Date: 2006-05-04
From: Campsite after Jenkins Shelter

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: broken clouds

Another short mile day. I had planned a longer one, but again the town pulled me in. I stopped in Bland to pick up mail which wasn't there. But while in town I also had breakfast and lunch in the unassuming diner at the back of the gas station. I restocked my food bag at the IGA. And I stopped at the library to check my journal and email. By the time I got out I wasn't going to make twelve more miles to Jenny Knob, so did just two more to Helveys Mill Shelter. I left camp this morning at first light in great spirits. I got in tonight growling like a bear. Grr, towns do that to me. It's not the towns themselves, it's the time I spend in them and lose to the trail. The seven miles into Bland were beautiful and peaceful. The climb from the stream to the ridge was steep but short, the morning cool and bright. I made good time once on the ridge and had my stride to just the right beat. Bland is 2.5 miles off the trail on US 21. I could see the road from the ridge and was happy to be making good time. I got a quick hitch into town from the second passing car. The driver was great, loves hikers, and told me about the day years ago when he me the now legendary Grandma Gatewood on one of her thru-hikes. He said she was very warm and genuine. I'm corny, but I was a little bit in awe. It was like talking to someone who had met Lewis and Clark in person. My ride dropped me in front of the post office and pointed out everything else I needed. I thanked him sincerely. Bland is a small town and set up perfectly for hikers, probably not conceived this way by the original town planners but it worked well for me. From the post office I could the the diner and the IGA. The library is just a little further down the road. There was no box for me at the PO, but I saw a couple on the shelf waiting for 42 so knew she'd be stopping here. Time to return her last good deed. While at IGA I picked up a 10 pack of Snickers and a large bag of peanut M and Ms. I mailed them from Bland to Bland. With that kind of loot she'll probably repay me with a Rolex or a new car. Pancakes at the diner were the size of my face. Except for two gentlemen in the back I had the place to myself, good thing too as butter and syrup dripped from my beard and mustache and I lapped my hands and fingers clean.   The stache is now bushy enough to cover my mouth and makes it tough to eat in any civilized fashion. I was back at the diner for lunch and very happy to see Chill Out and Wayne-o come in. Three hikers, three times the fun. I keep running into these guys and like their company. The librarian wasn't as happy to see me as the ladies at the diner. I did not win her over with my wayward charm. Not having bathed in a week probably didn't tip the scales in my favor either. I told her I too am a librarian and that I just met another on the trail. She replied with an umm-hmm and told me to leave my pack outside. A couple of patrons were happier to see me and asked me to tell them about hostels. Besides the burgers, the other thing that makes it hard to get out of town is the poor hitch-hiking prospects. I walked about a mile up the road, thumb out, before a pick-up pulled over. Wayne-o was waving from the front. The driver told me to jump in back if I could fit. I squeezed into the bed behind a pile of fiberglass insulation whcih blew around my face as we picked up speed. Chill Out got a ride right away, but I had ducked into a store for a bottle of juice as they went by so missed a chance of a quicker ride. Finally at the shelter I grumbled, ate and went to bed. I shared the shelter with the other two plus a section hiker name Gary and his dog Pepper. Both man and dog very nice.Snapper showed up in the final grey light of the evening. She'd just hiked over 20 miles but chatted happily as she ate dinner. I haven't me her before but have heard the name and seen it in the registers. She's from North Carolina, twenty-four years old and very funny. She'd been hiking with a group for quite a while but decided to make a break and hike on her own.It's interesting. There are alot more men than women on the trail. Many of the women come out with partners, either husbands, boyfriends, male partners or female partners. For such a male dominated activity, with very few exceptions, everyone is treated with complete courtesy and respect. The one woman showing up to share a shelter for the night with four strange men fits right in with no worries. Granted, the younger guys on the prowl, hormones raging, pass news up and down the trail about what women are out there, where they are, and what they look like. For all the talk though, I haven't heard of any conquests or unwanted advances. Some of the guys can be pigs when left unattended, but big talk seems to be mostly that. All in all a community that respects itself and each other.