Date: 2003-10-11
From: hurd brook lean-to

To: wadleigh stream lean-to
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

a conversation with a northbound thru-hiker is fairly predictable."are you a thru-hiker?" they will say."yes," i will answer."northbound or southbound?""southbound.""really? when did you start?""october 9. thursday.""that's great. you are ________." (fill in the blank with either A) brave, 2) crazy, or C) both)."thanks. i do what i can.""yeah. wow, uh, ________ (insert- 'good luck,' or 'have fun') in the whites." (referring to the white mountains of new hampshire)."thanks."end of conversation.i have pretty much had that exact same conversation with every northbounder i've met. it is the same as if any thru-hiker were to meet a dayhiker on the trail, or any civilian for that matter. pretty much the same set of questions every single time- when did you start? how much does you pack weigh? where do use the bathroom? what do you do for food? so on and so forth.i seem to be having a little bit of trouble getting into the groove of his whole long distance hiking thing. most long distance hikers -when in the groove- like to be up and hiking by a fairly early hour so that they can get a good portion of that day's miles done by the time they stop for lunch. the old saying says something to the effect of twelve miles by twelve noon. i would have to say that in order for someone (me) to pull this off, it would probably be a good idea if that person (me) didn't wait until 9:30 to start hiking and then take an almost hour long break less than three miles down the trail.it really wasn't my fault, though- the whole break taking thing. i got up to a place called rainbow ledges and the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze blowing and it was just time to take a break and i was really enjoying taking my break with the sun shining and the breeze blowing. and that is what you might call a run-on sentence.i did finally make myself start hiking again. the hiking was great. i skirted the shores of lakes almost all day. maybe they should call it water land instead of vacationland. there really does seem to be a lot of water in this state. during the hiking beside all of this water i noticed a few things.with all of the leaves on the trees and on the ground in their various shades of reds, oranges, and yellows; and the sun shining through the forest canopy- it really had a strange effect on the visualization of things. there were times when i would be walking along and everything would appear as if i was wearing tented sunglasses. at times everything appeared to have a red hue to it. or, an orange hue. or, a yellow hue. it was great. it really made me appreciate the way it all looks now and not really want things to change to the way they will be in just a few weeks- brown and blah.there were three different smells that i noticed today- Christmas, raking and playing in the leaves as a child, and my family's cabin in virginia. all very distinct smells. i would catch a drift of Christmas -you know the smell- the tree decorated with ornaments, flanked with presents, roaring fire in the fireplace, stockings hung with care, a big cup of hot chocolate. that is exactly the smell i got at times.or, the smell of raking leaves into a big pile on a cool, autumn saturday morning. the sun is shining. there is a slight bite in the air. cool, but not cold. you rake up a big pile and then run as fast as you can and jump and land in the soft cushion of the leaves, throwing them into the air, making a mess of your neat pile of leaves- just to do it all over again.then, there is the smell of the cabin. it is a pine-type smell, but not the Christmas kind of pine. it is a different kind of pine. a pine forest, nice breeze coming in off the river, sitting at the big table on the screened in porch, eating dinner kind of pine-type smell.i guess one would have to have been to my family's cabin in virginia to really know the smell i'm talking about. it is a smell that is just too difficult to put into words. it is sights and smells like these that really make the whole hiking experience that much more enjoyable. that much more exhilarating. the sweeping mountain top views are great, but it is the smaller things that trigger the senses that make it worthwhile. because i am having trouble getting into this hiker groove, because i can't seem to get up and get moving in the morning, because i can't seem to do the twelve miles by twelve noon- it was after dark by the time i arrived at this shelter. i am the only one here. i guess at some point i should get used to that. i should expect that. because, that is how it is going to be.