Date: 2004-05-23
From: Daleville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

3:15 p.m. It took me 2.25 hours to get from Daleville to Fullhardt Knob Shelter -- 5 miles. That's my fastest so far on the trail (27 mins per mile). I think town visits agree with me! Getting fed, getting clean, tending my wounds, doing laundry, and having a little down time with my hiking companions.Was so glad to learn that I have another week on the trail before my students' valedictory speeches -- more good companionship!Fullhardt Knob Shelter has a rainwater cistern as its water supply -- cool! The only one of its kind left on the trail, apparently. I wonder why. It seems like a perfect way to supply water to shelters (not this one's original purpose, though, which was to supply firefighters during forest fires).The beginning of the hike today was so humid. Riva Queen and I were sweating buckets. As long as we keep moving, though, we're safe from the bugs.I was sneezing up a storm on my way up here -- hayfever -- but took a couple of Benadryl before lunch. I also seem to have broken out in hives on my legs -- yikes! Again, Uncle Benadryl to the rescue. No idea what could have caused such a reaction -- maybe all the Benadryl cream I put on last night? That would be ironic.Am also working on the wet-bra rash I developed a few days ago when it was too humid to dry out my wet clothes. Baby wipes with aloe and vitamin E are helping, but I also take my shirt off when I have a break (and no one's around) to air everything out. It's difficult out here to maintain any sense of modesty. All of the body functions and dysfunctions are so immediate. In polite society, and with all of the benefits of technology -- flush toilets, washers and dryers, running water -- it's easier to take care of hygiene and health matters in private. Out here, you find yourself stripping out of wet clothes after a day's hike to get into dry ones, squatting in the woods and digging holes to pee and poop in, taking hurried "spit baths" in cold creeks or behind your tent, and using the same bandana -- inbetween rinsings -- as a towel, wash cloth, water filter, dish cloth, snot rag, hairband, pillow case (over a fleece) and brow mop. (It's certainly the most versatile item in my pack.)The smell of honeysuckle was almost liquid this morning, but I had to hurry past it after lightening struck fairly nearby. No rain yet, though. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will pass us by today...10 p.m. A long finish to the day. I think the Benadryl capsules made me nauseated. I took lots of breaks in the afternoon -- ugh. But it was a beautiful walk, and a PERFECT evening -- dry, cool, breezy...NO BUGS! So I hung a line to dry out my pack (from my gallons of sweat today) and my socks and bandanas, put up my tent, made a very bland supper of minute-rice, water, and a vegetable stock cube -- hope it stays down -- and now am in my tent listening to the waves of wind in the trees at Wilson Creek Shelter. Pokey found some sweet fern today, which is supposed to be good for keeping the bugs away.I took a "spit bath" with peppermint castille soap and have dressed my wounds again. My first aid kit has doubled in size since Daleville -- Benadryl capsules and anti-pruritic gel, antibiotic lotion and hydrocortisone cream. May need some more bandaids soon, too, to keep the infected areas on my feet dry while I have my boots on during the day.When I arrived at camp, Zippy had his harmonica out and was blowing on it a little -- sounded good. Might have to have a blues night this week. "Well, I woke up this morning...And I put on my boots..." That's all I've got so far. I call it "The A.T. Hiker Blues". My headlamp is attracting bugs, which keep bumping up against the walls of the tent, trying to get at it. Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin, you miscreants!Started the day humming John Philip Sousa marches -- the hiking sticks make great batons.