Date: 2005-06-22
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Catawba, Va.
Miles today: 11.9

Today's hike was a relatively short 12 miles, but seemed longer due to the time it took to get over and through some major rock formations coming down from Cove Mountain - home of the famous Draggon's Tooth.There were some very large slabs of rock that the trail traversed, and they were the kind where you stow your poles and use hands, feet, knees, and whatever other parts of your anatomy will help to get you where you need to go.There is one absolutely consistent thing about the trail, however. Regardless of how daunting the pathway ahead may appear, if you just keep two thoughts in mind, you will prevail. The first is that you do not have to be able to figure out how to get over a large section all at once. You only have to figure out where your next 2-3 foot steps should be. And while that may not be obvious at a distance, you can be sure that they WILL be obvious to you when you get to them. It's just a matter of faith, but grounded in experience.If you need an assist, somehow there will always be one there for you. Often it is a strategically located tree branch, but today, for the first time since Springer, there were metal rails that had been driven into the rock in two places to provide the necessary hand and foot holds.The second point to keep in mind is that thousands of other hikers have already gone over this same trail before you, and they have survived, so you can, too. You just have to take it one step at a time and proceed carefully in the more challenging sections. After Passin' Through and I got through the slab rock section, we parted company at the next road - where he was going west to get resupplies at a local store, and I was going on down the trail to Catawba and a B&B for the night.At the same road, coming back from the store, were Reality Check and A-Train. We'd met them yesterday when they came down to Pickle Branch shelter for water before pressing on to Draggon Tooth where they camped out.Both are super nice guys, and serious through-hikers. They are also relatively young and fast, and I think they'll both make it to Katahdin. A-Train is from New Zealand, and has a great sense of humor, but is currently suffering from a bout of the Virginia blues - where the trail just starts to seem so monotonous you wonder why you're out here hiking through it day after day. I think it's just a stage, and he'll come through it ok.By 2PM I'd reached my road crossing, and walked the mile into Catawba. The main attraction here is the Catawba Valley general Store, run by Carol Reynolds and Mark Brewer, who really know how to make a hiker feel welcome and at home. I got a cheeseburger, chocolate milk, a soda and some ice cream for lunch, and then spent the next several hours camped out at a table in the back of their store doing emails and getting this journal entry done. They could not have been nicer, and I highly recommend their establishment to my hiker friends passing through. In addition to pizza and hamburgers, they have short-term re-suppply items as well. It's a mile downhill from the parking lot, and not a bad walk down, but probably best to get a hitch back up to the trail!As this is my last hiking entry for the next three weeks, a few general reflections may be in order. I'll offer just three: First, and I'm not really sure what I expected in this area, I must confess that I have not had any particularly profound thoughts out here, or any deep insights into who I am or where I'm going with my life. I attribute that mostly to the fact that I am actually fairly comfortable with who I am and where I think I'm going! If there were a single analogy I might draw from my experience with the woods and the mountains, it has to do with roots and being "grounded": You see all of these mighty oak trees out here, doing well in the valleys, and seeming to thrive even in the higher elevations. The higher up you go, however, the thinner the soil is, and thus the shallower the roots. Not coincidentally, that's where most of the blowdowns occur. I guess the moral of the story is that if you have great aspirations, you'd better be sure you have deep roots, or you risk being blown over by the storms that will inevitably come your way. It is a great comfort to me out here on the trail to feel as grounded as I do, in the love of my family, my church, and my community - from Scouts, to the rescue squad, to the search and rescue group, and now to my new circle of very special friends from the trail.Second, I am a bit surprised by how much I like being out here hiking the trail day after day. I thought I might get bored, or find it just too monotonous, but that just hasn't happened. I think it's because I actually thrive on the physical challenges that every day brings. I haven't felt this much like an athelete since I played football in high school, and frankly, the sheer physical exertion has become a joy to me after so many years in an office job. I'm certainly in the best shape I've been in for years, and I suspect I've lost at least 30 pounds so far on "the AT diet".Finally, with nearly 700 miles of trail behind me since Springer, and 200 miles already done north of here, I am now satisfied that I have what it takes to be a through-hiker on the AT. I may or may not succeed in acomplishing that goal this year, but as of now it still looks feasible if my knees hold out. If I don't, it won't be for lack of effort, desire, physical stamina, or perseverence.Approriately, today's hike is dedicated to all those people, starting with my wife and kids, who had faith in me and have supported my dream. It also includes my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mark Madden, who, instead of telling me to lay off the knee for two more months, simply said: "Go, live your life." As I noted in my pre-hike entry on why I'm doing this little walk in the woods, reason number one in the top-ten count down was to "live like I'm dyin'"   That's exactly what I'm doing, and I'm having a GREAT time! Stay tuned, Longhaul