Date: 2006-04-11
From: Rock Spring Top

To: Rock Spring Top
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: clear sky

Tenting at Rock Spring top with Bill. My divorce was finalized today. Quick and painless? Quick yes, painless no. I'm glad I'm out here by myself to reflect, review, and mourn. I'm glad that we will continue to be friends and work on that aspect of our relationship. Colleen, you are a special, wonderful woman, and I am grateful for all the good times and good things we've done together. All of our experiences will only make us better people, even if we can't continue on together. I'm sorry for my part of the failure. Be well..Spent most of the day in Neels Gap out at the Walasi-Yi Center. I bumped into many friends from earlier in the trip, Loic and Misha, Guy, Bernard, Henry, Janneka - hope I got all the spellings right! Have made some new friends along the way as well. Bonnie "Baggins" and I have been crossing paths. She is quite a character. I've not met too many people with her cheery outlook and indomitable spirit. "Baggins" is a perfect name. She's older, I won't ask, even though I'm dying to know. She's 4'7 and 100 pounds. Her backpack is almost as big as her. She's always smiling and has everyone who's met her remarking on her good attitude. I hope to see her tomorrow, she was planning to make it to this point of the trail. But the sun is down and I figure she stopped short of this goal. She's living large and enjoying every sloooow mile. I only hiked 2.8 miles today. Took about 2 hours. I left at 4 and caught her at 5:00! I made it to camp by 6 and she never showed up! I worry about her (a lot) and know she will get by just fine. There's quite a network of hikers here, and most everybody is looking out for one another. Be well, Baggins - travel safe. I've spent a lot of time with Jim (Bently) and his sons, Shawn and Paul. Jim is 67 and hiking the AT is a long time dream of his. Paul will hike all the way with him, and Shawn's out here for a month. It's great to see a family doing this together. Paul is a photographer, he's got some hi-end camera gear. I hope to see some of his work in the future. So Pacer, why only 2.8 miles today? Well, I had Winston Porter and his fine staff at www.mountaincrossings.com, go through my pack and gear. It's a service they provide at no charge. All of them are thru-hikers and the shop specifically caters to this type of endeavor. Last year they shipped 9000 pounds of crap people didn't need to buy and bring along. My gear was good (thanks Old Man,) but I wound up ditching my ULA pack for a brand new Osprey Aether 60. My initial backpack was borderline overloaded with my stuff and has been riding uncomfortably (I have some bruises on my collarbone). Winton called the manufacturer to try to rectify the situation. He had to leave a message. I wandered around a bit while he was busy waiting on other customers. I decided that if I want to make it to Katahdin, it was worth the $200 to get the right pack. I got a few other items and some food to get me to the next town, 4 days up the trail. I'm getting the the funky thru-hike look, haha! Nylon shorts over long underwear, high socks, gaiters, and a ??? that would make RoboCop proud. My beard is growing, hell, I haven't even looked in a mirror for a week or so! And did you say funky? We all smell funky too!! I found a bright spot for my two days rest. I get to meet new people! Duh. Actually, today was pretty cool. The Knoxville News (TN) newspaper was in to do a story on Winton and what he and his shop are all about. Just as I had laid out my stuff and Winton and I were going through, Kathy the photographer showed up and started snapping pictures. She and their reporter (sorry, can't remember the name) interviewd me, took down all kinds of notes. There's a good chance I'll get a mention in the paper. Check www.knoxnews.com. Cool, huh? They hung out and took other interviews and pics. We told Kathy they should visit Traildays in Demascus, VA 5/19-5/21 and do some follow-up on the hikers. Who knows?Back to camp...I found Bill hanging out here. We said hi, etc. and talked a bit. Turns out he heard of a hiker who "blew his knee out"....yes, yours truly. Down by the spring I ran into Nemo who saw my entry at the Woods shelter a few days back. He recognized my trail name. Such a small world! Well, 21:30 writing by headlamp and well past a hiker's bedtime. Oops....one more thing. I signed the traditional thru-hiker log at Walasi-Yi favorite saying or slogan - "I've got a long way to get before I get back home." It's from the song, "Long Way to Get" by Bob Schneider. Check his website and give a listen. It's my adopted theme sone for this summer....Peace.PSS - Met Bill from here at camp - nice guy - why is the real world so fucked up and we can all get along out here on the trail?