Date: 2008-07-09
From: Calf Mountain

To: Doyles River Trail (just past)
Miles today: 18.9

Woke to pouring rain pounding on my tent. I lay there a while trying to come up with a plan. Of course, what plan could there possibly be other than hiking? So finally I packed away my sleeping bag and began organizing my stuff. I so did not want to leave my tent! The worst part was putting on my wet clothes. I did not know what the day's weather would be and did not want to risk getting my only dry clothes wet. Dry clothes at the end of the day, especially with this new lighter weight sleeping bag are essential. So I put my dry stuff in zip locks and grudgingly slid into my lovely wet clothes--the works: socks, underwear, shirt and shorts. Then to add to the fun I put on my wet rain pants and rain coat. I packed up my stuff in record time, decided not to eat as by then I was freezing and needing to get moving. Would eat later. Hiking wasn't bad and soon I was actually enjoying it. The rain had let up and I was warm enough to take off the rain gear. Truth be told though, I would have given anything right then to be home, warm and content sitting inside and looking out. The tiny no-see-ums were horrendous! As were the swarm of buzzing ?gnats around my head. They love nothing more than hovering around by my ears, than moving towards my eyes and then, wham! They make a mad dash for my eye. They are quicker than lightning! I don't know why they do this! It's surely suicide for them! Sometimes I imagine that they all talk to each other, that if they make it successfully into some unlucky hiker's eye then they are reincarnated as ?some larger, smarter life form. So there they all are, swarming wildly and then one yells, "I'm goin' for it!" and he makes a pass....SUCCESS! And the other bugs go wild, cheering and joyous, knowing their old friend is on to better things.... (see what all this free time gets me?) I actually spent a good deal of today's hike with my very lovely and fashionable green bug net. Oh, it is so very cool and nice under there. Just what every girl dreams of, walking through the woods wearing a green head net, sweat pouring down my face. Anyway, I never thought I would say this, but after today, I will say it, and say it with confidence. I now understand why people on this trail bring an mp3 player along with them. Before this hike some people asked me if I was bringing one and I just looked at them oddly, thinking "of course not! I want to HEAR what's going on around me! I want to be in TUNE with the sounds of nature!" I couldn't imagine why I would want to do such a stupid thing! But now I get it! The music can make the madness the bugs create disappear! The little devils swarming around by my ears and darting into my eyes are sometimes enough to make me, (as Frank would say, ) "slit my wrists!" I know that's horrible. But really, they do make one crazy. How I would LOVE to put my headphones on and fall into the spell of soothing music, something country to sing along with. Hal Ketchum or Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakam, Kenny Rogers, a little Josh Turner. I would have a smile on my face as I booked along, oblivious to the maddening critters swarming around my ears. So I understand why people have music (the bugs) and why people quit this hike (the bugs) and why people hate bugs (the bugs of course!) I hope tomorrow is better!