Date: 2007-05-14
From: Harper's Creek 821.1 

To: Camp Site at mp 838.4
Miles today: 17.3

I was up before 6 this morning. I made oatmeal and brewed coffee right away and then sat at the shelter picnic table while the morning light gathered its strength. The weather report on NPR suggests that we were in a warm spot. My thermometer never went below 50 during the night, the newscaster read morning readings still in the 40s. Maybe my thermometer is wrong. I'm sitting here with my sleeping bag draped over my shoulders thankful I am warm. My plan for today is to hike 23 miles to the shelter just before Waynesboro. An early start will help but I am in no hurry since the first three miles will involve climbing up and down over three ridges. This is one of those places where a person has to ask: "Why am I doing this?" There is a short cut that cuts three miles off todays hike and misses the three ridges altogether. The AT goes three or four extra miles and climbs 2000 feet. Purists(?), must follow the white blazes of the AT so they can arrive at Katahdin and say they hav! e hiked the entire AT. Others, who I supppose are not so pure, will arrive at Katahdin and say I have hiked the entire way from Georgia to Maine. Both people will feel a well deserved sense of accomplishment. I am tempted to take the easier route. I suppose this means I am more of a long distance hiker than a mountain climber. The climbs and descents are hard on me. On the good side; I am getting stronger and more able to muscle my way up and down. On the negative side; this is definately the part of my hiking day that wears me out the most. I am going to take the longer route today since it would be extremely difficult to come back here and redo this section should I decide later that I want to be with the people who can say they thru- hiked the entire AT. A bit of honesty here. There are two small sections where I took shortcuts; both are back in the Smokies. The first happened by accident when I parked at Davenport Gap and could not find the AT until I was at I-40. That is a 3 or 4 mile section. The second time was on purpose. I was hiking with my son and we did not want to hike in the dark. We Climbed Clingman's Dome and then followed the park road to New Found Gap instead of taking the AT. We did this at the suggestion of some section hikers who had just come that way and reported the AT was next to impassable at that stretch due to blow downs and ice. In retrospect, I'm not sure we saved any time taking the road, it was a tough slog walking on the pavement, but we did reach New Found Gap just before it got dark. In either case, if I make it all the way to Maine, I will go back and complete the sections I did not do, since they are both close to home. The last ten miles of the day were slow and tortuous. I'm not sure if I'm sick or just worn out. If I had taken the short cut I might have felt a whole lot better right now, so which way is right. I know from reading the trail journals of past hikers that following the white blazes obediently (being honest) does not guarantee a successful thru-hike. In fact, as I am finding out, it probably puts the odds the other way. Especially when you see the people who take the short cuts skip ahead smiling. I know I have to hike my own hike and I am certainly not here to judge others. Right now I just want to get into town and take a well deserved town day.