Date: 2007-09-22
To: Mt.Algo Lean-To
Miles today: 7.7

mi. 7.7sleep hammockdest. mt. Algo Lean-to day 72 Well just because I hiked a lot of miles and relaxed around camp until after 9pm after getting up at 5:45am that morning, doesn't mean I can exscape my sleep issues. For those who don't know I have times when I wake up after an hour of sleep or so and can't sleep for half the night. Tonight was one of those nights. I haven't had one in awhile. Back home I would watch tv and do online things for a few hours. Out here, well I made some progress on my book. I think I read 50 or so pages. Which is a lot for a slow book reader like myself. I though about turning the cowboy tv back on, but I was enjoying my hammock to much to get out. After all of that I still got up just before 7am. I thought about going back to sleep, but I had a town stop on my mind. I packed up and ate breakfest, then headed down to the stream to get water. I treated the first liter with no problem. I think the second too. Then my death ray stopped working. All it does is flash red once. If I hadn't burned the directions back in Mass, I could have figured out what that ment. I talked to people that used 1 set most of their hike, so I think that is not it. I tried my camera batteries, but those are half dead anyways. Later on I will have to try my headlamp ones. So that makes 3 things to get fixed or replaced at the outfitters; my pack, my deathray, and my leki pole. My leki pole had been broken since VT somewhere. The spring in one of them is broken and it just bangs around. It still works as a walking stick though. For the hike back I was having one opf those low energy days. The plan was to hike another 7 or 8 miles after town. But now I think a light day is in order. Sometimes I feel rather bipolar out here. When you are by yourself with only yourself to feed off of I seem to get really high highs and low lows. I also think 700 miles are taking their tole. I was thinking about it in town today. I think that if I find a good spot I will take a few days to a week off and let my body catch up and recover. I should have done that in Dalton. But hindsight is always 20/20. I know some people are thinking that the ALHDA gathering next month would be prefect. But it's not what I'm looking for. Get togethers like that are anything but restful. Lots of talking, drinking, and walking. I am looking for quaility time lounging and eating. If I can I might try to take a hotel day on a sunday and veg ou to football. Hopefully I could find someone to split it with. I spent most of the afternoon in town. Well from around noon until after 3pm. I had mixed luck at the outfitter. They fixed my leki pole and I got some aqua mira to treat my water. However no luck with a pack. They really didn't have a good selection. I took everything out of my pack and tried a couple. I even tried everything i                                                            After that I headed for the local diner. I am getting burned out on sandwiches, with the big NY deli blazing section yet to come. So a monti chrisco snadwich and onion rings for me. Then a good conversation with my mom over the phone. I should have sent my pocketmail emails, but decided not to. I will be in towns everyday for the next couple of days, so I'll do it then. I have been thinking a lot about the prefect pack for me. I want to make one when I get back anyways. Originally I was thinking a cross between a gearskin and a rayway pack. Now I am thinking the prefect thing for me will be a little simplier. All I really need is a giant rough sack on a frame. I am going to take an old interal frame pack and remove the pack part. I will make a giant rough sack for it. With just a couple simple pockets for water and snacks on the outside. Maybe a couple straps to take away the excess space. I don't need all the bells and whistles commerical packs have. That is just a lot of excess weight. For the bulk I carry I probibly need a 5000 ci pack. A lot bigger than most out here. My weight is only around 30 to 35 though. I think I could make a pack for under 3 lbs maybe 2 with the right frame. Anyways, plenty of time to figure that out later. Anyways, after my phone converstion I headed for the coffee shop. I needed coffee and I heard they make same great hot choclate. I bought a half pound of frent roast and a large cocoo. Pricey but well worth it. Their hot choclate was probibly the best I had. Tons of choclate. I grabbed some snacks at the market and headed out of town. Too bad I am not finished with my huge novel. The library was having a used book store. I still have 75 pages or so and I read slow. On the way back to the trail I saw a guy with a pack and trekking poles. In talking with him he is a trail maintainer. He just got done cutting blow downs and was joining a work party at the shelter. They are building a new privy. He asked me if I wanted to join him in an easier way to the shelter, only .3 from the road. Of course I said yes. He led me down an old road which lead right up to the shelter. The work party was headed down, so we parted ways. I did get a chance to ask him a few questions. Did you know that to use a chainsaw they have to get federally certified. And recertified every 2 years. They have to use chaps and a helmet. They also have to carry a fire extingusher, really. He said that his pack just to use a chain saw weighs 50 lbs. That's pretty crazy. I asked him about the view at the riga shelter. He said there is 41 views along the trail. They have a hard time keeping all of them open. The people that volunteer their time for trailkwork are definitly something else. Thanks a bunch. I was sitting at the shelter reading when a sectioner pulld up. He is going to be my company for the night. Get this he is an electrical engineer that worked in the business for years. We talked for most the evining while I sewed my pack and eat dinner. It was great talking to someone. He got a good laugh out of my Tessla Death Ray name for my Steri-pen. Well the pack is repaired and I am off to bed. I repaired it good enough to last a bit longer. My needle isn"t sharpe enough to get through the webbng on the straps, so I had to make due. Their is an outfitters in PA at Deleware Water Gap. I will try again there to switch it out.