Date: 2003-04-20
From: .5mi North of Vandeventer Shelter 

To: Double Springs Shelter 
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

Well, we ended up where we thought we would today. I'd have liked to have gone farther, but it seemed like we were dragging. After yesterday, I can understand why. Actually, this morning, I felt like every other morning: my ankles, knees, and feet were tight and/or sore; my nose runny; my bladder crying. No different than if I'd done 6 miles. So, I feel good about doing the 18 yesterday.Even though the terrain was relatively flat today, we reached the second shelter around 4:15, and called it a day. Hotdog's lungs weren't up to par today, and he didn't sleep well last night. Hopefully he'll get feeling better, and be able to get some quality sleep tonight.Hiking along, I came around a corner and saw a small, brown butt going away from me on the trail. Not wanting to feel like a dummy like last time I saw a critter, I said quickly to Hotdog "Look! Running away! What is it?" Lucky for me, he saw it. He says it was a groundhog. I've never seen one so that answer suits me just fine. It'd be nice to get a good view of these critters. I don't know why they always run away from me. Well, the cattle didn't. So that makes them my favorite so far. Either that, or the rattlesnake I never saw but Bearkat says I nearly stepped on. That was way back before Franklin.Mostly what I've seen out here are birds (finches?, and woodpeckers mostly). I've also seen lots of bugs, lately biting gnats, but some cool purple beetles and head-buzzing bees. I've worn more than my share of spider webs too, as most days I'm ahead of Hotdog. He only gets the ones that I'm short enough to go under. Sitting on logs, or more likely, in the dirt, I've had lots of spiders crawl on me. A couple of days ago, two snails were on my tent when I got up in the morning, and this morning one was on my flip-flop. Also this morning, I had hung my bandana temporarily on a tree, and luckily I shook it out before putting it on my head. When I shook it, something landed on the ground with a thud. I looked down and saw a centipede. "Hmmm" I thought, "Good thing I shook that out." I've seen several centipedes and a millipede over the trip. Oh, and I can't leave out the mice! While I've not seen them, I've been entertained, and annoyed by their traffic on the metal ! roofs, and had one sit on my head while sleeping. We're in a shelter tonight, the first time in about 6 nights we've been in a shelter. We could've last night, but didn't. I like sleeping in my tent when the weather is nice. The weather forecast called for showers this afternoon, but it's after 7, and no rain so far. It'll probably come tonight when I have to go pee. Or rain all day tomorrow just to make up for not raining today. Hiker's luck.I can't believe that, after tomorrow, I'll have hiked over 450 miles, and been on this adventure for over 50 days! It's amazing to think about. On April 15th, I dipped into North Carolina for the last time, crossing the border into Tennessee. And now, in a day or two, Tennessee will be history too. The time is going fast, but seems slow. I only look at the next 4-5 days ahead of me, to the next point of resupply. I occasionally have to look farther ahead to figure out my next maildrop, but that's just a matter of simple math.This has been wonderful, better than I'd expected! I think I expected hard labor, day after day, just to put the miles in, but what I didn't expect were the awesome views that make all troubles disappear. I realize I am fortunate to be able to hike to see these things, because many of them aren't near roads. I don't hike just to get to Maine. Yes, the goal is to do the miles to get me there, but the things learned along the way make up the adventure.