Date: 2003-06-07
From: 1/2 mile befor Tinker Creek

To: Fullhardt Knob Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: mist

I was so glad to talk to Tracy, Christina and Bridget today. It really pepped my spirits, especially after feeling so homesick yesterday. Tracy said she, David and Max might be able to come down and visit next weekend. That sure would be cool. It just feels like it¢s taking me FOREVER to get through VA. It¢s not that I didn¢t know to expect these emotions, but I¢m just so anxious to get North to Front Royal so I can see some friends.I was telling Tracy today (and Steamboat and Sings-a-Lot yesterday) how I didn¢t expect to be ¢working¢ so hard at the hiking. I wake up at six, break camp, and leave by seven to hike all day, to ¢get my miles in¢ and I¢m so exhausted at night that I¢m not journaling. Maybe that push through, get it done attitude is what is also breaking my body down. My knees are just so achy. My right knee in particular has been swollen for the past two days, and last night it was so uncomfortable I had trouble sleeping. I¢m going to try to ¢make¢ the time to do more things for myself ¢ like journaling, but also lingering at overlooks and maybe even writing more letters. Oh, and stretching; lately I¢ve felt too rushed even to do that. There¢s definitely a sense of accomplishment when you complete a long day of big mile hiking but I don¢t think I need that sense of achievement every day. Perhaps I¢ll stick with doing one 20 mile day every 2 weeks. Today¢s hiking will set the stage¢¦(perhaps I¢ll have to extend it some). I hiked three or four miles this morning to get to town. On the way I saw three rabbits (that¢s more than I¢ve seen the entire trip so far ¢ I saw one in the Smokies on the way to Mt. Collin¢s Shelter and one on Easter morning at Roaring Fork). It¢s funny not to play that predator role. I guess human-kind ¢ in fact, all of animal kingdom is used to. The last rabbit I saw didn¢t hear me coming and by the time I got there I was less that five feet from him. You could tell he knew he was in the wrong place at the wrong time ¢ so he stayed motionless, hoping my eyesight was poor (though he sat squarely in the center of the trail). So I talked hoping he¢d move along ¢ but he was stalwart until I walked toward him further. He flew and I was left thinking (instinctually, I suppose) how easy it would have been to nail that rabbit. It¢s just a funny thought, to be this big imposing being, yet be relatively harmless to these other living creatures. There was another day when I was hiking through a cow pasture and as I walked towards one of the posts painted with a white blaze, a bird flew off of it. As I took several steps closer to the post and beyond, there was a young chick on the trail. It¢s mother must have taken flight. That chick started flipping out ¢don¢t eat me! Don¢t eat me! Ahh!¢ and it flapped its wings time and again with no success. And my first thought was ¢Ah, what a cute baby bird,¢ but that baby bird thought I had more torturous plans on my mind. Its chirping increase, its attempts to fly increased; the poor thing was totally freaked. I tried to reassure it, ¢ I¢m not going to hurt you, I just need to get around you.¢ And it stayed a couple of steps ahead of me, hopping, chirping and attempting to escape what it believed would be its ultimate end. It is interesting how we perceive danger ¢ as animals ¢ as human beings. So¢¦back to my day¢¦which was full of magic and growth. After hiking the tree miles or so to Route 11, I walked the .9 miles to the Post Office. By then it was around 9:30 or so. No sooner had I asked for my packages from the woman at the post office, then Sprout walks in!!!! How cool! Just yesterday I¢d heard she was having foot problems, now I see her on her feet. It must be a good sign. I greet her with a hug. I notice that she¢s all cleaned up and in a pair of jeans. I hope my dirty smelliness doesn¢t offend her. Meanwhile, the lady behind the counter stacks tons of boxes up on top of one another. Five packages all together ¢ two are legitimate ¢ the first a new pair of gaiters from Mountain Hardware ¢ the second package contained goodies from Spur and Ready ¢ including a lightweight radio, lighterweight backpack, fleece bag and silk liner! The other three packages were from me, to me: Bounce boxes¢¦ How, you might wonder, could I have THREE? The easiest answer is total and complete disorganization. Most hikers have a bounce box that contains town clothes (to wear while doing laundry), laundry detergent (maybe), towel, refillable stuff (sunscreen, hand sanitizer, etc), batteries¢¦etc. How I got three ¢ I¢ll never know. I decided this time to scrap the whole thing though. If I want to start another after Front Royal then I can do it. So far it seems like a waste of time, energy and money do deal with the stupid box(es). Sprout and her mom suggested I come sort through my things at their room at the Best Western and they offered a shower. Ah, a warm, dry place to sort through my things AND a place to get clean. To top it off I got two cups of complementary coffee and some trial magic from the Hanrahans: oranges, bananas, brownies and good company. It was nice to catch up. Unfortunately, Sprout¢s repetitive stress injury to her feet needed time to heal. She¢s been doing the ¢nursing home shuffle¢ since GA and it just finally came to a head at the War Spur Shelter a week or so back when she couldn¢t walk any further. She¢s planning to take a couple weeks off then do some more hiking from Harper¢s Ferry north. Sounds like a plan to me. Maybe I¢ll be up there by then and we can do some hiking together again! I didn¢t need much on the food resupply side of things because Sprout gave me the total dinner and snack hook-up with extra food she had. All I needed was a couple of items like batteries, pita bread and sushi lunch to-go. Momma Sprout (the Jolly Green Giant ¢ if you will) bought me a delicious latte from the coffee shop. It was, by far, the most excellent coffee concoction I¢ve had since being on the trail. I left a lot of gear with the Hannrahans (who live close to my sister ¢ just outside of Washington DC); they would see to getting my pack, my sleeping bag, and all the bounce box items therein to my sister for safe keeping. I would need the pack and heavy bag again for cold weather, but for a while at least, I could do without it. They dropped me off at the Pilot station (two miles from the trailhead) to make some phone calls. I must have gabbed for two hours with friends and family before deciding it was time to get back to the trail. Then I realized my problem ¢ I didn¢t have my poles. They weren¢t with me. The last place I had seen them was the motel room. I called over to their room but got no answer. I explained to the front desk guy the problem and he gave me the ok (and the key) to go in and get my poles. Thank goodness. Otherwise, I would have had to stay in town. Actually, that all work out for the best, because when I walked back to Route 11 and started towards the trail a Jeep Cherokee stopped and the lady inside asked if I was going to the trail. She offered to take me. I didn¢t generally accept rides from people when I was on my own, but felt good about her. She had me get in and told me about her and her husband being trail angels. She said that I¢m likely to see Peggy at the Fulhardt Knob shelter, a crazy lady who lives there. But, when I got here, there was no sign of Peggy. I guess she got tired of the rain. Or maybe she couldn¢t get water from here any more since the cistern is broken. Either way, I was alone here from 6 until around 8:30 when Slip and Trip showed up. They tented. I slept soundly alone in the shelter until Lone Wolf arrived, causing a commotion around midnight.