Date: 2006-09-13
From: near rock gap shelter

To: franklin, nc
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: moderate rain

======2003======  monday,  march 3,  day 10sitting here in the most exquisite sunshine, waiting, hoping we didn¢t give mom and dad bad directions!but even this is an experience!...(charlie says he doesn¢t like ¢zero¢ days¢¦.says he feels the tug of the trail¢¦.me, too, really¢¦but we HAFTA  rest sometime!)¢¦anyway, while we¢re sittin¢ here this guy comes up and says he¢s a psychologist doing a survey/study of thru-hikers for a book and would we have time to fill out a questionnaire¢¦.we said ¢sure¢¢¦¢¦.and then some other folks showed up as we were writing¢¦.2 fellows we met a couple of days ago on spring break (one carrying a guitar), allen and zach¢¦.( we also saw kevin* again a little earlier)¢¦..and a new couple, maybe thru ¢ hiking, Virginia creeper and doc (a little older than us)¢¦..so that was nice¢¦..then we found out just chatting with this psychologist ( ¢shrunk¢)* that he knows john calhoun! (says john was the first thru-hiker he ever met)¢¦.small world!so it¢s been quite fun and pleasant as we endured sitting here all day (since 10:00)¢¦i¢m grateful for the blessing of good weather today¢¦(i was so worried the weather would make it hard on mom and dad)¢¦.now i¢m  just  prayin¢ the Lord will help them find us!it was really, really COLD last night!....all the rhododendron leaves curled up (for warmth?)¢¦and the ground ¢spewed¢ ice¢¦..but we slept warm (despite the fact that we did keep sliding down the hill all night*)¢¦the hardest part was puttin¢ on those ol¢ icy, damp clothes again¢¦..a freezing reminder that the most difficult part of this hike is not the trail itself, but just learning to live day after day WITH the weather (and not FIGHT it)¢¦..i think i¢m beginning to learn to be a little more sympathetic now toward homeless people*¢¦¢¦..and speaking of sympathy,iI keep begging for the ability to offer more¢¦¢¦especially toward killeen¢¦¢¦..but really for everyone¢¦¢¦¢¦compassion, understanding¢¦..a willingness to ¢die¢ to me and ¢live¢ to others¢¦¢¦..Abba, help me to be more like You¢¦.help me to be self-less¢¦.=======2006======  tuesday,  february 21, day 10, standing indian to rock gap shelter 19.7 mi.it¢s very difficult to remember your day when your this dog-gonned tired!.......but I think our main memory would be that it was beautiful from start to finish!....so different from yesterday with all the ice and snow and drizzle¢¦¢¦we did make it through the night at the standing indian shelter¢¦.everything was wet  with frozen fog this morning¢¦.the wind blew violently all night long¢¦.but our prayers were answered this morning at dawn as the wind died down and the sun came peeking through!it has been very lovely walking through more snow and, of course, albert mountain was still the same ol¢ spectacular albert mtn.!....(we thought as we approached that albert was the one more to the east that you can see with huge, rocky faces up the side, but the real albert is a bit to the west and more humbly conceals its beautiful difficulties¢¦¢¦..i was havin¢ a bit of a female problem* today¢¦.i¢m learnin¢ i hafta depend on God¢s healing mercies out here where there are no doctors right around the corner¢¦.(.dependin¢ on him is a good thing!)¢¦i feel fine right now¢¦.but, oh! how tired i am! ¢¦¢¦i¢m outa here!........oh i forgot to mention we¢re at the rock gap shelter (near the wasalik poplar tree*)¢¦.where we nearly froze under the tarp up on the hill in ¢03¢¦¢¦sweet,quiet rubin is here, too, but he¢s in the shelter and we¢re tenting¢¦..*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-------*kevin¢¦i¢m still convinced this was ¢c- blue¢¢¦..a strange phenomenon occurs in meeting folks on the trail in winter¢¦.mostly it¢s cold and you see folks with hats and such¢¦so it¢s difficult (at least for me ) to recognize them in nicer weather when they¢ve shed some of their layers¢¦.i¢ll relate (in my ¢day 12¢ entry) how I failed to recognize ¢vic¢ for this very reason*shrunk¢¦..has anyone read this book or heard from shrunk? (or any of these other folks?)¢¦we¢d love to hear from you folks! *sliding down the hill¢¦.we liked a LITTLE slope, but too much was uncomfortable¢¦in this case we had to take what we could get (which happens sometimes)¢¦.we did discover that tyvek (the fabric one) is far less slippery than a plastic ground cloth¢¦.we carried both in ¢06¢¦the ¢plastic¢ one was really more like a sturdy, lightweight cellophane¢¦.a little noisy, though, so we really only used it when it was really wet and we were tenting¢¦.i personally think tyvek is more comfortable (AND it¢s washable!)*homeless people¢¦¢¦our pastor always described us as being ¢voluntarily homeless¢ on this trek¢¦.i never dreamed I would learn ¢solidarity¢ in this way¢¦.but it turned out to be a real eye-opener for me in the very concrete practice of experiencing the plight of others who don¢t live as ¢well¢ as most of us americans live¢¦..(even those americans of us who happened to be living in the woods for 6 months!)*female problems¢¦¢¦okay¢¦.i can¢t believe i¢m discussing my bladder on line, but since other female hikers need to know, here goes (bear with us, fellas!)¢¦¢¦.gals, even if you¢re not normally bothered with infections, the pressure of a heavy pack coupled with your body¢s requiring and using more water can make for urinary tract problems¢¦.here¢s a couple of tips : first¢¦. DRINK!.....drink ,drink, drink!....and GO when ya gotta! (i know it¢s not as easy for us women¢¦but learn the P.O.P¢¦¢¦(the ¢pack-on-pee¢) and head to the woods often¢¦¢¦. 2nd¢¦..keep a supply of cranberry capsules and acidophilus (i also kept a few uristat, too, to get me over the hump if i felt as if an infection was setting in)¢¦if i didn¢t have any of these things, i¢d just chew on some pine needles or sourwood leaves (really!) and that would bring some relief (along with lots of water)¢¦¢¦just getting into camp and putting off my pack seemed to help, too, so don¢t panic¢¦.i never had much of a problem , however, after the first month or so (your body is adjusting to its new, intense routine in those first few weeks)¢¦.now¢¦ i¢m not a doctor and all of us hike the trail at our own risk, remember , so do see a doctor in town if you need to¢¦¢¦.there!...it¢s discussed!...deal with it!*wasalik poplar¢¦.we saw this tree once on a botanical fieldtrip with gary kauffman ( the official botanist for that area )¢¦¢¦it¢s amazing! and worth the little side trip to see it if you have time¢¦.red dane (though we never actually met her in ¢06) taught us through her writings to TAKE THE TIME to do these ¢side trips¢, if you want¢¦¢¦your journey will be over all too quickly¢¦.make the most of it while you¢re out there!....(that goes for LIFE as well!)