Date: 2010-02-05
From: Neels Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them.                                  ~ Francesco Guicciardini*** Here's a note to SOME out there, who are questioning the integrity of my reporting from the Trail. Some, like, say, LONGHAUL, fellow Tenner - should be out here with me if they want to see for themselves. I mean, really, casting aspersions on my journaling and questioning my truthfulness... The reason that I'm not in any of the pictures is because I'm TAKING the pictures. If only certain people, like, say, LONGHAUL, would get out here and take my picture, instead of going off to warmer climes, there would BE pictures of me. But, no. I guess getting a bronzed physique to show off on the Trail is more important to some... ***Today was the day to bid farewell to the Beast. I gave him a final hug before placing him in the box for the UPS trip home. I also put in the few items that hadn't made the cut on the shakedown, along with the poor old Dunham boots.If the Osprey pack doesn't work out, I may yet see the Beast again before all is over. He's such a useful fellow. He works fine as a piece of lawn or camp furniture - more like a sofa, really. I figure if I installed the optional roll bar, he'd do fine as a toboggan down some icy slope in the Smokeys. If nuclear war breaks out, the Green Beast will provide a nice, safe fallout shelter. Just before leaving I'd regretted not finding someone to install some indoor plumbing. But now he was heading home to Illinois.And I was heading off to meet new friends. I'd been contacted by both Erin and Amanda, both starting the AT in March. Excited by their own hikes, they were hoping to meet me and wish me luck. We had a lovely lunch and were joined by fomer thru-hiker, Lazerus. Trail talk and detailed discussions of gear predominated the conversation.Eventually, Lazerus and Amanda had to return to work, but Erin was able to spend the afternoon with me. We talked about many things, only some of which were Trail-related. She asked me about my tagline, "Take the duct tape; eat the cannoli."Since I have received questions about it before, perhaps I should explain here. One time last summer, I was blathering on to my family about my gear list and how the hike would be and how excited I was and how much I had to do and how I would write on Trail Journals and on and on. When going on about the gear, I said I would be taking the duct tape since duct tape can be used for nearly everything - from serving as bandages for blisters to fixing broken eyeglasses. My daughter Ellen said it sounded like it should be a line from "The Godfather." (For those who haven't seen the flick - the original line is "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." - the gun being the murder weapon, the cannoli having been purchased just before the murder.) I replied, "But, Ellen! No thru-hiker would *TAKE* the cannoli!" Thus, was born my tagline for this hike.I had never seen the movie "Trek" about the AT before. Erin and I watched it, and by the end I was itching to get back on the Trail. Even though it was pouring rain and the blisters on my feet hurt.I had only hiked three days, yet my knees and feet were feeling the pain. When I had gotten up in the morning, the idea of putting on boots, even my new boots, had seemed an unpleasant one. But the movie reminded me why I was out here in the first place. I could feel the excitement rising. I looked out at the gray afternoon, and the thought occurred to me that I could hurry back to Neels Gap, strap on the new pack and charge headlong up the mountain. I wouldn't make it to the next shelter, but I could camp in one of the gaps.Of course, I didn't do that, but the good company and the movie had given my spirits a bit of a needed lift.Thank you, Lazerus, Amanda and Erin.Erin gave me a ride back to Neels Gap. I moved some of my gear out to the main room in hopes of making an early, quiet departure the following morning. Of course I stayed up chatting until long after hiker midnight before I went to sleep.