Date: 2004-04-22
From: jenkins shelter

To: helveys mill shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: scattered clouds

a day with some magic, though some of it hard for me to receive. first magic of the day was when i met tripod at VA165 (laurel creek). he was supposed to be traveling back to jersey this morning. he informed me he was going to do one more slackpack and that would be it -- this time a seven miler. he said he'd pick me up where the trail comes out near the town of Bland and drive me to he supermarket. i also found out hippie and the boys camped out last night about 12 miles behind my current location and that they were on their way now.ok, i said no more slackpacking, but i figured what could this hurt? so i gave him my pack.magic #2. also at this creek was a cooler full of juice: orange, grape, tomato, etc. a local church provided the goods and it was well received by slim, biscuit, tripod, and me.so, i started off on my 7 mile pack-less trek. i didn't want to wait for the others because i like to hike alone during the day. my belly was churning as i hiked. now is not the time for an upset stomach, i thought. well, it is happening now and i know the belly is the seat of the emotions or the emotional body, so i might as well look at my current life situation and see what i'm being clueless about. if the belly is upset, there is something i'm not addressing. this one was easy. i'm having trouble letting go of my current group. that is the direction it is going, but i guess i'm not dealing with it.how did i get that?it's symbolic. the digestive system takes nourishment into the body and lets go of things the body doesn't need anymore. i wasn't having any problem with the input end. the other end is about letting go and i was in the process of letting go of my current group of hiking friends and going alone for a while. i was unconscious about how much this upset me. all i needed to do is feel the emotions that i'm pushing away and the belly will get better. yes, it worked.i finished the section in 2.25 hours and waited for the others to arrive... and waited... and...over an hour went by as i sat in the only shade provided by the awning of a little church doorway. i was out of water and getting thirsty.eats, fitz, biscuit, and a new guy, moonshine, appeared from he woods. eats had some news. tripod wasn't going to pick us up, we'll have to hitch into town. i got angry since i waited all that time and got dehydrated too. i could have been hitching into town. this is an example of how unconscious choices mess me up. i know that on some level i chose for this situation to come out this way. i'm having a hard time since it wasn't a conscious choice and i had expectations of how the day would go. so, i let go of that anger fast and went with what was going on.magic #3. eats catches a local coming down his driveway in a pickup truck. he quickly gets us all a ride into town. we got more than we bargained for. the driver thought he was mario andredi, jr. traveling at the speed of sound down a curvy road with unsecured hikers in the truck bed. it was a thrilling ride, let me tell you.in town i got my supplies at the IGA food store and met everyone at the gas station. we hitched a ride to the DQ (diary queen) to have lunch and meet hippie and tripod. the boys wanted to get another hotel room and start in the morning. it was 3pm... that's 5 hours of light left in the day and moonshine and i opted to hike on. first, we needed a ride back to the trail.magic #4. a hiker i met a while ago, named renegade, had his car in the DQ lot. he offered to give the two of us a ride to the trail. sweet! the boys in the meantime were finalizing their plans to stay in a hotel for the evening. the hike up to helvey's was killer. it was only 2.x miles, but the heat was intense and terrain was steep. moonshine forgot to get water at the DQ so i shared mine. the rest of the evening was quiet. moonshine and i were the only people in the shelter. that was nice since i had been in some overcrowded conditions previously.well, the day didn't go as planned, but it did work out ok. i just have to remain flexible and remember that even though things aren't moving with my expectations i am still choosing to create whatever situation is before me -- consciously or unconsciously.