Date: 2003-07-11
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Kay Wood Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: mist

Good thing we took the canoe out last night - this morning broke rainy and chilly. The lake was gone, invisible in the mist.Paula the caretaker, served pancakes, syrup and hot coffee to dispel the damp drear. I ate 8 hotcakes, at her urging. It was a bonus we had not expected upon selecting this lovely spot to stop. I had only been after the canoe.Walking today is like being in a dark fairy tale. The scenery is moody - tall, dripping spruce, moss, dim light, fern gardens, Disney-esque fungi, wet rocks. We pass several grassy bogs, and spy beaver lodges in the middle.Lunch stop at October Mt. Shelter at 8.1 miles. Neither of us wants to do a big day, but with the rain we are thinking of pushing on another 9 or so miles to Kay Wood shelter. Damp Dan and Detective Friday are going there too. The long sectioners No Stress and Gouda are going on to Dalton.Itchy checks the profile map. "Holy Toledo," he says. "It's all flat. Looks like Ohio." We decide to push along.It is a rolling afternoon, full of what some folks call PUDS (Pointless Ups and Downs). I don't know how pointless they are - they get us from here to there - but it is most decidedly up and down."I thought you said this was like Ohio," I said at the bottom of one hill."It's just a blip," said Itchy.At the top we see another immediate descent and climb. I ask: "Just which Ohio are we talking about?"Moral of the story - never tell a hiker it's all flat. Better to say "It looks a little rough" and let them say "You know, that wasn't so bad..."We stopped at Pittsfield Road to pay our respects to The Cookie Lady, but she wasn't at home and the cookie can was empty. But we topped off our water bottles at the spigot, as the sign bade, and admired her extensive gardens. It's a working blueberry farm too, but the perennial bed took my breath away.I immediately missed my gardens at home. Of course, I am homeless and have no land of my own at the moment, and my perennials are in pots at a friend's farm. But I walked among her flowers and inhaled their loveliness. I felt filled up.The rest of the day was damp, and except for the extensive fern gardens and highbush blueberries on Warner Hill, the day passed uneventfully. The mind started to spin out...I am enjoying the strength and fitness of my backpacking body, and love being able to eat anything that I want. I know I will miss this intimate, daily contact with nature. But another thru-hike of another trail is not in the cards for me at this point in my life.So I decided on a project. I am going to chip away at the 1,000-mile Mountains to the Sea Trail, North Carolina's "Appalachian Trail." http://www.ncmst.org/aboutthemst.htm It starts on Clingman's Dome in the Smokies, runs northbound on a similar western-NC course as the AT but east a county, then cuts across the upper piedmont and drops down south past the Triangle. That part can even be day-hiked or biked. From there it travels to the coast and back up the wild national seashore of the Outer Banks, ending at Jockey's Ridge.It seems like a fine little project to work at when the leg muscles get a little soft and the spirit craves a little nature.How about that? I am still thinking about backpacking. Ha! I never thought I would backpack again after the Long Trail. It's a love-hate thing. Can't live with it, can't live without it. We need counseling, my pack and I.   Speaking of therapy, here's a joke I read in a Trail register: How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?Only one - but the light bulb has to WANT to change...At Kay Wood shelter, Damp Dan and Detective Friday are there. Friday is all happy because his wife is coming to visit him in Williamston, a day and a half away. Stormin' and Bud are here too, and later Bliss and Chunky come through. Bliss has lost his wallet, and wonders if any of us had picked it up. Stormin' has it. "I had a similar case," he said.I could sympathize with Bliss, after my brush with lost ID and plastic.It's cold and wet and I am shivering. I am going to go snuggle down in my sweet one-pound down bag.Nite!