Date: 2004-02-23
From: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Log entry: 23Starting Time-1200Ending Time-1630Morning Weather-cloudy, 43Afternoon Weather-cloudy mid 40s, breezyEvening Weather-feels cold, wind is stiff and cold, but thermometer says 40 deg, so it must not be cold. Supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. I¢ve been dry for week so I guess I am due.Breakfast-waffles, strawberries, fruit juice, grapefruitLunch-fried apple pie, mallo cups, chewy bars, payday (I had to make up for the healthy breakfast), raspberry ice teaDinner-bear creek soup chili with dried beef, honey green teaTrail description- A fun climb out of Hot Springs, a lot more rocky than I anticipated. A good climb to get my heart pumping. After gaining the elevation back the rest of the walk was a breeze.People-Elmer, Aaron (Squirrel Meat), the solemates, dude on the side walk, some trail maintainers, couple day hikersAnimals- grouse, birdsMoney- $45 for stay, $11 for supplemental lunch foodsBiggest Complaint- left shoulder hurt bad, blaming this on pack weight, 5 days worth of food.Narrative: The 08:10 alarm woke me from a steady slumber. For 10 luxurious minutes I enjoyed the warmth and supple softness of the bed. Breakfast was in 10 minutes so I got up, dressed, ran my fingers through my rats nest of bed head. No one here for me to impress so I started down the stairs to the kitchen and as I did so Elmer rang the bell signaling that it was all ready.            Breakfast was wonderful. They must have guessed that waffles sounded good. I think that I had 7. They were topped with sliced strawberries and apple syrup. The fruit juice tasted like peach or tangerine maybe. After breakfast I retired to my chamber to pack things up. Packing only took about half an hour so I journaled about yesterdays events and filled out 3 postcards. I then headed out to the payphone and sent my journals home and also called home to finalize plans for next weekend. I can't wait to see the family. I then hit up Ricker¢s grocery and bought some more lunch things. Next was the post office where I sent out the postcards. Back at Sunnybank I grabbed my pack, bid fare-the-well to the solemates and said goodbye to Elmer and Aaron. Then I was off down the sidewalk to start another stretch of the AT.   I made a quick stop at the payphone just to let Miss Janet know I planned on staying there this Friday. I left a message but it said she was open and ready. As I walked down the side walk a young boy, about 15, sidled up behind me and asked where I was going. I explained the AT thing but he seemed a little confused. He didn't know where Maine was and had heard of Georgia. I felt really sorry for the kid. He then wanted to know how I went about my daily routine, how I stayed alive. I told him that when I was tired; I slept. When I was hungry; I ate. And when I had to, you know, I went. That explanation appeased him for a block and then he told me that he had a "ruck sack" and he thought his cousin had a sleeping bag and that maybe he would try his luck in the woods for a while later this year. I really hope he does.That was my last human interaction until about an hour later when I ran into a group of maintainers. One of them even knew of Holland¢s Tulip festival. They didn't stop me long and I continued the climb out of the valley. My left shoulder was especially painful. It got to the point where I couldn't raise my arm and I had no dexterity in my fingers. So I did what I felt was the right thing to do. I cinched the wrist loop on my wrist so I didn't have to hold it and kept walking with my left arm hanging limp dragging my trekking pole. I felt like a caveman dragging a club or a hind-quarter of meat. So in honor of that and since I at times have the maturity of a twelve-year-old I grunted and spoke aloud in prehistoric rhetoric. It was fun and lasted about as long as my attention span, 15 minutes. Soon I regained limited use of my arm and returned to the 21st century.I kept a 2.5 mph pace all day and stopped only for a quick lunch at a really neat concrete dam and pond just before Mills road. Other than that stop, I maintained a steady and even cadence and walked up to spring mountain shelter at 16:30.The shelter is small and quite old but it looks like it will serve itspurpose for me. Dinner was a delicious chili with dried beef added. As I type now at 21:00, there is still no sign of the solemates. This is where they planned on heading for the night but they must have camped somewhere in one of the gaps before here. I hope they stay dry.I am thinking about pushing to Flint mountain shelter, 21.3 miles. We¢ll see what the weather holds. There is a very brave little mouse that keeps running up to the candle next to me, I think the little dude is cold. I admire his bravery. I wish I had a mousetrap so I could snap his brave little neck.