Date: 2003-07-16
From: Crampton Gap

To: Wolfsville Road
Miles today: 20.9

another day of slacking. another day without rain. closer to katahdin -- almost 1 percent of the trail today (21.7 miles is 1%). my body is feeling relatively good. and my crew is dank. dank means good, according to my younger and hipper sources.tonight i am in a house outside D.C. this was my last day of slacking for now, though i still wield the awesome power of my perma-slack pack. vsa's mom has been extremely generous. i am humbled and blessed by her kindness, though i feel inadequate in my expression of that, especially after a long day of hiking, when i don't know if a hug would please or disgust her. probably both. :-)these days many people are leaving the trail -- finances, injury, and other reasons are taking their toll. it is sad, but i hope they realize how extraordinary what they have already done is. a big shout out to PSYCHO PAT, who i read is off the trail. in her crazy, tactless way she brought tremendous joy and playfulness to thte trail community. i miss her presence, but know that wherever she is now (indiana?) she will be living the moment, revealing the brilliant color that surrounds us all the time. about the missing month of journal entries: dear readers -- i'll give a quick summary but that intense month is gone from my memory (i sent that journal home to save weight) and would take forever to type in even if i had that journal. sorry. But here is the quick summary: RAIN.June was a wet month. Cruiser and I hiked most of the month alone, only occassionally seeing the same hikers day after day. leaving damascus brought us to Q and Jonachi's wonderful music, incredible guitar and fiddle music, coming to us live from the Shelter Stadium. a tough stretch for me from damascus to atkins. slow, wet hiking. the wet destroys feet and mine were not spared. also, though i did not realize it, my shoes were dying, after 600 miles. after atkins, i was treated to a beautiful evening on chestnut knob, overlooking the idyllic hidden mountain valley of burkes garden. a treat! then it started raining again. at pearisburg i got my summer gear. yay! met detour, mark, and winnebago around this time. around the 20th or so the rain let up and since then i've only been rained on 2 or 3 days in a row. yay! leaving pearisburg i was closer to quiting then i had ever imagined i would be. it was scary to feel that way.new shoes in catawba. new blisters, but the real pains soon diminished. from catawba team creason hiked toward the blue ridge parkway, hiking literally from dawn to dusk (14+ hours) in 90 degree heat, drinking 8 liters of water a day, and making only 14 miles or less. slow hiking, but relatively big miles. once on the parkway, cruiser's mom came to slack us for a few days and also treated us to hotel rooms, meals, and the pleasure of her company. she is quite a gem, though i may be biased, since she shares many of the traits i love in her daughter. this slacking changed something in side of me. all of a sudden i realized that slacking could be an everyday experience if only i got rid of everything in my pack. excited by the sheer madness of the idea we headed toward waynesboro, where i left almost all my gear behind, keeping only a pair of boxers and a space blanket. (ok, i kept a little more but picture me in boxers with a stuff sack slung over one shoulder and you get the idea.) now after meeting vsa and the dude in the shenandoahs we are here, flying toward maine. my mega-ultralight pack really works for me. and team creason has been joined by two wonderful people. i hope to gain even more going forward.To all the hikers out there, may your legs be strong and your feet stronger. And to us all, may we all experience the joy of our universal dance as we trudge, falter, and eventually die.