Date: 2016-05-07
From: mile marker 590.7

To: camp site by stream (610.4)
Miles today: 19.7

Today is Saturday. It is day 44 on the trail. I am currently at mile marker 610.4. I covered 19.7 miles today. I started at 7:45 and stopped at 4:45. That included a 1 hour detour to Trent Grocery for a sandwich. I will start to include a list of some points that I pass during the day as a friend has asked for this info as she follows along. I passed: helveys mill shelter, VA 611, Jenny Knob Shelter, VA 606 (Trent grocery).This morning, before Bubba picked up Whisper, Boomer and myself , I walked about 1/4 mile to get a cup of coffee at 5:30. I have not really missed coffee while I have been on the trail but... I was awake and I figured.. What the heck! I also picked up a honey bun and some other sweet pastry. I shake my head at some of the stuff I eat. It is just crazy but I crave it and the calories keep me going. Today the weather, one again, calling for rain but (so far) I have only had about 30 minutes of on and off showers. I hope I can say that in the morning as well. I am camped along side a beautiful creek and I am the only one here. I have come to enjoy camping in solitude. Mainly because I don't want to worry about bothering others if I wake early and want to pack up my gear. That can be create quite a bit of noise. I have been struggling with shoulder pain/issues almost every day since I began this walk. I keep thinking... I just need to walk and I will become used to my pack, etc. But, I am beginning to think I either have something going on in my left shoulder or??? I am now asking other hikers how they pack their packs, what issues they are having, etc. what I have discovered is that there is NO hard and fast rule that: heavy weight should be at the bottom, middle, top of pack. Some keep it at the bottom, a lot keep it in the middle and a few keep it at the top. Today I stopped and repacked my pack three times. Testing every theory. Jury is still out on my decision but I am leaning towards-- sleeping bag at bottom, heavy stuff (food, clothes) next, then all the other miscellaneous items all the way up. One would think by now I would have this figured out... But I don't! Today I met Hashbrown and his dog Molly. Hashbrown had a raccoon hide and he was cleaning it. So of course I asked... And he said that Molly had caught and killed it so he skinned it to made something out of the hide. I will include a pic in the photo log. A first for me on the trail!!I also ran into a hiker who stayed at one of the hostels I was in 3 days ago. When she told me that she actually stayed a second night at the hostel I asked how the heck she did all those miles to be where she was today. She laughed and said...oh, I skipped 36 miles so I could catch up to my friends. Ha... Once again proving that everyones journey is different. As is life!Oh, as you can see by my mile marker... I passed the 600 mile mark. That is hard for me to believe. 600 Miles!! Shout out to an old colleague and friend, Fran D. She lives in Hawaii...and as she has followed my journal she has sent two wonderful care packages to Chrissy who will in turn get the items to me on the trail. She sent a box full of macadamia nuts... And as she said in her note... There is enough for all my friends and even enemies (ha). Then when she read I was eating SPAM... Well, we all know that spam is extremely popular in Hawaii so guess what she sent ....a box full of spam... Spam bites, spicy spam, spam in a can, spam in the individual sleeves, you name it... She sent it!! Now the macadamia nuts ... I need to worry how many will actually make it to me... Where as the spam... No worries there... I know none of those "treats" will go missing. Thanks Fran!