Date: 2005-04-01
From: Springer-> Hawk Mtn shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 7.6

Started the day with eggs, pancakes, and grits. On the trail by 9:30ish. Decided to stop at Hawk for the night with a bad forcast for the night. Rain held off during the day. Cool weather made for nice hiking during the day. Hiked in shorts and t-shirt compfortably. Mainly a slight overall downhill to the shelter. Finished in about 3 hours. Already people in the shelter. Had a few people (about half a dozen or so) pass through to the next shelter. Right now it is about 3:50 pm and there are 21 poeple here already with the shelter completely full and about four or five tents up. Two dogs as well.         We hiked the whole day with a couple from Steamboat Spring, CO. They have hiked 458 miles of the PCT in Oregon last year. They're names are Sam and Yasha. Although Yasha introduced himself as "Itchy Penis," we didn't think that trail name would stay. Brett dubbed him "oragami" cuz he was folding dollar bills into animal shapes @ the hostel, and that name seemed to stick.        Mixed crowd at the shelter tonihgt. Ex-military on leave. One guy going to boot camp after the trail. Another with dread locks halfway down his back. A few older women traveling together. Also, there is a hiker by the name of Psycho. He is fairly well known in the hiking community because he probably has more miles than anyone else. He says he's been on the trail for the past 20 years. Brett estimates form what he knows about him that he has about 40,000 miles under his belt! It is now getting cold and windy so I must put another layer on and maybe start cooking something.-----------------------        I finished my velveta shells and cheese no problem. Lots of laughs tonight @ the shelter. I am having a good time. One guy (a big ol' boy, 26 yrs old, from North Carolina) was wondering what time it was and turned around toward the shelter as if he was looking for a clock on the wall. It was very funny once this was pointed out and Brett dubbed him "clock." That's two namings for Brett in one day. Lots of Simpson's quotes from people although I zinged a few over everyone's head. Adam Scafario is still the only person i found who can keep up with me.        It is very foggy now. On the trail I felt like Sir Galahad the Chased before approaching the castle with the grail-shaped beacon in Monty Python's best film (The Meaning of Life taking a close second). Its like the friggin' hounds o' Baskerville here. Lots of BIG packs here. It is interesting to see how much stuff peole are carrying. Doesn't anyone do research aside from going to an outfitter and saying "sell me everything you got!" There is one guy by the name of Dances with Skunk and his pack is huge although he says he thru-hiked twice. He is an odd/interesting character all around either way. He has a bunch of intricate knot keychains hangin from his pack that he tied himself (including the monkey's fist). Its now about 6:30 (feels like 9:30-10) and was quiet for a few minutes when outta nowhere Dances with Skunk says "I'd rather have a bottle in from of me..." and then sings "then a frontal labodomy." It was extremely funny breaking the 5 minutes of silence. But now I must lay down for another lousy night of sleeping on the trail. Hopefully one night I will start to sleep well out here.