Date: 2007-05-16
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

This morning brought sunshine and the hint of an afternoon thunderstorm because of the humidity. Kevin and I stopped to check out an old settlers museum that didn't disappoint us. It was so surreal to walk around an old farm from the 1800's with our brightly colored packs and our polypropoline hiking clothes. I imagined what it must have looked like back in it's glory days and who the people might have been who lived in the nicely maintained white house. It was wonderful with a large 2 level porch on the front and an old Elm tree keeping watch in the side yard within the tidy picket fence. Outbuildings included a barn, tool building, meat house, root cellar and various others. My favorite of all was the school house. Wow! Have things changed in education! I was reminded of old episodes of Little House on the Prarie as I gazed over the double rows of wooden benches, the blackboard at the front of the room next to the flag, and the sturdy little woodstove in the middle of the room. I laughed out loud when I read the signs on the back of the room for student punishments and teacher expectations. Apparently, if boys and girls played together, that would get them 3 lashings! As for the expectations of teachers, if they worked hard without complaint for 5 years, they would then be eligible for a 25 cent raise, how generous! My how times change!   After leaving the settlers museum, we hiked over several gentle rolling hills and through lush forested valleys and came to an abrupt clashing of cultures. We had been given the wonderful chance to step back in time for a while, only to be brought harshly back into the reality of the world at US 11, a heavily traveled highway spattered with gas stations, a truck stop, several restaurants, a hotel, and a lumberyard. I was not prepared for the abrupt transition, still daydreaming about the people who had lived, worked, played, and prayed in the buildings that we had just walked through. However, it didn't take long to leave my reverie behind and grab an refreshing iced tea and some food! After our short break at the road, we hiked alongside the highway and then turned back into the welcomed world of fields and trees. Bailey found a stream to enjoy and we filled up our water bottles, since these days water seems to be less abundant than earlier. At Davis Path Shelter we stopped to remove ticks that had been collected through the fields.... grrr... I hate them, both on my dog and on myself. Gullion Mountain was a nice climb at only 3,300 feet and increasingly I find myself enjoying going uphill. I love the challenge and that when you get to the top, you know you've accomplished something. It's a great feeling and the independence of it is thrilling. By the time we got to Crawfish Valley the skies looked bleak and began to spit rain down upon us. I hiked mostly with Newt and we were soaked pretty quickly. My new lightweight trail runners proved my feet the opportunity to make some excellent squishy noises, squelching and reminding me of how wet they were with every step. There were lots of styles to cross, which are crude steps built over farmers' barbed wire fences. They can be a pain with Bailey, but sometimes she can slip under the fences and it speeds the process up a bit. With the last 3 miles in sight, I decided to hammer down and make it to shelter quickly, being that I was wet and tired. This was a mistake because there were still hills to climb that had become muddy and I ended up feeling really sore at the end of the day. I was tucked into my sleeping bag in dry clothes by the time everyone arrived... ready to sleep, sleep, sleep. However, first I was startled into wakefullness by the absolutely ENORMOUS spider on the ceiling. I swear it was big enough to eat one of the mice that so love to raid our food in the shelters! (Well, maybe not that big, but close!) Mattlanta saved the day on that one, though I could have done it myself I didn't really want to!   All in all, yet another wonderful day out here. I love this life!