Date: 2005-04-07
From: Hiawassee (spelling?) GA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

   Feeling much better and improved today, but still not ready to press on. We have a big climb in the days ahead of us. We will be up floating around 5500 feet in elevation for the next couple days of hiking. I would actually rather climb than go down hill or flat because there is less impact on the legs. Muscles are capabable of recovering very easily. My legs are already jacking themselves up. At the end of the day my calves are swollen and tight. I can't make them loosen up even if I relax them. Even my upper body is developing in the necessary areas. My lower pecks are more defined, but the upper chest is now wasting away. All in all I am in very good shape and have very little body fat to loose.      It is about 6:00 pm right now and I am almost sick of the hotel. I do want to get back into the woods, but more importantly I want to be healthy and ready. By tomorow I should be feeling much much better and ready to climb. The weather doesn't look to great with scattered thunderstorms, but its all part of it. It makes getting warm and dry at the end of the day that much better.      I am tired of watching TV and laying in bed. There is nothing of substance on the television these days. But I am not going to go off on a philosophical rant or anything like that. I will save that for later in the journey. I don't feel like typing that much.   I am eating like an animal. A very large animal. I just drank down 3/4 of a half gallon container of thick chocolate milk, and that was after lunch and breakfast. I am already thinking of hitting up the hardy's right near the hotel. I have still not peaked with the hiker appetite yet. It is amazing the quantities someone can eat out here. I would eat a large meal; maybe slightly larger than one I could normally eat. Then two hours later I am hungry again for a meal of a similar size. I've heard stories of groups of hikers on the PCT closing down all you can eat buffets for the night. The owners saw them coming and just switched of the open light ready for their demise.   Speaking of rummors. I hear that there is talk of making a film based on Bryson's book "A walk in the Woods." I hear Robert Redford and Robert Duvall might be in it. This could just be all talk, but this is what I heard. There already is a hiking phenomenon known as the Bryson effect. After the book was published (a best seller by the way), more people have been hitting the trail trying to start a thru in GA. I started hiking before reading the book, but I am sure even I have been influenced in some sorta chain reaction from the books popularity. I have read it since, and it is very funny and well written. It doesn't say much for preperation and other details of the trail. but a great read nonetheless.      I do enjoy the southern hospitality. Lots of friendly, slow paced people down here. I have already seen and heard several back-firing pickups trucks chuggin' on down the road. I also have seen a number of confederate flags, which I don't quite agree with. I suppose it is now just a simple flag of the south, but it still originally stood for something else. People still have quite a southern pride down here. As if they are different or apart from the "north". I gues Ted Turner has a TV station down here known as turner south. One commercial for turner south had a bunch of different people saying stuff about the south such as the place where macoroni and cheese is considered a vegetable. but some said stuff comparing the north. Like "you won't find that in the north," and similiar things like that. I don't get it. but if they want to be that way fine. I can fire back, because you won't be able to find a single descent slice of pizza anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line. And they also lost the war, so give it up and stop flying those stupid flags. We are one country now. But anyhoo, I am enjoying my stay all and all. I guess all these god-fearing, churchy, southern gentlemen and ladies do try to mean well after all. Who needs gay marriage,right? What we need is more people in this world! I have way to much time on my hands right now so I am giong to stop typing now. I didn't spell check this one (sorry)