Date: 2003-08-04
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Bears Den
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: overcast clouds

start Rod Hollow Shelterdestination Bears DenMy morning started off with a pleasant suprise. Hot water for my tea!!Mudbutt had beat me to heating water this morning. Why does food or drinks always taste better when you do not have to fix them yourself?? Today I enter what is called the Roller Coaster. It is a 13.5 mile stretch that includes 10 asents and desents. One after another. You go up, you go down, then the pattern repeats itself. But I am ready for anything the trail throws in my path!! I have hiked over 900 miles. I am woman,h ear me roar! By lunch you could hear me squalking. Like a plucked chicken I was squalking. I was sweating like you wouldn't beleive and trying to maintain some sort of rhythm to my hiking. I finally crashed on a rock out cropping and took a break for lunch. I checked my book while waiting for Mudbutt. I had come a whole 3 miles. I was wiped out. And to be honest, I was pretty discouraged. The terrain just did not seem to be such that I should have had such a hard time. I mean, after all, I am an expereinced hiker. I have been out here four months. I have my trail legs, my stamina my endurance. Well, I thought I had them. Maybe I left them back at the shelter this morning. I sure did not have any of that today. Off and on all day, the thunderclouds followed me. Or maybe it wasn't thunderclouds at all, maybe it was just a big black cloud over my head. Throwing down words like failure, whuzzy, weak, foolish to me to be bombarded into my mind. Mudbutt joined me and we took a prlonged break for lunch. Only she was to tired to even eat lunch. Finally the sound of thunder(again) sent us on our way. Up and down and up and down. By late afternoon I had seen 2 other hikers. Nothing to break the monotony of a long dismal climb. I came to a stream at the intersection where the shelter was and sat down. All I could do was wait for Mudbutt. If she felt that she couldn't go another 3 miles to the hostel, at least we would be close to the shelter to tent for the night. The forest started getting darker and darker as storm clouds moved in. I was glad to be down in a gap and not up on the ridge. Before long here comes my hiking partner. She looks as beat as I feel but is determined to go to the hostel. "Ben and Jerry's is waiting for me.", she says. I am amazed at the strenth she posesses, not only physical, but mental. She is stronger than any woman I know. Once more I head up the trail. 3 miles stand between me and a hot shower, clean clothes, a real bed, and cold drinks. That in itself motivates me to hike up and down, and up and down. I hear a siren screaming in the distance. It sonds like those I used to here out in the midwest when a tornado was spotted. The sky was definately black enough and the wind was blowing pretty strong. Then as quickly as it came in, it left. I guess it hit the side of the mountain and blew apart. Step and step, over rocks that challenged you to find a firm foothold. I do not remember anything as rocky as the trail has been today. I sink lower and lower, my pace growing slower and slower. There is a sharp pain in my rght heel. I hike on trying to find a place to sit down to take my boot off. Finally a rock big enough to sit on and sturdy enough comes in view. By this time I am hobbeling along. I take off my shoe, nothing in there. I take off my sock, looking for a rock or splinter of wood. I find nothing. I look around for a level site for my tent. I am exhausted, and on the verge of tears. I finally summon all the energy I have left and start yelling at the trail. It has whipped me today. It has tossed something out that I cannot handle.I sit and contemplate my options. Not too many at this point. I listen to a helicopter circling around and around. Looking for some one or some thing. Could they drop a rope to me maybe?? Pull me to the top of this last mountain? I think not. I drag myself up and head north once more. The last climb is a long hard one. I think of all the hikers I know out on the trail even now. They all hiked this and lived to tell about it. I too will live to tell abot it. The top comes unexpectedly. There is a small sign nailed to a tree, that says Bears Den. I am almost home for the night. A rock outcropping faces west. You can see the Washington Monument from here on a clear day. Today is not clear. Neither was yesterday, or the day before, or the day before... I drag my self to the hostel where Rob is waiting to check me in. I must look pretty rough. He asks me if I am alright and hands me a gatorade. After a few minutes I begin to feel almost human. He asks me what I need. Well, a new body would be great for starters. They are fresh out. I settle for a bed with a sleep sack, shower, laundry, pizza, more gatorade, orange juice, and pancake mix for breakfast in the morning, a couple postcards and oh yes do not forget the ice cream. I hand him my credit card and sign for my purchases. It does not take much to satisfy me tonight. $31.25 and I am a happy, but tired hiker. I buy a diet coke and head off back down the trail to find Mudbutt. I wait there for her with the drink. The wind is still blowing and before long I am chilled in my wet sweaty clothes. I set the drink in the middle of the trail and go back to the hostel. The hikers have kitchen priviledges for supper. I stand in front of the stove looking at the knobs. It feels so strange to be using a stove to cook on. I light the oven and wait for it to heat. In goes the pizza. By then Mudbutt is here and she buys a pizza and it goes in the oven also. Rob tells us we can use the cardboard from the pizza as a plate. I dig mine out of the recycle bin, then throw it back in. Heck, tonight we celebrate. I get real plates and forks from the cupboards. Paper napkins and glasses. I even go so far as to set one of the tables. Tonight, we act like real people. Sit in a real chair and eat real food. Well, real food is stretching it a bit for frozen pizza. Such a treat though. Hot showers and clean clothes later finds us chomping down ice ream. I can only eat a few bits of mine before it goes back into the freezer. Maybe I will eat it in the morning with my pancakes. Already the trials and pains of today's hike are a blurry memory. I lay on my bunk, snug in a cotton sleep sack. It smells so good. Clean and fresh. I think about how wonderful the wash rag felt as I scrubbed days worth of sweat and dirt off my body. Then rinsed away the sore aching feeling that held my body captive. Yep, it's the little things in life... those are the things that make life worth living. total miles 9.8