Date: 2005-04-05
From: Microtel, Robbinsville, NC

To: Microtel, Robbinsville, NC
Miles today: 0.0

I sure do wish I could figure out what is going on with my knee! I got up during the night to use the bathroom, and it hurt so much just to put my weight on it that I wished I had a pair of crutches handy. This morning, however, after I showered and dressed, the knee was hugely better, and I walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast with renewed hope that I might still be able to continue my hike. Go figure!Thursday is the next decision point. I talked with Nancy up at the Hike Inn yesterday, and reserved a room there for Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, I will have them shuttle me either to the trail head at Fontana Dam - from which point I will head into the Smokey mountains, or to Ashville, N.C. - from which point I will fly home. Dang, I sure do love the certainty of the moment.Meanwhile, here in sunny downtown Robbinsville, spring is busting out all over. The forsythia were in full bloom already last week, as were the Bradford Pear trees. This week it¢s the Redbud trees turn, with the pear trees starting to green up, and the grass sprouting up so much there was a crew out mowing the yard here at the hotel yesterday. I had dinner last night at a nearby BBQ restaurant, and ran into two more through-hikers. I have managed to forget their names already, but gave them the names of several of my colleagues and asked them to pass on my regards. They were young guys doing 16-18 mile days, so they should catch up with my friends before they exit the park. I returned to the hotel and watched the Illinois - North Carolina game, which succeeded in taking my mind off of my own challenges for a bit. I also called home and talked for a few minutes with my wife. Every time she goes out she runs into someone who asks how I'm doing, and expresses their best wishes. It is a source of great comfort to me to know that so many people are supportive of my adventure and are wishing me well. We also agreed that, if I end up coming home later this week, it will just be for as long as it takes to get the knee fixed, and then - it's "back to the hunt"! Even if it's after my scout camp weeks and family beach week in June/July, and as late as July 18, the plan is to see how far I can get by Labor Day. I don't know if I may start somewhere far enough north to try to get to Katahdin, or just come back to the Smokeys and pick up where I've left off, but one way or another, I'm going to be back on the trail. There's a reason I picked this trail name, ya know!Meanwhile, I think it's time to share a few impressions of some of the people I've met out here so far. I will not mention certain other hikers, but let's just say that not everyone's behavior is at all times exemplary.Let me start with my cyber-buddy and pre-hike friend, MotherGoose. I finally caught up with her on the way into Woods Hole Shelter on day 3, and the next day we hiked down from Blood Mountain together and shared a cabin at Neels Gap with five others. I was extremely impressed with her spirit of determination, and with her great sense of humor. She was just what I expected from our email exchanges. She is not the fastest hiker out here, but then neither am I at the moment! She was behind me coming into Fontana Dam, and I just heard from her that she was one of the unlucky hikers caught in last weekend's snow storm in the Smokeys. She said she was returning home for two weeks and will then come back down to pick up where she left off. Like me, I'm sure she has faced her share of frustrations, but also like me, she doesn't give up lightly. She'll be back. You watch. Another favorite, and one I also have a special admiration for is Red Hat. Those of us "of a certain age" share a special appreciation of what it takes even to be out here. She is not only hiking smart, she has gone the extra mile to help others with their challenges as well. Gold stars for Red Hat - or purple ones, I guess that should be.Creaky Bones is another tough old bird who, like me, has faced the challenges reflected in her trail name. I had dinner with her Sunday night, and she was heading into the same clinic I went to for an assessment of a hip problem. I guess we are all kind of an advertisement for hiking the AT as young as you can -- parts is less likely to be fallin' off that way...Then there's Nu-B, a retiree like me, with an artificial knee no less (will that be me, next year?), a super nice guy with a great sense of humor, as well as a strong determination to get to Katahdin. He was ahead of me going out of the NOC, and should be somewhere in the northern part of the Smokeys by now. He is hiking with Skylark, who has a similar personality but stronger knees. Both are a delight to be around.Then there is Vision Quest, a younger woman than those of us of retirement age, and a wonderful, warm person with whom I was able to spend my Easter Sunday in the NOC. She is such a fast and determined hiker that I suspect it will be trail days in Damascus before I see her again.Two other M Company hikers that I've gotten to know recently are Dorothy and Toto (aka the Duhls). Toto is an absolute stitch, and had all us cracking up with his antics over dinner this past Sunday night - much to the chagrin of Dorothy. Both are just good folks to have around.There is another group of hikers who are now several days ahead of me, which I think of collectively as the "rebels without a cause". They include my personal favorite, the irrepressible Wyatt McGuire, whose trail name, bestowed by his rebel colleagues, is "The Mouth." He has the pirate flag that says: "surrender the booty." It also includes James Kinney - a true James Dean type, Mike Shine, Amanda Luft, and Lion King - a gregarious soul with an obviously high tolerance for pain, given his plans to keep hiking on a badly sprained ankle!Then there's Snowman and Icicle. He's from Wales, she's from Florida. He got his trail name the first day it snowed on us. A group was having lunch at Tesnatee Gap, and he took time to scrape together enough snow to make a small snowman. When she said she needed to "go find a tree", he suggested that she could perhaps create an icicle to go with his snowman. Such is the origin of many a trail name, one reason I selected my own.More profiles tomorrow. Today's "hike" is dedicated to the friends noted above. Godspeed all.Stay tuned, Longhaul