Date: 2009-04-22
From: Mountain Harbour Hostel

To: Moreland Gap shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: broken clouds

The rest did my eyes no good... They were now red, painful, watery, and extremely sensitive to light... I dreaded the turning on of the main light in the room. I felt miserable and could not even look at anyone without tearing up and squinting... What was I going to do?Breakfast was to be served at 7:30, but we were told that we could head over a few minutes early for coffee. I saw Papa Doc coming down the stairs from his room and told him my eyes were infected. I wished I had my homeopathic eye drops with me because they had worked miracles for me when I had problems this past year. However, it would take a week for them to get to me if Erik mailed them...What to do...   The breakfast spread looked amazing and I hoped it could make me feel better, but I knew I would not be able to enjoy it nearly as much as if I had been feeling normal. My eyes would not stop watering and I wish I could at least look at the people in the room with me. An 82 year-old man offered to drive me to the pharmacy, but I declined. Then, I rethought my answer, as I really needed to do something!   We learned the meaning of the name for Roan mountain as we ate our quiche, French toast, banana bread, pumpkin cheesecake squares... The woman hiking with the 82 year old said that Terry would take me to the pharmacy instead. It didn't open until 9 am, though. When I went out to the car, Bound, Hellbender, Joe Kickass, and another hiker had come in, looking to get breakfast in town! They were invited to hop in the back of the truck, and off we went... Braid and I to the pharmacy, and the others to a diner. We all found out that if you are not a local in this community, you will wait a LONG time to be served! There were no homeopathic drops to be found, so I bought a couple of ordinary eye drops that I knew would not work and would sting when I put them in my eyes. But what else could I do?   As I packed up back at the hostel, there was lots of talk about bad characters and incidents on the trail, and I was urged not to hike alone or stay at shelters near road crossings. Apparently, this year has brought out the worst group of hikers that have been seen on the AT- rude people, people hiding out from paying alimony, dangerous characters, etc. Apparently, in other years, the hikers have been far more helpful and supportive to one another. Sigh. It was certainly not the most uplifting of conversations!   I finally got back on the trail at nearly 11 am, and had a big 18 miles to do if I was to catch up to Papa Doc, Bound, and Hellbender. Because I was not feeling well, I treated myself to some music on my ipod again. The first people I came upon were none other than Spike and his wife! We were climbing a hill and I was soon to overtake them, but before I did so, Spike started looking around and saying with frustration, "Where's the white blaze? Where's the white blaze?" I looked at the trail, saw the cross-trail, and said I assumed it was straight ahead... The farther I went, the more brambles overtook the path, and I knew this was not the AT. I turned around and found Spike with his map out. He told his wife to stay put while he searched for a white blaze. I was lost with Spike! I kept my cool and went down a different path than him, but saw no white blaze... The only alternative was to go back down the hill until we came to one we had passed. At last, we found the turnoff that we had missed! I sped away while Spike went back to fetch his wife.   I passed Chele, journaling by the water, and assumed Bound and the others must be ahead. It always looks so nice when someone sits on the trail and relaxes... maybe someday... At 2:45, I reached Mountaineer shelter, expecting to find Chele (who had gotten ahead), and maybe Bound and Hellbender. Only two hikers were there, clearly staying for the night. I enjoyed my lunch, flipped through the registry, and moved on at 3:15. Then, I looked at my guidebook and saw that I had 10 more miles to get to the next shelter! Say what?! The afternoon was tough. I could not see well (my vision was blurry and the sunlight hurt my eyes) and I began to tire. I passed by many lovely streams and cascades, and thought it would be nice to camp by one, but with the recent talk, and knowing Spike was behind me, pushing his wife to hike 17-20 miles a day, into the night, I thought it was best to at least stay near others that night, even though I didn't feel social in my pain. Even though the terrain was much flatter than it had been, I still moved slowly. The trees creaked as they swayed, seemingly talking to me. I finally made it to the shelter at around 7:30 pm (my latest arrival to date). There, I saw one tent and no one around! You've got to be kidding me! Where were Bound and Hellbender? Did they go on to Kincora? There was no notes from them in the shelter registry. I changed into my warm, dry clothes as the wind swirled around me. Then, I saw Papa Doc coming up the trail from the water source! He said he was happy to see me! We both had been expecting many others at the shelter and were glad not to have to camp there alone. It wasn't the nicest of shelters. I set up my hammock and we both made our dinners in the shelter. Papa Doc asked me if I was okay and if I needed anything (why can't more people be like this?) before he headed for his tent, and he assured me that he would say goodbye before he left in the morning (nice!). He thought the sleep would be good for my eyes.   Unfortunately, that was not the case. I woke up in the middle of the night with my eyes burning and watering, even though it was dark out and my eyes were closed! I had to get out of my hammock to put some drops in, but could barely even open my eyes to do so! I crawled back inside my hammock and tried to wait the night out.