Date: 2010-04-27
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Sarver Cabin
Miles today: 13.0

¢I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes.¢                                          - Oprah WinfreyI've been experimenting with my shoes and boots. I don't think I now have better shoes, but there is an improvement anyway. I took the PowerStep inserts out of my walking shoes and put them in my boots, replacing the SuperFeet inserts that were there. Next, I relaced the boots so that the 3 bottom pairs of eyes are not laced at all. I only lace the ankles. The pain in the soles of my feet is gone, and the toes are doing well, too. No new significant blisters have formed. That just leaves the injured ankle/foot from last Friday. It is still swollen and painful. But it helps that there is an improvement in the overall condition of the feet.Today I kept myself in the sleeping bag at least until it was light. Then I got busy and had breakfast and packed up as quietly as I could. I was almost ready to go before everyone else was moving. I think everyone was awake but not ready to get out of the warm sleeping bags. Books and Rubick's cubes were in use.I set off down the last bit of trail before the road crossing. After that the trail became rocky again and climbed up fairly steeply. I was working hard, huffing and puffing my way up, when two of the hikers passed me. They were planning on doing 27 miles today to meet someone at a road crossing. As they flew past me one said, "One mile down, a marathon to go." When the swirling dust had settled I saw them disappearing off into the distance. Sedately, I continued on.Soon all of the hikers that I had left behind, still in their sleeping bags, had passed me. I caught up with a couple of them when they stopped in for lunch at the next shelter, but after their break they took off again.I finished my own lunch and headed down to the next road crossing. But between me and the road lay a number of stiles - the stiles challenge. One of these was a stile that was not fixed well in place and rocked suddenly as I shifted my weight over the top! I passed through a burned out area that had many strawberry plants blooming. "Wild?", I wondered.After I crossed the road, the trail led me up and up through a field, and then past the Keffer Oak, the tree with the largest girth on the Appalachian Trail.A good steady climb took me to the top of the next ridge. I walked along that for a ways until I reached the sign for the Sarver Hollow Shelter. The sign said it was .3 miles to the shelter. Someone had changed it to .55. I don't know how far it was, but the blue-blazed trail led steeply down. And down. And down. At least the trail was switchbacked well. At the bottom there was a very nice shelter. I was the first one there for the night. I collected water from a small stream that had lots of mosquitoes. There was a walled spring, but the water seemed even worse there. Later someone would tell me that if I'd followed the stream even further I could have gotten better water.By the time I got back from getting water, three section hikers had arrived. Later two more thruhikers showed up, for a total of six of us. The night turned cold, and thoughts of my down winter sleeping bag filled my dreams as I tossed and turned. The silk liner really helped, but it was still chilly.