Date: 2004-06-17
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Tom's Wayside
Miles today: 24.1

Bugs are attacking and I am defending. I just cleared a smooshed but of this very page. In front of me lies a mosquito who lost its wings to my wrath. In total I have killed 9 bugs since I turned on my light. My tent zipper has lost the ability to zip so I have ineffective bug netting. When I visit home I will have it fixed, until then I will fight! I am leaving the dead bug carcasses in my tent as a warning. I will kill any bug that comes toward my lights. AHHH!!!Anyhow, I hiked out of Shenandoah today, Yippee!!! I awoke early and the 4 of us hit the trail at 8 a.m. The first section was lush and the day beautiful. As has been our pattern of late, Skippy and I hiked ahead at a slightly faster pace than Poppins and Friar. After 40 minutes a sign said that we had covered 1.1 miles so we sped up. The walk was easy and we discussed hopes of doing a big day. We then walked in quite for a period until Skippy asked: ¢What are cahones¢? I was mildly disturbed that she had been contemplating this until she explained that she was trying to translate an entry from this morning¢s shelter registry. When I answered her and she realized her question, we laughed. All morning we joked and we hiked fast. When we reached the store it was 10:30 a.m. We had covered 7.5 miles. Apparently that first sign was quite wrong, but it prompted us to hike 3 miles per hour. Since I¢m famous for losing camp shoes, we left a shoe with a note for our partners under it in the woods. We laughed at the ¢shoe note,¢ took pictures of it, and then went to eat. I had a cola product for the 23rd day in a row (I counted). This may be my most amazing trail feat. I made it into an ice cream float and ate dill chips¢¦yum. Soon Friar and Poppins arrived and we went to partake of the goodness. As they went in a man who heard me say: ¢I got the coke float because it¢s cheap¢ gave me half of a huge blackberry shake. I felt like a bum¢¦the shake was great! I finished my break with a call to my friend Micki who does my mail drops. She was in Florida in Animal Kingdom, where I used to work at Disneyworld. It was so nice to talk to her. She always helps me calmly process. Before I left I had an embarrassing moment with Skippy.In Baltimore everyone calls people ¢hun¢. This is a habit of mine as well. I have of course called Skippy ¢hun¢ more than once (OK, like 31 times). She finally asked me not to, in a half-joking, but clearly serious way. To her, being from Oregon, it would be like me calling her ¢sweetie¢ or ¢dear¢ every 3 seconds. I felt like a jackass, but explained the cultural reference which she was unaware of. I explained that I did not mean to patronize her, and she seemed very nice. I think it made it much better when she realized it was a Baltimore thing. None-the-less, when she asked, I felt like a fool. After 5 minutes, I recovered from my foolish feelings and prepared to hike.The next 6 miles were easy, but the day was warming quickly and the scenery becoming monotonous. After 3 miles we encountered ¢Arms¢ and his girlfriend. He asked us if we had seen any bears. We said ¢No¢. He said ¢I¢ve seen 4, but 3 were in the car.¢ I was thinking it, but Skippy asked ¢They were in the car?¢ I died laughing at the image of 3 bears in a car. Arms explained that he was in the car. Luckily, Skippy is a good sport and laughed as well. By 2:30 we reached a shelter for lunch. I left the following limerick on my lack of bear sightings.                 I wanted to see a black bear                I even asked God in my prayer                I guess he answered ¢No¢               So onward I now go               To Jersey, I might see one there. Before we left we would see an animal, but not a bear. As Skippy went to leave, this loud rattle went off. The others thought I was teasing Skippy, but I was not making a sound. The noise came from a large Timber Rattler. Despite my fear of snakes I was able to creep near to it and see. It was huge! At least it was not a copperhead. About a mile after the shelter we hit some cliffs with great views. Most of the views in Shenandoah have been lackluster, so we were excited. As we looked out we also saw massive clouds. Oh Joy! Two minutes later it began to drizzle and Skippy asked ¢Should I put on a pack cover?¢ I said ¢yes¢ and she reluctantly did. 30 seconds after that we were in a monsoon. All 4 of us ran the trail which had now become a river. We were drenched. Yesterday I wrote how rain is a blessing if you decide to enjoy it. Today God teased and tested me. I still loved it :-). After 6 fast wet miles the rain let up and the sun broke into infinite rays through the trees. We all took an exhausted break.With 19 miles down, we looked pathetic as we rung muddy water from our socks. Thank God we had put on pack covers. We all consumed large amount of food and sat there reflecting. Friar, who was particularly soaked, was clearly more than ready to leave the park. 4 miles later we did¢¦and then we celebrated. Despite the better grade we had a rough park experience. Large quantities of rain, no bears, and a dead person certainly did not help. Skippy and I tried to focus on positives but it was not working. It was nice to be back on normal trail. That said, there was a positive Friar stated that we all agreed on. The best part of Shenandoah was the companionship. We just now reached the shelter after 24 miles. I¢m pooped! I saw K-less, Rooster, and Booboo, but I was barely with it enough to grunt hello at them. Our tent site is halfway down the mountain and it looks like it is going to rain again. Despite tiredness and possible rain I feel blessed. I fell blessed due to the fact God has me and due to the ¢companionship¢ I¢d take good friends in bad rain any day. I¢m going to sleep now.God Bless, BEATBOX   ttt