Date: 2004-05-16
From: Trail Days!

To: Troutville Interchange
Miles today: 0.0

It doesn't matter how few the hours of sleep were the night before. You're lying in a small shelter where the only protection from the mid-May sun is nylon, intensifying the heat as the sun beats down on your tent. The soundproofing is not much better, with windows of mesh you only wish you could slam shut to block the chatter of the early-rising residents of our pseudo-shantytown.   Whether you like it or not, "Good morning to you."   I only had about 212 hours of sleep last night. Like I said, I was enjoying my company.   People started packing out early. It's the last day of Trail Days and everyone has their own reasons for not bothering to stay. Some are hikers from previous years who may need the entire day to get back home. Some are hikers from this year and are just looking forward to getting back on the trail. And others have volunteered for "Hardcore," 2 or 3 days of Trail maintenance with Bob Peoples of Kincora hostel. Lots of hikers, including many of my friends, volunteer for this wanting to give back to the trail that has already given to them.    I plan on using this to my advantage.   In late June, I'll be taking a week off the trail for an annual trip to Sebago Lake with my family and friends. I almost regret promising everyone that I would be there. Taking a week off will mean falling behind all the friends I've made on the trail. Unless, of course, an opportunity comes up where they are off the trail and I am ON it.   An opportunity like "Hardcore."   This will be perfect. I get back on the trail and hike HARD for the next month to try and get ahead of them as much as possible. When I get back on the trail after my week in Maine, I figure I'll be within two or three days of some of my friends and should be able to catch up shortly after that! Perfect! All I have to do is stay as far ahead of them as I can.   Oh if life only had the same plans for us as we have for ourselves.   I convince Heather, Arwen, and Jen that they would love to spend more time with me by letting me tag along and join them for the car ride back to the trail. Heather and Arwen are only 2 days ahead of me at this point, so I assume dropping me off won't be too far out of their way. And two days isn't THAT bad, right? Maybe if I get REALLY ambitious I can even hike hard enough to catch up with them.   Now I'm REALLY dreaming.   Before leaving Damascus, we watch the talent show, listen to Takoma Tedd perform (always a pleasure), and take in a documentary made a few years earlier about a couple of AT thru-hikers. It feels good to see familiar places and situations in the video knowing that, a few months ago, these were things I only had in my dreams. The hiker in the film stands on Springer Mountain and declares, "If I make it to North Carolina, I'm going the whole way." I smile as I remember how sure I was that I would only have to make it past the Smokies to know that my success was inevitable. I wonder how long it took before the hiker looked back and thought, 'Wow. I really had NO idea what the hell I was talking about.'   All day I felt tired and weak from my nearly sleepless night. In the car, as we drove toward Troutville where we would spend a night before the rest of the ride back to the trail, I started to feel warm. No, not just warm. Hot.    I definitely had a fever.   Hopefully a full nights sleep in this comfortable hotel bed will be enough to kick it.   Before we all crawled under our covers, Jen sweetly asked me, "So, are you excited to be getting back on the trail?"   Very funny.   I replied with a tone that suggested heavy annoyance. Maybe it was because of my fever. Or maybe because I was so tired. Whatever the reason, my initial response was less than polite. Arwen, Heather, and myself then tried to explain something to Jen that I think I've made clear. But just in case you're just tuning in, brace yourself for this.   The trail, overall, is not a good time.   "But what about the views?"   Eh.   Jen was not happy about that response. In fact, she seemed pretty damn disappointed. How could we NOT appreciate the VIEWS?! She scolded us for not taking in the beauty of all we were experiencing when so many other people were only dreaming about what WE were actually DOING. How could we walk through the forest and over mountains, past vistas and over streams and NOT breathe it all in? Not appreciate it while we had it?   Perhaps you're wondering the same thing.   Let's say you paint the hallway in your house. You pick a color you love and, after painting you stand there and admire your beautiful new hallway. For days, or longer, you smile everytime you walk down your beautiful hallway. Pehaps you even tell your friends about how beautiful your hallway now looks.    But time passes by. You walk down this hallway again and again. Everyday. Eventually, it's just a hallway. You don't hate the color, and if someone asked you if you liked it, you'd probably say yes. But you're used to it. It's just a backdrop now.    It's just another wall in your house.