Date: 2006-04-19
From: Cow Camp Gap Shelter

To: Fish Hatchery Rd (Dutch Haus B&B)
Miles today: 12.5

This damn journal is getting increasing more difficult to write. I should have quit while I was ahead. I¢ve been thinking about what I have to say and have kind of hiked myself out on a ledge, if you know what I mean. I¢m starting to feel like I¢m George Castanza.   For me to tell you what actually took place I¢m gonna have to say some things I¢d rather not say or at least now I have to explain why I did or did not include something in previous entries. As we discussed earlier in this journal, my Mom and her best friend follow my journal ¢religiously¢¢¦so to speak. (BTW her best friend is Billie spelled ¢ie¢ not ¢y¢¢¦ADD#37) You see, Mom may not approve of my behavior. In fact, I¢m pretty sure she won¢t like what she reads.   I don¢t want to embarrass anyone, but I actually kind of feel good about myself. Dad, since you are the one who looks up my journal and prints it out, it¢s on your shoulders¢¦feel free to edit or just tell Mom an entry got lost in ¢cyberspace.¢When I woke up today I decided to pack everything up in my backpack while still inside my tent. That way I wouldn¢t have to contend with Petee and his master. I just whipped the pack out; leaned it against the tree; quickly fell the tent; threw it in the outside mesh pocket and hiked out.Trouble was ¢they¢ left just ahead of me. In fact, I followed ¢them¢ the entire half mile path out to the AT. Little Petee was so cute¢¦he scampered about in and out of the woods and often lagging behind to the point that his owner was yelling for him. I almost caught a picture of ¢their¢ rear ends but it was too blurred and I didn¢t want the guy to see me taking their picture.It wasn¢t long before we were back on the AT. I could no longer hold back¢¦the guy was just too slow. The trail was narrow¢¦steep hill to the left and drop off and rocks and trees to the right. When I got immediately behind him he didn¢t step aside to let me pass. Right then I wanted to ram my Leki¢s up his fat ass. I quickly stepped up on the hill to the left and flew around him like an Austin Healey 3000 passing a cement truck. Neither one of us spoke. I happily hiked on figuring that would be the last I would ever see of ¢the deaf hiker¢ and his little dog Petee. If I was truly ¢mean spirited¢ I would have pushed him over the hill as I passed. But, it ain¢t over yet.One thing happened today that I am kind of proud of. If you don¢t hike half a mile down to a spring or a half mile down to Cow Camp as I did, there¢s a nice long stretch without water. In ¢03 someone had left a note on a large boulder pointing out an unmarked spring 25 yds off to the right that isn¢t in the guide books. I remembered it; looked for it; recognized where it was on the Trail; found it and left my own note for the other hikers behind me. (Not thinking about Petee and his owner¢¦who both would probably be bathing in it)After about ten miles today I got to Seeley-Woodworth Shelter. In ¢03, it was only me and Wicked Wizard staying there overnight together. Most all shelters have registers¢¦notebooks that hikers sign or leave messages in for other hikers. I couldn¢t resist leaving a message in this one warning other hikers about Petee and his owner. I wrote about my experience at Cow Camp. Like Fox News, I was ¢Fair and balanced.¢   I do remember calling little Petee ¢adorable.¢ I did go on to say something to the effect that if his owner didn¢t watch it, SOMEONE (not me necessarily) would either ¢dognap¢ or poison Little Petee. Good hikers always warn others of what¢s out there.   (Note to Starlyte¢¦Tse¢¦Tse¢¦you should be ashamed of yourself¢¦let me know if you want me to delete your guest book entry.)One other thing I forgot to mention was my consternation over whether to stop for the day after 12 miles at a Bed & Breakfast that was offering a free lunch to hikers. I forgot to mention that a couple of days ago I passed a south bounder, Pretty Boy Floyd. He was putting notices in all the shelters that announced for the sixth year, The Dutch Haus Bed & Breakfast up the Trail in Montebello was giving hikers a free lunch (no strings attached) and offering them greatly reduced rates if they wanted to stay for supper and overnight. The notice contained details of where hikers could be picked up or how they could walk an additional two miles down the mountain off the Trail to get there.I didn¢t go in ¢03 cause my timing was off...it¢s only a couple of miles from the last shelter where Wizard and I stayed. Besides it¢s 2 miles down the steep mountainside in a valley. But this year I¢m looking for all the new experiences I can find.All the young folks I met the other day were planning on stopping so I decided I¢d at least go for lunch since they pick you up at the parking area at eleven and twelve thirty¢¦the twelve thirty pick up I could just make in time.ADD#38 is as follows: I arrive at the intersection of the AT and Fish Hatchery Rd fifteen minutes early. Since Fish Hatchery was a ¢road¢ (a steep dirt one albeit), I sat there waiting for someone to drive up and pick me up. Then it suddenly dawned on me that although there was some room to park this was not the parking lot mentioned in the directions. So, I start hiking down hill¢¦a steep downhill that goes on forever. I pass Moleman, Fat Camp and Pebbles climbing back up. They had just been there for the eleven o¢clock seating. They also told me I had missed the shuttle from the parking lot below. I said, ¢This better damn well better be worth it.¢ (Or something to that effect). They assured me it was. So I ended up walking the entire two additional miles to the hostel.The proprietors, Lois and Earl Arnold are really great¢¦you could tell Lois loves hikers (especially the young good looking males) and was really excited about taking care of us. The ham & bean soup was the best I¢ve ever eaten and the turkey salad sandwiches were great washed down by glass after glass of lemonade. I decided it was worth the walk (and climb back up) and also decided to stay the night.I also got to meet a bunch of new hikers¢¦all young men about college age. Sunset was there, making things difficult by observing Passover and fighting some sort of virus. Taco, The Dingleberry¢s and The Jolly Green Giant were there too, but my favorite new friend is Guns & Jesus¢¦one ¢Cool Dude¢ with a great sense of humor. And, how could you not like someone who has guts enough to include ¢Jesus¢ in his trail name. We got to know each other a little as we both slept out back in the bunk house with a guy called "Woody Crow." Woody Crow was the guy apologizing all over the place to Dog Trainer at the shelter last night. I didn't give him too much sh!t over it.Guns and I enjoy some of the same music (country) and he likes all movies, especially old ones. I was shocked to find out he had never seen the BEST movie ever made¢¦¢Who¢s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?¢ He promised me he would see it sometime.