Date: 2004-05-22
From: The Place, Damascus, VA

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese [and salami].¢ G. K. ChestertonIn the shelter tonight: T-Bott, Fancy Free, a section hiker and another guy. Tenting nearby: 3 section hikers (one of them is the son of "another guy"). Hammocking: me.Trips: 7. Rolled ankles: 0. Falls: 0.I returned the day pack I used for yesterday's slackpack, stuffed all 35 pounds of gear in my pack, added 4 pounds of water (my pack is 3 pounds), and set out for Saunders Shelter at 9 am exactly. At 9:50 I took my first break.I have decided that, in an effort to stay healthy, I need to make a few changes to my hiking routine. For every hour I hike, I will take a ten minute break, wherever I am, whether I think I need it or not. I will eat some trail mix, drink some water, take off my pack, and get off my feet. I also need to stretch before, during and after my hiking day. Other changes mean at least 45 minutes for lunch but with more substantial food, more water, a good foot soak if I can.Lunch up till now has been pretty much the same. All of it is things I like -- Wheat Thins, low sodium if possible (they survive very nicely in my food bag for 4 or 5 days); salami (whatever I can get, Abruzzi, Sopressata, dry, Gypsy, Hungarian, pepperoni, pepper coated, herbes de Provence. Sometimes the only thing I can find in the store is Summer Sausage. I'd rather eat dirt. The dominant taste there is salt, salt and more salt); cheese (almost any hard or semisoft cheese -- Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, Gouda, Edam, Cheddar, Swiss, Muenster, Gorgonzola, Maytag Blue, Roquefort. I just love moldy cheese). Maybe an orange my first couple of days out of town, or dried fruit later on. Salami and cheese last for days in a pack and can be used to add a finishing touch to dinner, too. I hope I'll still like them when the hike is over.My feet hurt again today. The broken bone seems to have healed and it isn't a problem. The tendonitis still seems to be a problem. Even the grade on gentle switchbacks seems to aggravate it and there were plenty of those today. Even with getting off my feet at breaks and soaking them at lunch, they seem to hurt as much as usual. Some of it I can live with but the tendonitis is back to where was. Otherwise I felt fine, maybe even better than I thought I would. I wasn't too tired and my appetite was undiminished. Getting to the shelter at 3 pm and having plenty of time to rest before sleeping helped too.Ants and flying bugs seemed to be out in force, so I set up my hammock. It doesn't look like rain, though. That seems to be a daily occurrence in this area. The hammock is sort of a pain to set up. Obviously harder than setting up to sleep in the shelter or on the ground, but it is more comfortable. I almost got rid of it and kept only the fly, but I think that would have been a mistake. And it does have bug netting. So many people have them and love them that I gave mine another chance. Throwing it out of my pack would have saved some weight, but it isn't that heavy. Anyway, it's up and soon I'll be down.The trail today ran next to the Virginia Creeper trail for part of the way. The Creeper Trail is a mixed use rails-to-trail conversion that runs for about 40 miles from Whitetop Mountain to Abingdon. Nice easy grade, nice smooth surface. The AT next to it has the usual ups and downs and rocks and roots. Many people slackpack this section, either by hiking ahead and coming back on a shuttle or shuttling ahead and hiking back. Why not slack out, have a shuttle meet you with a bike and coast back into town on the Creeper Trail? Sounds like fun with no additional work. Pretty trail today. Pretty much everything is green now. Humid but not too hot. Good places to stop for breaks and for lunch. At the shelter for a break today: Pokey, Gabby, Burnie (she accidentally burned three things on her first three days on the trail), and Joker and Rainman sans Pony. Sounds like she ditched 'em.As I was hiking along today, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. Looked. Didn't see anything. Nothing big anyway. Looked smaller. Still nothing. Even smaller. Ahhh! A thumb-sized orange frog, trying to hide in trailside debris. It modeled for a while. No personality at all, though. Just sat there like a lump.I added a Dana Wet Rib to my pack at Trail Days. I love it. It keeps my camera handy, holds maps, trail mix, water, lunch -- all the stuff I need during the day. Keeps it all right in front of me. All I have to is bend my elbow to get stuff.Clear night but heat lightning in the distance.