them in. I reach a gap, thighs screaming, ears ringing, and overwhelmed by bugs. I sit down on a tree root for a quick drink, then throw the pack back on and hike up the mountain. The bugs are driving me nuts. I start hiking fast, then slow, they only leave my face when I stop. I can't stop. Not here. Theres only rocks and poison ivy around. Must push on. I yell and wince in pain. This is the first time I've felt like a baby, felt overwhelmed, felt like I want to quit. I reach the top and yell out the loudest f-bomb on this side of the James River. I hiked down, found a nice campground with water, and dropped my stuff down for the day. That was at 6 pm. The earliest I've stopped on this trip. Tonight I will cook dinner, relax, dry out, and read Thoreau's Walden, which I read a little of at Elmer's in Hot Springs. I picked up a copy this weekend in Roanoke. Tomorrow I will hike to town and rest for most of the afternoon. I will have only come 57 miles in 5 days, but sometimes thats all you can get. I am thankful it hasn't rained today. I want to hike and hike without bitching, and so I think it would be wise to take a break. I feel relaxed after writing this and I am smiling for the first time in days, listening to the songs of the birds.