Date: 2005-05-21
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: broken clouds

I woke in the bunk house at 5AM when my watch alarm went off. I was going to go back to sleep given my decision to do a short 7.2 mile hike today, but then decided I should use the time before others got up to get caught up some on my journal. With internet access, it's much faster to type directly into the journal using a full keyboard instead of my small - hunt and peck with two fingers - pocketmail device. I also needed to check to see if my laundry was dry. (Happily, it was).Finally, I managed to round up a really good breakfast from the self serve store. I brewed and drank an entire pot of cofee, microwaved two sausge, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, and sucked down a juice box of apple juice. It was great!After cleaning up my kitchen mess, I packed my pack and set off up the trail at about 9AM. Even that late I was third one out the door. Base decided to take a zero day and enjoy the ambiance of Standing Bear Farm a bit longer, and do 18 miles tomorrow.My plan was to hike at a very liesurely pace, as I had plenty of time to do what for me has become half a day's hike - 7 miles. I knew it would be mostly uphill, of course, having come down roughly 4,000 feet over a five mile stretch the day before. I was not disapointed. We climbed over three thousand feet (equivalent to a three hundred story office building) over the first six miles. At the summit of Snowbird mountain, however, I was rewarded with a fantastic 360 degree vista of the surrounding mountains.Today's weather was perfect for a liesurly stroll through the woods, but a bit on the warm side, so I was glad not to be in a hurry. The trail was the best I'd hiked so far, both in terms of the smooth and well maintained treadway - with almost no rocks - and the gentle grade of the long uphill stretches, with a large number of switchbacks.It was such an easy hike I was able to let my mind wonder free as I walked. The result was a conclusion about how I'd like to end my through hike - assuming I can complete the whole thing this year (more about that plan in a later entry), and some reflections about "life after the trail" (more about those thoughts in a later entry as well).I stopped for lunch at the top of Snowbird Mountain, and was surprised to find that I had hiked uphill for two hours at a rate of 1.7 miles an hour - without even trying, and - in fact - at what I thought was a much slower than my normal 1.5 miles per hour pace. I got to camp about 2:30 and met a section hiker, Dusty, who arrived just ahead of me. We were joined shorly thereafter by Kindman who had stayed at Standing Bear with me the night before. I rested a bit before getting my chores done and then had an early dinner before starting on my journal again. I've set up my tent in a stand of white pines, a former tree plantation, and right next to a babbling brook, so I expect I'll sleep peacefuly tonight. I'm not even going to think about those cayotes we heard caling to each other just a short while before we retired to our respective tents for the night....Today's hike is dedicated to all the members of M company who have left the trail for one reason or another. I know they are all still out here in spirit, if not in person. They will lways be a part of M company, and a part of my life, and I know that I am better off for all of that. Thanks, guys. Please stay in touch!!!Stay tuned, Longhaul------------------------------Sent via PocketMailEmail Anywherewww.pocketmail.com