Date: 2008-05-03
From: South of Milam Gap

To: Pinnacles Picnic Ground
Miles today: 15.3

Saturday, May 3, 2008South of Milam Gap to Pinnacles Picnic Area, 15.3 milesAwake to find myself snug in my bag on a flat spot of cushioned forest floor in Walt Disney Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah surroundings. Sunshine, 2 clouds in a light blue sky, cool, crisp, perfumed air, light breeze, flowers bursting, insects humming, birds singing, chipmunks and squirrels chattering. Where am I? Heaven? I stay in my bag, not doing anything, not thinking, just being. I start to remember. Last night I traipsed trail that was lined with white trillium, blossoms reflecting my headlight like luminaria. Once in a while I passed other luminosities: waxy-looking, oversized rosettes of mullein. The last thing I remember is curling up in my bag. OK, yes, I¢m in a stealth spot 60 feet off the AT.But why am I now only 6 feet off the trail and a NOBO hiker is about to pass me? What happened? Did I sleepwalk? Nope. When I laid out my bag last night, my poor old brain was in an advanced state of alteration due to thirst, and fatigue, and the black of night. I misperceived 6 feet as 60.I suppose there¢s no harm done, except to the wilderness experience of passersby. I decide I¢m never again drinking any more sodium-chlorite-and-sodium-dichloroisocyanurate¢d water. So now I¢ve night-hiked, and I¢ve bested my previous longest day. What¢s next? I know a female hiker and a male hiker who don¢t wear underwear when they¢re hiking. I¢ve yet to try that¢¦I think I may have a tick on my back. I put on long pants to avoid getting any more on my legs. Start walking at about 9AM, feeling good, great actually. Left ankle is a bit swollen, but it doesn¢t hurt.At Milam Gap, I read the signs. I guess I went over Hazeltop last night without even realizing it.Big Meadows is only 2-3 miles from here. I¢m going to stop at the Lodge and order a big pot of decaf coffee, a pitcher of cream and a bowl of sugar.Shining blue half-sphere of fly bodies feasting on fresh scat. It¢s amazing how quickly they congregate, as if that scat rang a dinner bell.I cross a tiny stream, round a corner, and perched on at chest-high level on shrub branches are a pair of rufous-sided towhees. Seeing me, they calmly flit off deeper into the thicket.A small almost treeless cemetery, bathed in light. Mother and daughter, Meadows, Thelma (1930-1932) and Nornie (1905-1932). Meadows, Fairy E (1903-1967) and Fred (1901-1993) and Madie Virginia (1932-1933).Path to the Lodge, enticed by the aromas of breakfast and the fact that I can see the Lodge not more than 0.1 away.Breakfast is over at 10AM, says Wahdi from Indonesia, one of the wait-staff. It¢s 10:12. Can I just get decaf? Please? I¢ve been hiking and I¢m so thirsty. Wahdi checks with a supervisor. He comes back with a grin. Yes, you can. There¢s a whole carafe of decaf left from breakfast. He me pours cup after cup, bringing me a pitcher of cream and lots of sugar packets. Also bringing me 2 big glasses of ice water.I get a liter of Big Meadows water and a large decaf to go. That should do me.No charge, says Wahdi. It¢s between breakfast and lunch and we can¢t ring in the money. Wow. I leave him a large tip. You don¢t know what this has meant to me. Thank you and your supervisor for bending the rules.On Big Meadows¢ pay phone, I call Memere to let her and Grey Feather know everything worked out fine. I should be out to the car this afternoon. She and Grey Feather just crawled along the Skyline Drive due to tons of deer. They were going about 30 mph. They didn¢t get to Luray until 1AM. Yesterday they left Luray about 9AM and drove home to NH, getting in about 11:30 PM. We had such a good time, didn¢t we? Thanks for the dinner in Waynesboro, and for setting my car. I feel super now. Start about noon.5 boy scouts and 2 leaders, backpacking, an overnight trip to Lewis Falls, 7-8 miles.I hear a woman with a frown in her voice saying ¢This wasn¢t supposed to work out this way.¢Circling the periphery of the campground, I think of 2004, being here with Bandana Man.Note to me: When I get home see if I can fix the camera settings to record purples more faithfully. The greens and blues seem OK, but the purples are not. Violets, bluets, etc.I skip Rock Spring Hut. I¢ve got to get out at Pinnacles Picnic Ground and drive to Bears Den before everyone goes to bed tonight.Hello to George Schubert, a maintainer with the PATC. He maintains from Booten Gap to Hazeltop, and another area as well. Do I need to bring my chainsaw up there? he asks. I have no recollection of Hazeltop at all, I reply. So I guess not. George is working on this section right here. It¢s not one that he regularly maintains. To prevent erosion, he¢s wielding a McLeod to channel water off to the side of the trail.Hello to 2 young day hikers who are talking about the place where they both work.Rocky area. It looks a little gloomy to the west.Hello to a day-hiking couple.Hello to a young couple hiking with Roxie, their black Great Dane.Hello to another couple. Hello to a group of 4 men who are backpacking. Hello to 2 women hiking south.Overhangs where you could get shelter in a storm.Hello to 2 dayhikers.Hello to section-hiker Squire from MA. Hiking Front Royal to Pearisburg. Last year he hiked from Springer to Pearisburg. Still to do: HF to DWG.Hello to NOBO Swamp (?) Tuna.I walk some of the nature trail around Stony Man. It surprises me to see chestnut logs still lying in the forest, not decomposed.Out about 6PM.