Date: 2013-04-03
From: Woody Gap

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Blood Mountain, Schmud Mountain! Veni, vidi, vici! Blood Mountain didn't kick my butt, I kicked its butt! OK, don't tell it I said that. It might not be quite true. But, I survived. My feet and knees feel like they have been put through a shredder, but there's no injury, just sore and tired. Tomorrow is a short day, just 6 some miles, which is a good thing, my poor old body could use some rest. Here is the bad news though: the weather forecast calls for cold rain tomorrow. Oh well, you know what they say: No rain, no pain--no Maine. I will have the first two covered, now working on the third.Met some very nice people on the trail today. I am now starting to see some of the same people over and over again, so a community is forming. Hikers are great people! A diverse group, to be sure, but generally all very friendly and nice, interesting, funny, and smart. Everyone has a story to tell. I hike alone all the time, no one else is as slow as me, but we stop and have conversations at breaks. Today I spent some time with: Bubblehead, Mortha, Pat from England, and Cuddy. I just almost passed someone while hiking today! That would have been a first, because I am so slow. Any time I hear someone coming up behind me, I just automatically get over so they can go around me. The trail is only wide enough for single file most of the time. I make some kind of self-deprecating comment like, "You go on around, I'm just a slowpoke". Then the other person will make some comment like, "Oh, I'm not very fast either," as they zoom past me like they were shot out of a rocket. But, today I was hiking along at as good of a clip as it gets for me, and I was actually GAINING on the hiker in front of me! OK, so he was probably 10 or 15 years older than me and carrying a way-heavy pack, and he was huffing and puffing and had a sheen of sweat on his face in the cool air, but nevertheless, I was gaining ground on him and all set to go past him. But then--oh no!--he sat down on a log to take a break! Drats! It doesn't count as passing if the other person isn't trying. I will get some pictures of the hostel up today or tomorrow. Then you will realize that although I hike in the wilderness all day, I am definitely not roughing it at night. Yet.I have been meaning to tell you about the pebble I am carrying to Katahdin. If is one of the AT's tradition that you pick up a little rock on Springer, and carry it to Katahdin and leave it there. So I chose a little piece of white marble, and it is in the bottom of my pack. I hope it--and I--make it to Katahdin!I also wanted to tell you about the white blazes. They are white rectangles about the size of a dollar bill, painted on trees along the AT at about eye level. They mark the trail, so you follow the white blazes. Generally, the trail is obvious, but there are places you appreciate the blazes. And, if you see two white blazes, one above the other, that indicates that you should pay attention, there is a change coming up. Either the trail takes a turn that you might miss, or there is a road crossing, or a shelter, etc. And trails that connect to the AT but are not the AT itself have blue blazes. I also wanted to mention the hiker appetite. For some odd reason, I and many other people lose our appetites at the beginning of a hike. Although we burn many hundreds or maybe even thousands of calories a day, we have no appetite. I don't understand the physiology that makes this possible, but it is fairly common on the trail. At some point the appetite comes back, and then the hiker becomes voracious. But for now, it is hard to eat. Ordinarily, in the world where you want to lose weight, this would be a good thing. But out here, you can get very sick and weak from not eating. So I just have to force myself to eat a little something every couple of hours while I am hiking. I think in terms of protein and carbs. Protein to repair the muscles that are getting overused every day, and carbs for energy. I carry in my pack: jerky, cheese, gorp, cheese and cracker packets, some squash and apricot leather that I dried myself, and some kind of candy, and just nibble on something every two hours or so. The woods are still in winter, at least as far as vegetation. But I am starting to see little sprouts and shoots here and there. It will be fun to watch the woods come to life with spring!Still loving the trail! Slacking for a couple of more days, then I'm pushed out of the hostel nest like a baby bird. Look for my daily mileage to drop when I have to carry the green monster (my backpack) and my journal entries to get shorter, less rambling, and full of typos, when I don't have this computer any more and have to use my phone.