Date: 2003-05-16
From: Trail Days

To: Trail Days, Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Hiker reunion time, a day of reconnecting with old friends.It started at the continental breakfast at the Day's Inn lobby. There sat Bumpkin and her husband. I went over to give her a hug and thank her for the Trail magic she had sent me to Damascus. Yes, Bumpkin was the mystery box I collected there.Next came Chase and Cindy (Mrs. Gorp). Cindy fed me and Clyde pizza on the Long Trail last year. She'd done one thru-hike in the 70's, started another last year and then her mother died. She was back out this year, but developed severe tendonitis, so was waiting on that.Then there was a pleasant, burly young man who welcomed me expectantly... damn! I must know him... he is waiting with a smile on his face... it is ... Dan/Sheltowee! He's cut his beard off! I'd inner-tubed with Dan and his fiance Nina/Waterfall on the Green River last summer... but when these Trail guys shave off their beards, you'd never know you were looking at the same person! Dan has finished his "Walk Across America" and has written a book. It looked fascinating and I almost bought it for Trail reading, but it is a heavy thing and besides, I would have torn it up. I'll wait until The Gathering this fall and get him to sign a pristine copy.In Damascus, I ran into Jitterbug, from Women's List, and also Bluebearee, a successful '02 thru-hiker. The latter has passed along several tips, but this was the best by far: "There wasn't a day I didn't fantasize about quitting." I can't tell you how reassuring it is to hear that.I don't fantasize every day, or even every week, but there have been days... it's a common dirty little secret, one no one on the Trail speaks of, one no one admits to. It's almost as if by admitting it, folks feel it will actually happen. I think that's superstitious thinking.It's hard work, backpacking the AT. It's helpful to hear past thru-hikers admit "that's normal to think about quitting, I felt that too." To have these thoughts floating in one's head is not an automatic hike-ender. It's just a thought, not necessarily to be believed. But it freaks people out when you admit to having them. I've been trying to chronicle the whole experience as candidly as possible; these thoughts are part of it.As my friend Anna/Mudbutt says: "Your mind is not always your friend." Anna told me about a lecture she heard by an endurance runner. He said "Your mind will always tell you to stop. That's it's job. Listen to your heart instead." Like that.I drop by the TrailJournals.com booth to meet the site owners, Lief and ZipDrive. They are very welcoming and tell me they've gotten positive comments on my journal. It's an effort and a discipline to sit down at the sweaty, hungry, sleepy, sore end of a long day of humping cruel weights up mountain sides and write down what happened. It's really more fun to hang out and yak. So this news is great to hear, gives me energy and makes me want to keep writing.I had a funny incident on the Main street of Damascus. I was sending my pocketmail from a phone booth, and a woman approached me. "Are you Jan LiteShoe? I think you are, I recognize you from your TrailJournals.com pictures."She then asked if she could take my picture. My picture? I tell you, I felt like Elvis! Ha!I ran into other friends during the day, Triple-Crown hiker Sly, Jonathon McCue, Sunny and Sunset, and more. Not To Worry and G-Force were selling their hammocks, Pog helping them. Bett/Swallowtail, a friend from the Womenhikers list and a March Trail magician, turned up. And new friends too. Hammer wanted me to meet someone: he took me to Sandy's house on Brook Street. Sandy was an integral piece of the chain linking me back up with my lost jacket and ID.Sandy turned out to be a kindred spirit, an organic gardener and stained glass artist, very sharp, very pleasant and welcoming. I could have been happy just spending the day in her backyard pulling weeds. A very cozy, beautiful space. I left before 1 pm to catch Dan's talk about his "Walk across America." He was an impressive speaker, with good slides. I had to slip out early to make my 2:00 foot appointment with the Phil Oren crew. This was a major Trail Days Priority. As it turned out, I spent the rest of the afternoon there.My "new" shoes had about 500 miles on them now, and would be replaced soon. I wanted the best shot at a good fit, and I knew this clinic really helped foot problems. "Good feet or bad, we fit them all," says their sign. Hope!I submitted my feet. The team of experts clucked and shook their heads. The good news was that they approved of my orthotic. The bad news was my shoes weren't offering me shank support, were crushing my toes laterally and "you have very hard feet to fit."Roberto, the uber-fixer, the man with "a thousand shoe tricks up his sleeve," according to Phil Oren, also shook his head. We tried shoe after boot, just looking for something. He tried some Lowes that fit the toes well, but said I lacked "volume" on the sides and that wouldn't do. He suggested two other shoes that might suit, but said they would be hard to find. He then gave my old "new" shoes another crank to back up the stretching done in Pearisburg, and turned me loose to look among the vendors.Looking was futile, no one carried the rare styles that just might fit my feet. Damn! I bagged the shoe thing and ran into Chief. We got gyros and lemonades, and sat on a bench overlooking the grounds. Just sitting there munching in the quiet of the sunset was the most peaceful part of the entire day.This peace was shattered, though pleasantly so, by a visitation from one Felix J. McGillicuddy, backpage author of the Appalachian Trail News. Yes, the Minister of Funny Walks himself. He came over for some verbal banter, and most decidedly out-bantered me. The guy is too quick! I wander off to Main Street to send pocketmail when I hear "LiteShoe!" Up come Wench and Hotdog with hugs! They just got here with Amy from Indiana. Amy hands me an ancient equestrian tutorial. A gift! It looks very cool, despite my lack of glasses. Amy promises to keep it until after my thru-hike.I walk them down to the vendor area, and check in on the band. No one is dancing this evening, what a bunch of poops. Is everybody shy?Eventually Chief, Sparky and Zapman pull up. They will take me back to the land of clean sheets again if I want. With the rain threat, I want. It has been great to reconnect with so many friends today. I find myself in a very happy mood, high on all the energy. I catch myself smiling just walking down the street. I have laughed so much I have given myself a headache.It rains overnight.