Date: 2005-05-15
From: Campsite

To: HogPen Camp Gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Little Irish Creek to Hogpen Gap CampsiteToday was a hard day for me.  I woke up on "the wrong side of the ThermaRest" and for most of the day it just went downhill from there.  The last time I talked to my Dad he asked me if I ever wake up in the morning and just don't want to do it.  At that point, I hadn't felt that way.  Sure, I've had stretches where I felt frustrated or overwhelmed, sick or just plain tired.  But, I had not woken up and simply felt like refusing to emerge from my sleeping bag.  So, this morning was a first.  I really just did not want to do it.  I can't explain why, because, although I could try to reason it out with logic about being tired or something the truth is there isn't any specific reason that I understand.  So, I just lay there with eyes closed for some period of time pretending to be asleep, sensing Gravity awake beside me.  Finally I know I must admit to being awake.  So I open my eyes and say "I don't want to.  I just want to crawl into a hole and hide in it all day."  Gravity:  "We don't have to hurry up to get going this morning, go ahead and go back to sleep if you want to.  We can go whenever you're ready."Me:  "Arrrgghh..."So I lay back down and close my eyes.  It felt good, but I kept thinking about the 16 miles I'd thought we'd planned to do and just got anxious and more grumpy feeling that we were putting off the inevitable.  So after a half hour or so I decide to get the packing up started and get to hiking.  I felt that 16 miles hanging over me like an anvil on fishing line, ready to snap and crush me at any moment.I should go back some to explain that we planned to complete this section from Glasgow to Waynesboro the morning of the sixth day. We hiked five more miles than planned yesterday which put us in a position to get to Waynesboro on the fifth day if we did a few more miles each of the remaining four days.  Under this plan, we'd do sixteen today.  What I failed to realize though is that when Gravity said to take my time getting going, his thinking was that we'd only do the 12.7 in the original schedule.  So it took the majority of the morning for me to shift gears from feeling under a lot of mileage pressure.We decided that since I was having a tough day, we'd hitch in to Buena Vista on VA60 for a real lunch.  Though the prospect brightened my spirits some, the plan never came to pass as after an hour of thumbing it we didn't get a ride.  So, we figured we might as well enjoy a camp food lunch in the grass there at the wayside.  As we were making ourselves comfortable we noticed an SUV pull up at the trailhead, a couple of hiker-looking guys get out, then back in, then the SUV drove over to where we were sitting.  It ended up being some hikers returning from Trail Days to do some trail magic.  I guess we were in the right place at the right time because they gave us some pizza and a cold beer.The climb out of the gap there at VA60 was long, but the clouds cleared enough for us to get a view from Cold Mountain.  The coup de gras (sp?) of the day though was the beautiful campsite at Hogpen Camp Gap.  The guide book says that there is a spring and a road there, but doesn't mention camping.  Their omission shocks me because this is the most idyllic campsite thus far.  It is an enormous grassy field shaded by a few flowering apple trees.  The field is mostly open but surrounded by deciduous forest.  There are even two rope and board swings hanging from apple trees next to the tenting area.  I was expecting to camp on some fairly level patch of dirt.  What a wonderful surprise this little slice of heaven was!Danger(ed note:  There is a syndrome called "Hitting the wall".  Most hikers afflicted will get this syndrome somewhere in Virginia.  It has caused the end to many hikers dreams of getting to Katahdin.  What happens is they just suddenly realize that there is no reason for them to continue on and they go home.  Some go with regrets, others realize that they have hiked all that they want and don't see any reason to go on.  Hopefully, our intrepid hikers do not have this affliction and continue on their journey.)