Date: 2015-05-22
From: Daleville, Virginia

To: Daleville, Virginia 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today celebrates day 50 of my adventure. I have hiked over 700 miles, in 7 weeks, and have completed 1/3 of my thru hike. How nice, then, to reward myself with a zero at a hotel, taking care of tasks in a relaxed manner, enjoying the gorgeous, clear and sunny blue-sky weather, chatting with fellow hikers both coming and going, another trip to the coffee shop, and just generally chilling out. Nice!In my previous life, I was a non-stop reader. Since April 3rd, I have not kept up that tradition, and have experienced some withdrawal. So on one trip to the plaza today I stopped at the local Goodwill store and selected a paperback. Most hikers are diminishing their pack weight at this stage, sending home their winter and unused gear. I have now added to mine in the form of a "lightweight" mystery. Not sure how it will fare in damp conditions, nor how often I'll have opportunity to indulge...I am in the experimental stage, and it only cost $1.00. Time will tell.The photo, top left, may seem quite random; it is the first time I've seen a store named after me so I had to include it.And now time for more random Trail thoughts, starting with a few more of my personal, "made up" dictionary words/terms: if a tree falls across the trail and is hung up too high to climb over, but must instead be "ducked" under, that is a "limbo log". When the trail - makers have placed large, sort of flat rocks in succession to be walked across, which are not set in properly, so that they shift under weight of hikers passing over them (always rather discomforting), I call that "tilt-a-rock" (like the tilt-a-whirl ride). There are usually 2 eco-sides to a mountain or ridge: the dry, gritty, rocky, sort of barren - feeling side, that's the "popcorn" side, while the moist, lush, green, thick, blooming side is the "salad" side. Imagine a large bowl, turned upside down. Pretend it's a mountain. You can ascend or descend in spiral fashion on the outside of the bowl. Now turn the bowl right side up. When a mountain or ridge folds back in on itself, it is like ascending or descending in spiral fashion on the inside of the bowl (like those boxes at the mall where you drop a coin and watch it wind it's way down into the center hole). A "yellow-brick-road" is pleasant, soft dirt trail, mostly free of rocks, roots and debris, on which you can cruise along happily. All other trail is self explanatory: rocky, rooty, steep, muddy, slimy, treacherous, boulder-strewn, etc. Trails near popular tourist spots, oft-visited by day and section hikers, are invariably yellow-brick-road types...and usually even broader and more pleasant than average. Don't let that fool you into thinking it is typical AT hiking trail. Far from it...rather it is the exception.So then, it is safe to say that I have determined my favorite hiking happens in open woods (as opposed to closed-in rhododendron thicket, or shoulder - high meadow grass, etc), on a non-tourist yellow-brick-road while descending the inside of the salad bowl, on a clear, dry, cool, sunny, light breeze day. It doesn't occur very often, but when it does, I stand up and take notice, believe me. It's nearly like heaven on earth.Question: how long can a whipporwill go on calling, particularly in the early morning or at bedtime? Answer: for at least an hour at a time.Question: how long can the daddy-long-legs-sized flying insect that gets trapped between your tent roof and rain fly underside buzz and hammer away relentlessly, trying to find its way free, while driving the tenter insane? Answer: ALL NIGHT, apparently. Question: how does a hiker measure high humidity? Answer: if he or she is sweating profusely even out of their arm and leg skin, while standing still, it is very high indeed.Wildlife spottings: large, thick dark brown wormy things on trail (in the thousands), small orange newts (18, just this past week), snakes (1 more swiftly - moving black one, four or five 1-2 foot gray-striped flattish ones), one young fawn, various beetles and bugs.Trail magic/angels in town today: lady at the fried chicken convenience store who kindly handed me 5 individual mayo packets when I requested them, without my buying anything (you would not believe how much better a foil tuna pack tastes with a couple of mayo packets mixed in!). The man I chatted with at the hotel late this afternoon who handed me 5 quarters out of his pocket when I needed change to dry my laundry (his son thru-hiked 2 years ago, so he knows about these things).You may have noticed that my daily miles were lower this past week, and also you may have noticed I am taking a zero about once a week. These are not intentionally planned occurrances. Rather, the Trail dictates much of what we do and don't do lately. Towns are few and far between. Water sources are the same, and sometimes unreliable, at best. Sections are rockier or more difficult than expected. The weather is not co-operative. The shelters are spaced oddly, giving the option of, say, a 12 - mile day (too short) or else a 25 - mile day (too long). Some sections prohibit camping. Or you may want to hike 18 miles, but that puts you smack-dab in the middle of a cow pasture, or hanging off a rock cliff. Therefore, when town is reached, most likely a break from the Trail will be had, along with much town food.Random: I have not applied Deet yet. I am waiting until it becomes absolutely necessary. I have tried other "safe alternatives" to no avail; AT bugs are as determined as AT hikers, or more so.Now, back to the regularly scheduled HGTV programming for the evening! In the morning, breakfast at the hotel, and departure...north for 6 or 7 days to Waynesboro, and another zero.