Date: 2007-05-01
From: Flint Mt. Shelter, NC

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: few clouds

Wow, last nite was terrific. Sleeping with no tarp and under the moon was soincredible. I woke up around 2:30 a.m. and put my knit cap on, but did not weara jacket or anything! I loved it! It was 60 degrees in my hammock when I wokeup.Persistent and I decided we weren't going to make ourselves wake up @ a certaintime. I still woke up @ 7:30 with the birds though. I layed there awhile andman, when the sun finally peeked over the mountain and shined right on me, itgot hot fast.I was not feeling it today (nor was Persistent). I just didn't feel likehiking. I was moving so slowly, but we finally stepped off around 10:30 a.m.Little did we know it would turn out to be one of the most grueling 8.8 milesyet.At first, we were doing great. We actually hiked the first 2.7 miles in 1 hour! It was really easy terrain. We ended up @ Devil's Fork Gap, which is @ a pavedroad crossing. Several hikers (Mellow, Walker, Scout, Bear Killer, and Larry)were there having a snack. It was funny, as we hiked down to the road, I snapped a pic of everyone sittingthere, and across the street was an "Inmates Working" sign! LOLWe decided to sit too, and then the actual prison bus with inmates showed up!! Persistent and I snapped some pics, and then the bus turned around, and theguards got out to grab the sign. They came over and talked to us, and then gotback on the bus and left. As wrong as this is, I was disappointed the inmatesdidn't get off the bus too. LOL I wanted a picture. We left, and it was almost noon, but we wanted to soak our feet, so we decidedto go to the next stream crossing. Then to my surprise, Kokopelli shows up! Ifigured she was days ahead of me now. We all took pics of each ther going overour first stile and headed on.The first stream crossing was packed with hikers, but I was excited to meetChuck Norris and his wife Tigger. Really nice people.We decided to go to the next stream and eat. We atually ended up @ the 3rd one,which was awesome. Shoes immediately came off. Just as I was about to stepinto the water, I slipped on the mud and gracefully went down. Luckily I wasn'twearing my pack but it sure was funny. Ate lunch with Scout and Bear Killer.Then we headed towards a very long and tough climb. Seriously folks, today wastough tough tough. It absolutely kicked my butt. One other issue arose too, itfeels like I've bruised or pulled the tendons in the arch of my left foot. Painwith every step, and man did that put me in bad mood.It was almost 90 degrees today, again, a bartender could have placed the rim ofa magharita glass on my face and had a nicely salted rim. LOLAll day, we kept seeing chuck Norris and Tigger, Kokopelli, Scout, and BearKiller. There were several beautiful stream crossings, and I tried very hard tostay hydrated.Eventually, my foot pain got to the point where it made me limp, and I slowedWAY down. I am concerened about it, because I don't want to seriously injuremyself. It was the never ending uphill hike today. Persistent was having a verydifficult time too. She's had an on and off issue with her right foot, and ofcourse, it was "on" today.Once I have to start dealing with a potential injury, everything changes for me. My entire focus shifts to getting to camp, and trying not to hurt myselffurther. A lot of thoughts raced thru my head today. Fears of being forced offthe trail came flooding in. I've always said the only 2 things that would pullme off are a serious injury or a family emergency\matter. I don't think thisfoot thing is serious enough to end my hike though. I really feel I may need afew days off of it to let it heal.By the end of the day, Kokopelli, Chuck Norris, Tigger, Persistent and I wereall hiking together basically, and we were all having a hard hard time. None ofus knew exactly where we were, so mentally that was tough. There are no signsanywhere to confirm your whereabouts. Kokopelli, Persistent, and I stopped for a moment and Kokopelli shared with usthat she made the decision in the Smoy's that she is a section hiker, not a thruhiker. She said she spends a lot of her day just hating being out here. She'smade a 600 mile goal for herself and is planning on stopping there. She saidshe hurts so much everyday. I told her I had the utmost respect for her, because coming out here with thedream of hiking the whole trail, and being able to come to terms with not doingthe whole thing is a huge and tough thing to do. I told her I thought too manypeople get obsessed with the thru-hiking badge and spend their time beingmiserable out here. I thanked her for sharing with me, because I know it ishard. She said she knows there are people who will think she's a wimp, and Itold her it doesn't matter what they think, that she is listening to her bodyand her gut, and that is the smartest thing anyone can do. Besides, anyone whothinks anyone is a wimp for not doing the whole trail needs to strap a pack onand get their asses out here and see what this is like. LOL It is freakinhard!!I reminded her that we have hiked over 300 miles in all kinds of weather, overhuge mountains, in the freezing cold, in the beating sun, with spiders and gnatsand annoying bugs, gone without showering, and have withstood pain in some partof our body every single day that we hike. That is no small feat. So we all are still wondering how what we think is our final mile to the sheltercan possibly last so long. At one point, Chuck Norris stops and belts out aloud growl, out of frustration. The looks of agony and pain and exhaustion oneveryone's faces told it all. If I were able to remove myself and watch this from afar, it would have beenalmost comical. At one point in the day, we were all laughing and talking andhaving a great talk by a stream. Right now though, you've got Tigger with twoknee braces and a look of "please end the misery" on her face, Chuck Norris whois growling at the top of his lungs out of frustration, Kokopelli with that lookon her face that little kids get when they think they're going to puke but don'tknow where to go to do it and they are thinking "god, please just let me makeit", Persistent with her puppy dog look that says, "oh god, oh god," and finallyme in the back limping with a stone face of pissiness and pain with words racingthrough my head that I won't write here since I know kids are reading this. I finally broke, and just started laughing. I didn't know what else to do andthe absurdity of the situation was mind boggling. Persistent and I both admitted that we could cry on command at this point. LOLIt is now, right now, this very micro-second that you had better have an answerto that burning question of, "Why am I doing this?"We were all in pain, all exhausted, all sweaty, salty, smelly, hungry,Persistent and I are horribly homesick, and you are faced with that question,why am I doing this when I don't "have" to. It is a double edged sword sometimes. I think of everything I still haven'tseen, all of the people I still haven't met, all of the good days that arewaiting for me, all of the perfect nites under full moons or perfect days offoot soaking in cold streams, and still yearn to experience them. Then I thinkof all of those things again and realize just how far I still have to go, whichis really overwhelming.We finally made it to the shelter @ 6:00 p.m. Persistent and I set up camp downthe water trail, away from everyone in our usual "anti-social oh my god I can'thandle any more people" sort of way. We just kept looking @ each other with"that" look, you know, the one that says it all without saying a word.We sat down for dinner and had an emotionally tough conversation. She has nothad a good day since we left Hot Springs, and she shared with me what has beengoing thru her head. There were tears from both of us, and then laughter,because this all seemed so surreal.I am struggling with keeping focused on the right goal. I told her that if weare on the edge of injury, then worrying about how slow we are and maybe notbeing able to get to Maine in time will only guarantee further injury andpossibley having to end our hikes. How can we worry about Maine when we haven'teven made it to Erwin yet in one healthy piece? For me, I know how hard this is, I know that I can not yet hike a 16 mile day, Iknow that I will injure myself if I try to do "big miles." So the plan isthis. When I get up in the morning, I will put my socks and hiking shoes on. If I have pain, I will zero out here in the woods. I have enough food for 3days, and the next major road crossing is only 2.4 miles away where I can callMs. Janet, get shuttled to Erwin, resupply, see a doctor if I need to, rest, andthen get shuttled back out here and finish this leg to Erwin. I would rather zero out here anyways. It is FREE, the weather has beenbeautiful, and it means I get to lounge in my hammock for the first time! LOLIf this weren't in my foot, I wouldn't be so freaked out, but I think restingnow is the key. I need to remember to serve the immediate needs of my body,because if I don't, I will be going home. It's another beautiful and warm nite. I actually decided to sleep without myccf pad tonite. I am only wearing my thermals, nothing else, and am using mybag as a quilt. The temp is still 60. It is a huge full moon rising tonite,but we heard there is a chance of rain, so I've got my tarp pitched.Our friends Gadget and Scribe left a voicemail on Persistent's phone. They areheaded home until trail days. That day we randomly ran into them so they couldslackpack, they only made it 1 mile, and Scribe's foot wouldn't make it. Theyare going home so she can rest with the intention of getting back on @ Damascusafter Trail Days.The trail gets another one......~Certain