Date: 2006-08-07
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Miles today: 0.0

What a long day. It all started with getting caught up reading an article in backpacker magazine about an adventure stalking polar bears. If you think that¢s nuts try walking across the country. When I finally got up and went to zip up my pack my zipper came loose. after trying to fix it for a bout an hour I finally put all the safety pins I had (2) on it and hoped it held. It did the job but nothing great. Pretty good hiking until I got to one of the shelters. There was a note from FDR that he was going to a restaurant .2 off the trail and to meet him there. When I got the note I was 2 hours behind him and it was about an hour hike to the road. I stepped on it. There was a big down hill going to the road. While going down one of the long flat slick rocks I started sliding. I knew I was going down. Luckily I hit on my butt and slid. When I hit the bottom of the rock my feet popped me up. That¢s when the safety pins gave way and everything that was in the pocket right behind my head went flying forward. Luckily my camera was blocked by the back of my head which I thought was going to start bleeding. When I finally got to the restaurant Moe, Ponch, Eggshells, Spitball and FDR had wondered what happened to me. I told them the whole story while I wolfed down a cheeseburger, fries, and 2 mountain dews. This was the first restaurant that went easy on the ice. I got like 4 cubes. Ice is probably the biggest thing that I miss on the trail. Yes more than beer. Speaking of beer, Spitball had talked to the waitress and she said there was a place .2 down the road that sold beer. He asked if anyone was willing to make the run. I figured after the day I was having what else could go wrong. They said they only wanted a few and I agreed since we were going to try and make it into the next town fairly early tomorrow to re supply. They both gave me money while I settled my check and headed down the road. I felt good and didn¢t have my pack so I started jogging. To the people driving by im sure I looked like Forest Gump, running down the road, covered in dirt, with a big beard. It felt good to jog for the first time in a while. When I got to the store I figured I would get an 18 pack just to take some extras for anyone else who was staying at the shelter. I paid the cashier who looked to be about 12 and headed back to the restaurant.   As I was walking back I could see a person with a backpack walking towards the trail. When I got back the only person who was there was Eggshells. He said everyone had left. I found this weird being a communication major cause I didn¢t say anything about walking to the store, buying beer, walking back, putting it in my pack, carrying it to the shelter, then splitting it with everyone. I guess that¢s the way I made it sound because they were all gone. So I did the noble thing, just like I did volunteering to get the beer (and carry it too), and strapped it to my pack. I didn¢t even take it out of the box I just slid the whole box under the top flap of my pack and tightened it down. Now it was a matter of principal. I had to carry the beers. At first I was pretty pissed off. I figured that I would start out with 18 and get there with 10. That would show them. But I got in the grove and didn¢t stop to open one. At the restaurant everyone talked about going to a "secret" shelter that wasn¢t in the books.   They said it was 5 miles out instead of the original 7 that we had planned. It took me longer than usually due to the fact that I had 18 Budweiser¢s strapped to my back. Not Bud Lights but Bud heavies. While I was crossing a stream I saw a bunch of sodas in the stream. It was from some past thru-hikers who started putting them out each year. Last year they gave out over 1000 cans of soda. Right out of their own pocket. Right after the sodas I got to a road that was 4 miles on my map I started looking for the "secret" shelter. I hoped they had signs but since it was a secret I didn¢t know. I never saw a sign for the shelter so I kept going. When I got to the next road which was 6 miles I got worried. I figured I passed it but I kept going. I came across more trail magic. The cooler it was empty but at this point I didn¢t care. I have an 18 pack of bud heavies strapped to my back, I don¢t need a soda. The register was the first thing I went for. I saw that none of the hikers at the restaurant had signed in. Since none of them signed it I assumed that they hadn¢t been there yet. So I had 2 options. One, continue on a mile to the shelter where we originally planed to stay and have an 18 pack to my self. Or two, hike back and find them to deliver the unopened 18 pack of beer to tell one great story. While option one sounded pretty damn good I once again decided to be a team player and try and find them. I turned around and headed south looking and yelling for the others. Every 10 steps or so I would yell. No particular word, but just something to be heard if they were at the shelter. I got nothing. When I returned to the road that was only 4 miles out I stopped and turned around. At this time I figured that IWasn¢t going to find them tonight so it was a matter of figuring out how far I wanted to go. the thought of pushing over the next large climb and be closer to town in the morning crossed my mind but I figured I better take a break and get ready to hike, if that¢s what I decided. While stopped I decided when I saw FDR and Spitball I would give them their money back and take the loss. I broke into the beers and put about half of them in the stream for hikers coming through. I of course kept some for me and drank others. Heading north again I covered the 2 miles fairly quickly. When I got to the empty cooler again I left a note about pushing on. As I started around the corner I figured I would see a sign for the shelter right after where I turned around. And sure enough there it was. Since it was already too late I figured I would keep moving. After a while all the sudden I came upon a clearing of the shelter and stared at it. Since I had my extra powerful head lamp on it lit up the whole shelter. I quickly stopped shining it in the shelter and went on my way up the mountain. I got about half way and decided to call it quits for the night. Since I was climbing it was hard to find a place to hang my hammock so I hung over the trail. When I looked at it later I realized that there really isn¢t any easy way to pass with out disturbing me. So I guess that means an early rise tomorrow.