Date: 2010-05-26
From: Craigs Creek Valley Rd

To: Salem
Miles today: 0.0

5/26zero day in SalemhotelThis morning I got up and found that the motel breakfast included Belgian waffles made on the spot. Score! With a banana, OJ, and coffee, I was very happy. And for JD they had biscuits and gravy. Which are yucky but for some reason he likes them so okay. I started going through my gear, pulling out clothes to wash and items to send home. I'm sending my down vest and fleece gloves home with JD. It's nearly June so that should be a safe bet. I'm keeping the fleece top and bottoms, and my fleece hat and neck gaiter for now. Maybe I'll send home the fleece bottoms and neck gaiter too, in a couple weeks. Gotta keep the fleece top, as its my only insulating layer now. The fleece top, btw, is one I've had for a decade or so. I spent a pretty penny on it ($40, I think). And it has worn like iron. REI, I commend thee. Sometimes you make froo froo products with no obvious value. But sometimes, man, you make the good stuff. And this shirt is good. Power Stretch fleece. An excellent product.I'm also sending home the deformed sleeping pad and the leaky air pillow. But I have my spare sleeping pad in place of the old one. I need to blow up it up this afternoon and make sure I can get comfortable on it - it's a few inches shorter than the one I started out with. JD bought me a new pair of (Keen Voyageur) boots and new (Superfeet pink) aftermarket insoles to go in them. They are considerably stiffer than the old pair, at this point. I held the old and new boots upside down together, and was shocked at the difference. I hadn't realized how much of the old sole had worn away. I knew I was gluing the darn things together every couple of weeks, but I didn't realize I had worn a quarter inch of rubber off them.   That's definitely the fastest I've ever worn out a pair of boots. Time wise if not mileage wise. As stiff as these are, they may be suitable for Pennsylvania rocks after all. I'm thinking I might be going through three or four pair of them on the hike. I plan to replace them sooner rather than later. As boots go these aren't expensive, and my feet are really important to me. Gotta baby the tootsies or they will be mean to you and ruin your hike.We went out to resupply and when we got back I noticed the room had acquired a definite odor. I think it's the old boots. I'm trying to think of a reason not to toss them in a dumpster right this second. They were making my feet hurt anyway, right? But something is holding me back. What if I need them? So right now they are just sitting there reeking. It doesn't bother JD because he can't smell, but the dog and I are offended.After swapping out a couple items and removing a couple more, my base pack weight is 17.8 lb. Which is about 3 lb heavier than I'd like. Zang. But there are not so very many things I can or want to remove now. I *could* get a tiny tent instead of my roomy Rainbow. I *could* ditch my pajama pants and sleep in my hiking pants. I could get rid of my drysacks and put everything in a big garbage bag. But I think I will not. I suppose they're all important enough to me to carry them. Tonight it's Thai food for the first time in months, then a good night's sleep and back on the trail in the morning. I'm dreading the upcoming climb down the Dragon's Tooth, undoubtedly in the rain. It will be good to have that behind me. Hopefully with the "me" intact.