Date: 2011-05-20
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Iron Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I ended up getting to the shelter around 7:30 and was happy to find a very large group of people AND a fire! I was offered fig newtons within the first 5 minutes and yoga boy was among the group. It was an amazing night. I slept under the stars for the first time. With the exception of a little morning dew it was quite pleasant to wake up looking at trees.The day was sunny and comfortable. I spent the day flip flopping with people from the night before. We all ended up eating lunch around the same time and I took an extra two hours stretching and relaxing. Fourteen miles today allowed me to take a very slow pace and enjoy the trail. We're all here at the shelter again and I'm thinking about sticking with these guys for awhile. They're relaxed and have great humor. We've got Starbuck from Oklahoma, XJ from Maryland, Yoga Boy from Ohio, Big foot and Predator from Australia, and Strider from Virginia Beach. Someone in camp just started playing "The Bird is the Word"... Really random group out here.I've had some time to think about nature while I've been out here. I'd like to share a bit about how I see it now...There is always something going on in nature. You could spend a lifetime in each step of the trail and still witness something new every day. You get to see life cycle itself all around you. From a fallen tree comes a habitat for ants, new saplings sprout from the rotted stump. This is all well known and not difficult to imagine. I find the real beauty is in natures reclamation.It's a slow, nonviolent progression of new life. It has no prejudice on where it grows and it is unrelenting. The trail itself is a perfect example. It is not a strait line worn in by millions of travelers. It is a wavering pathway, sometimes only two inches wide because of the vegetation on either side. Sometimes it is completely covered up by a downed tree. Other times you could walk four people across on the root beds. Regardless of the efforts put forth by the maintainers, there is always a steady progression of nature. I've seen trees grow over metal signs, through barbed wire fences, and through the cracks in cement. With or without us, nature will continue.I thank that's the greatest feeling out here. Whether you believe in the world ending in nuclear war, global warming, or the rapture, nature WILL continue to exist. It is arrogant of us to think we could be responsible for the downfall of such a perfect system. While we are having profound effects on the current state of things, nature will surely outlast us if we continue down this path. Why do we put ourselves in conflict with such a benin and immortal enemy? Why do we think we can tame the weather or stamp out what causes us discomfort? Nature will outlast us and anything we try to do to stop it.We should not presume to know what is best for nature, nature will work it out itself. There is a natural law of life which will allow new life to grow from the dead. All life has been borrow from nature and will eventually return again. It is not written that our species has a permanent place in this system.Why not ally ourselves with such a force? Why think we're above the laws that govern everything else on earth? It's a tangent right now, but I'll be able to piece together a comprehensive entry or paper from that at some point in the future. I'm glad to experience this hike. I'm glad to be reminded every day where I fit in in the cycle of life.There could be exciting news tomorrow but it won't be posted till sunday if it happens. I'll let you know how it goes!