Date: 2006-05-31
From: Lee, MA (US 20)

To: Captain Obvious (Kay Wood Lean-to)
Miles today: 16.0

today was mostly a non-event. I think I'd like to forget most of it, save breakfast at a nice diner next to my hotel, and a strange old man that i met as i was taking a lunch break at a shelter.i'll tell you about him first, so that when i get to the part where i start my crying about the day, you can merely flip the page, and not worry that you'll be missing something.I was at the shelter, shoes off kickin back, eating a poptart (or what by this point has become Poptart crumbles), and this rather aged man appeared out of nowhere....and without a backpack. To see someone along the trail deep into the woods without a backpack is weird...even scary.The only other time, in 3 weeks, that i've seen a person on the AT without a pack was outside Peekskill, NY.That guy looked very startled as i approached. He stood stiff, and his eyes got buggy, and they fixed on me...they seemed to say, "I've just killed someone, and if you can read this in my eyes, then i will have to kill you too." The only thing that that guy actually said though was (insert random hick dialect here):"Dja see dat snakeskin..." to which i responded that i had."...Ima catch dat bugga. ano hes roun here sumwer."so maybe this was the reason for my trepidation today, now seeing a second strange character without a pack. It would not take long for me to figure out that the trepidation was not misplaced.he started by sitting on a rock about 15 feet away, without giving me any acknowledgment...as if one of us were invisible (I secretly hoped that it was me). Okay, i'm a little spooked. He then made some clothing adjustments...took off his belt...put on his belt...took off his shoes and socks...put on his socks and shoes.Out of discomfort, I decided it was time to get my stuff together, and as i began doing this, he walked towards me.is that music i hear? wait i recognize this tune...where...OH YEAH, it's the score from the Friday the 13th movies! OH NO!!! stop it subconscious soundtrack...put on something light and fluffy, like the Monkees!He approached me and asked, "You hikin the trail?"Captain Obvious was a sickly skinny man. He was probably no more than 120 lbs., and a third of that was his ZZTop beard. his eyes were much more calm than the other crazy non-hiker i had met. He proceeded to go into a long winded account of I don't know what.(insert random sallow-faced old Appalachian man accent here)"I had to go to court today. damn cop says i was speedin. can't prove none that. i just stopped at that gas station. he doesn't know where i was. he's tryin said i was harassing him. my brother, mike told him bout me. but all they do is lie. my brother doesn't even get there. i tell him to stop beating his wife. You hiking the trail? i should live out here. cops'd have to leave me alone. i don't even know where he turned off. i was just going to the gas station. what does Mike know? Clif bars are good. you hiking the trail. i bet you only need Clif bars. I need to get me some Clif bars. Judge tells me nothing bout i'm not disputing the charge. and i've gotta pay $25."his actual soliloquy was much longer than this...and much less coherent...but impossible to recapture fully.I stared at my trail guide the whole time, but it didn't slow him down. Eventually, even as he spoke, I got up and put my pack on. I began walking...and he kept talking to my back! And here's the true horror movie moment...i noticed that his voice wasn't getting any further away. I looked back and he was walking behind me.I don't like people that much to begin with, and will avoid them whenever possible, but here i was in the woods with a "madman" who had decided to follow me.I began hiking double time...and in retrospect I'm sure it was a hilarious scene. I was so paranoid, that i wouldn't even look back unless i got to a bend in the trail. And even then it was as discreetly as possible, not wanting to be obvious about the fact that I was freaking out. Sure enough though, I'd hit a bend, peek back, and there he'd be...in turn I'd hike even faster.Eventually I separated from him, and after about an hour of ridiculously fast paced hiking, decided to finish my lunch break that I had started. I sat down on a felled tree aside the trail. I lit up a cigarette, pulled out my water bottle, turned on my cell phone, and checked for messages.Bethany had sent a text message. She got my letter in the mail, and...wouldn't you know it, here he comes, striding up the trail, and in the most carefree way, saunters on over to my log. I swear, i thought that i was being Punk'd...even more so when he pulled up his shirt, turned around and said, "Can you check my back for ticks?" I bizarrely obliged. and he bizarrely moved on after i did.I did not see him again after that.now for the requisite whining and moaning...I developed another blister today, and i'm still dealing with the two from the other day.Also I think that I am going to start upping the miles in order to finish. This is because my world back home is breaking. I don't say that i can go back home and fix it...perhaps I just need to do a little cleanup in aisle one.the text message from Bethany said, "I read your letter. I'm sorry for so many things. You need to come home so that we can talk, but I understand if you don't."translation-I'd rather end our relationship in person (Welcome home!) than over the phone.This is only hitting me cerebrally, as i have no room to let it affect me emotionally. Strange indeed, how the human psyche works. Hiking mountains requires emotional strength and stability, and I write these words in a very detached manner, as if it is happening to someone else.