Date: 2010-05-18
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

Dream Catcher and Kadiddle are both former graphic designers who are now fine artists so this morning we had several really enjoyable, helpful conversations about the possibilities that await me post-hike - different directions I could possibly head in. They have a wonderful ongoing project where they ask people what their biggest dream is and what they would do to make an impact and film the answers. So I got to participate in that and then headed out a little later than anticipated, feeling more achy and sore than I have in a long time. My hips felt bruised from my pack and I didn't feel like my muscles had recovered very well from the long day yesterday. When I reached Sam's Gap I thought about hitching the 3.8 miles to the cafe for breakfast but decided to save time and money by walking on. I hadn't had any caffeine and was tired and sluggish and still achy - I briefly wished for trail magic in the form of a cold soda, but knew that wasn't going to happen. All these thoughts of nearby towns and cafes and soda made me wonder if I was placing too much importance on towns and their convenience rather than focusing on my hike, especially when I caught myself wishing that I had caught a ride with the non-thru-hikers I had seen hiking out from the trail southbound. So I forced myself to stop thinking about hot showers and cozy sofas and coffee shops and instead I decided to ignore the gloomy sky threatening rain and plopped down on a log for a leisurely hour and a half long lunch complete with hot green tea and a book to read. I was convinced it would start to pour at any second, and it was chilly...but sitting out there in the woods was just as good as being in a coffee shop, if not better.In a much improved mindset I continued on, saw more new flowers, didn't document them because my crappy camera died (Dream Catcher's mind blowing DSLR camera and my obsession with macro shots has led me to the conclusion that I need to suck it up and buy a better camera asap), thought about my future plans (including my imminent camera purchase), and walked on. I saw a wild turkey and a whole thicket of jack-in-the-pulpits, at least 12 nestled against a huge boulder that had trees growing out of it with roots almost magically warped by the stone. I reached Big Bald and fell in love; I wanted to just build a house at the top and live there. The ground arched up to a perfectly blue sky and thick mounds of blueberry bushes jutted out from tall grassy fields while up above swallows arced and wheeled across the sky. I lay on a rock and watched impossibly tall thick white clouds move by before dull gray ones blotted out the sun. It was a place and a moment that seemed to perfectly explain why I'm hiking. I wanted to stay longer but it became cold and dark and windy.I passed up camping on the second bald by a thick copse of stunted beech trees and overhanging boulders even though there was a wooden table and old fireplace because I was worried about the weather and knew it would be windy and damp on a night like this. So I moved on to the shelter which is lower down and a bit more protected from the elements.I was right, it is very damp and foggy. Now I'm laying here and can smell the stench of my socks and the stink of the hiker laying 2 spaces over from me. Almost enough to make me wish I was swinging in a damp hammock on top of a freezing cold hill! And that road crossing where I so badly wanted a soda did end up having trail magic...just hours after I passed by! Luckily the Two Musicians had strolled by and snagged a few cans of soda - so I traded a bag of M&M's for a rootbeer. It's almost scary how good soda tastes out here.