Date: 2011-06-06
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: clear sky

Several of us decided to do what is called a marathon, which is hiking 26.2 miles. The terrain for the day is flat enough where such a distance can be covered fairly easily. "Half Man" and I got up at 5, packed up, had breakfast and took off down the trail. The first part of the day had a gentle climb which we were able to complete in the cool of the morning. We stopped at Turk Gap for a snack and were joined by "Brazilian Nut" and "Socks". It was important for us to keep consuming the calories so that we could make the long distance. We pressed on, deciding to go to the next shelter for lunch. We didn't catch that the shelter was too far for lunch. Being hungry and tired we stopped at one of the Skyline Drive road crossings and had lunch. A while back, I was introduced to Nutella and had finally bought some on the last resupply. Lunch was peanut butter and Nutella on sandwich flats. A great combination and filling too. After having lunch and resting a bit, we head to the shelter to get more water. The next destination was the Loft Mountain store for a mid afternoon meal which included a blackberry milkshake. Even though we were tired, the mere thought of that milkshake drove us on. We paused by Black Rock, an odd rock formation that is simply a pile of very large rocks piled up on top of a mountain. One could call it nature'a rock quarry. "Half Man" and I scrambled to the top of the pile and were treated to a great view of the mountains that surrounded the area and the plains that were beyond those mountains. We continued our quest for the store and arrived at around 3. We ate some sandwiches and then consumed the coveted blackberry milkshake. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! "Half Man" didn't care for them because they were too sweet. That means that there's more for me :D. After enjoying our meal, we headed down the trail to the shelter. At the shelter was "Spring" whom we hadn't seen for a couple of days. "Poncho" was also there along with a couple folks that I hadn't met before. "Brazilian Nut" and "Socks" made in a little while later and the group from the previous shelter was together again. I decided to finish the rest of the macaroni and cheese just to have something for dinner. A while back, "Body Snatcher" had this idea of eating a clove of garlic event to keep away the bugs. Tonight, I ate my first clove to try to see if this really does work. My goal us to eat a clove every night and see if the bug problem is reduced. It would be cool if this was effective because I not really excited about using bug spray. More on this later when I see how well it works. Given the long day, it was off to the tent early to do done reading and to write today's journal entry. There is absolutely no cell signal here so uploading all of entries that have not been uploaded will just have to wait. I have almost reached the halfway point using the Droid-x for journaling. This technique of writing the entry in a text file then uploading when I have a signal has worked very well. The pictures that I also take are on the phone which means they can be uploaded whenever a signal is available. I am very pleased with how this has worked out.