Date: 2007-05-22
From: BlackRock Hut

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Blackrock Hut to Pinefield Hut 13.2 milesWe get a good start each walking alone. Oh, I forgot, yesterday in the late afternoon. Flick and I had a bear sighting. The bear looked to be on trail or just off trail, when it saw us it walked quickly off trail and high tailed it down into the forest. Today starts out easy and I reach the Blackrock summit easily. I remember calling Lynne from here last year. So I search for a signal, finally finding one on the far side and stop to make the call. Lynne fills me in on the trail news and I give her my location. She reads other journals and trail websites so I find things out when we talk. The other day she told me BeachBum said the last 20 miles was the easiest he¢s walked so far. This put some pressure on me. I said goodbye and walked on reaching the Loft Mountain Campground store where I found Flick, Ninja and Golden Boy. We took showers and had a picnic. The store has a good selection of food and snacks. There¢s also a laundry facility here. We broke extravagantly. I fell asleep on the lawn ¢ I didn¢t sleep well last night so I am officially exhausted. We started out hiking again crossing the road many times. Some of the best views are where the road turn offs are. I am walking by myself trying to keep focused. I am having trouble with the ¢easy¢ hills and start wishing we could stay at the next shelter. The turn off to the shelter finally comes and I find Flick, Golden Boy and Ninja breaking. Golden Boy wants to go. I want to stay. I apologize for being tired and ask all to go ahead. I am prepared to make a difficult decision. If I don¢t have the strength to chase them, do I have the strength to release them or maybe myself? We have a discussion and we decide to stay. We get busy setting up camp. We are all disappointed about our short day. What¢s going on here? Well Flick and Golden Boy are meeting family at Harper¢s Ferry and they want to be there next Tuesday so they have a schedule now. I miss Lynne so much but I need to be flexible. If I feel rested and strong I like to go, but sometimes I like to walk a pace and distance that won¢t tear me up. It¢s a long hike and you go through periods when you are torn up. Plus, the place on my right leg where we removed the tick looks infected. It¢s a deep red mark about the size of a nickel. It looks bad and I wonder if it is infected and my body is fighting it and making me weaker. I¢m in my tent writing this after a quick dinner and the evening entertainment - watching everyone hang their food bags on the bear pole. I am listening to deer stomping in the woods all around my tent. They are very loud like someone is stomping as hard as they can, breaking twigs and branches as they stumble around. I had many wonderful times at Trail Days and I have been thinking of all the friends that I saw there. I wish Bonesaw and Tricycle were there. I am thinking of them as I sat at the shelter. This is the shelter where I first met them and I remember them walking up late, all hot from hiking hard. The rest is very special. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity. Nest year we will go to Trail Days, plan on it and save your vacation time. Today I salute you and thank you for walking with me and for many happy moments. I must rest now, tomorrow we make up time for today. How¢s that going to work?