Date: 2008-06-08
From: Rte 301 Canopus Lake

To: Hosner Mtn Rd
Miles today: 10.5

Sunday, June 8, 2008Canopus Lake Rte 301 to Hortontown Rd, Amoeba and Spinner, 7.0 miles, Hosner Mtn Rd to Hortontown Rd, Amoeba solo, 3.5 milesA scorcher yesterday. At 5AM today it¢s already hot. We leave Helen¢s at 6AM, by 7:15 we¢re on the trail hiking north from 301.Just in from 301 are some American chestnut suckers surrounding dead-from-blight 3-inch trunks. Reminder to me: look at the American Chestnut Foundation website, www.acf.org, for state of efforts against the chestnut blight fungus (discovered in NYC in 1904) introduced to North America from Asia in the 1800¢s.Winding rocky trail through misty, warmish, free-for-the-taking sauna and through early stages of mountain laurel bloom, buds opening. Fresh blazing. Birdsong. Mosquitoes humming.The spiders were busy last night, says Spinner. Because of her trailname, Spinner gets cobweb duty every morning. The colorful trail hat Spinner wears, a gift from her daughter Nihal, helps with the catching.I'm tired of cobweb catching, says Spinner. I¢m changing my trailname to Trill.No black flies today, but mosquitoes fill the breach. A loosely tied cotton kerchief, or a bandana opened across the head, either one under a brimmed hat, wards them away from face and neck. Female mossies light on our arms, shoulders and hands.Shirts and gloves offer no protection at all against their persistence, stealth and half-inch piercing proboscises.We walk past deeply furrowed trunks of chestnut oak.Viewpoint overlooking Canopus Lake, where May 20, 2003 Helen¢s hiking friend Margaret and I had lunch. My mind drifts back to that day and the hiking lessons learned from Margaret, who had taken a day off from work to hike with me.Margaret had parked her car on 301 and had hiked south where she met me hiking north.I remember we hiked together over an old railroad bed, which I thought was the most blissfully wonderful piece of trail I¢d yet walked. Dry footing, no rocks, no climbs, no descents. Telling that to Margaret confirmed her doubts about me. :- ((( At Rte 301, Margaret had filled my platypus with spring water, and packed salad, tomato, hard-boiled egg and bread to take to the overlook. Real food! She gave me a disposable camera to use because I¢d sent my 35mm back to Syracuse. She gave me a red-with-white-lettering AT bandana. And she gave me something I¢d only read about but never¢d seen, 2 REM¢s (ready-to-eat meals) that her boss had given her. I tried to pay her but she refused, saying I could help someone else out sometime.On that hike in 2003 we saw lady slippers, a rose-breasted grosbeak and a towhee. I was traveling at my then usual pace of 1 mph. It must have been really hard for Margaret to walk that slow, but she didn¢t complain. After lunch, she turned around and walked out, (or did you bushwhack, Margaret?). I continued north to meet up with MooseBoy, 4 young men from Russia, here in the US on green cards, and later, Juiceman, at the RPH Cabin.Today Spinner and I stop at the overlook to take photos, then we move on.Second hello to Pedestrian, traveling south. He stayed last night at the RPH Cabin. He¢s low on water and asks us where the next water is. Tells us to watch out for ticks. He got a bite last night. Also, even though he¢s wearing golf gloves, a tick nailed him on the hand. It dropped from a tree and landed on bare skin exposed by a cutaway in the golf glove.Pedestrian¢s suffering in the heat. Tells us we¢ll like the top of Shenandoah Mountain and the blooming mountain laurel. You¢ll like the upcoming view of Canopus Lake and more mountain laurel, we say. Happy trails, Pedestrian, take it slow in the heat.Thanks to Pedestrian, from here on out today Spinner is relieved of cobweb duty.Intersection of the AT with the Appalachian Way Snowshoe Trail.Another flat section, parts bounded by stone wall.Atop Shenandoah Mountain is the American flag painted on rock in red, white and blue, commemorating Sept 11, 2001.A section of relo¢d trail.Waft of perfume from white rose flowers.Hello to NOBO Sinker, started in March. From northern Virginia. At DWG, trying to avoid resupply in NJ and NY, he walked up from the river carrying a 50-pound pack, 28 pounds of which was food. He would have calculated right if he¢d taken into account increased hunger due to carrying the extra weight. But he didn¢t, and will have to get something for lunch at 52 and a hot dog for supper at 55. Spinner gives him a snackpack of tunafish salad and crackers.Phlox in bloom. Nice new bridge and new stonework. Beautiful, beautiful trail work.RPH Cabin, cool concrete in the blazing heat, echoing memories of MooseBoy, Juiceman and me sharing pizza and spending the night here in 2003.Out at 11:30. 12:30, Goodbye, dear Spinner. Safe trip home.I start solo from Hosner Mtn Rd. Even though I¢m wrapped against bugs and sun, I¢m not too hot. The heat doesn¢t bother me as much as some people.Second hello to Sinker. He looks at me and says, You like it out here, don¢t you. I love it, say I.I get into solo-hiking-mode, comfortable as a soft Croc.What is this? A male Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), flitting like a butterfly, exotic blur of bluish iridescence and rounded black wings. I think of a poem I read recently about a harping mother trying to teach her son insect names. He¢s not interested in learning names and classifications. Just appreciating their behavior and beauty. She persists. He kills some, mounts them, labels them, and presents the dead creatures to his mother.I love to watch the behavior and see the beauty of wild creatures in their habitat, but I also want to know (and remember!) more about them, which learning their names helps me do. Today¢s forest is alive with chipmunks and squirrels. Jumping, streaking, leaping. One squirrel galumphs as much as a bear.More insect trail friends, the 6-spotted tiger beetle and the spring azure butterfly.At Taconic Parkway, first blooming daisies I've seen this year. Out to the stifling car at 2:15.Margaret comes over to Helen¢s and we sip icy vodka and share trail stories. Margaret¢s been to Africa 4 times. In January, I may travel to Soweto with Spinner to visit her daughter and family there. Once there I may stay longer than Spinner and hike in South Africa or Kilimanjaro. We¢ll see. Happy Hiking!P.S. An apology to anyone reading this journal. I've been just awful about keeping it up. Photos and captions are current but the entries are 3 months behind. Hope to catch it up this week and next, before I go back on the AT with Sweet Sixteen in NH in late June.