Date: 2010-07-04
From: Race Mtn. Vista

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 28.5
Weather: few clouds

Sent Lish a text message. Told Rest Stop and Orbit about the Roswell reunion party she¢s going to tonight. Alysse is such and original person!Luckily we didn¢t get harassed by the man about our campsite. Orbit out first and me thereafter. Rest Stop still enjoying the magnificent sunrise. I ask where he¢s aiming for today and he responds, ¢I don¢t know, I don¢t care.¢ I guess he¢s tired of being our tour guide. He¢s so experienced that people tend to rely on him too much. He reminds me of those cool hard asses in western movies. The kind of guy who lights matches on his chin and chain smokes. Well, he chain smokes at least. He can climb a 500 ft incline while smoking and rolling a second cigarette at the same time. I get a kick out of his laugh because it¢s so genuine and heart felt. Although he¢s a tough guy he still has a sense of humor. You¢d expect to see him in a war telling ¢You shoulda seen that¢ stories. 1000 yard stare, check.Orbit pointed out that my calves are almost as big as Rest Stop. Rest Stop told Orbit that she¢s too small and tiny to worry about bears; they¢d go straight for his meaty legs before settling for a less proportioned meal like her. Orbit¢s pasta had olive oil on it. She packed it out only to find the contents of her bag drenched in oil. Rest Stop ragged her about the bears attaching her because of it. She asked if tossing the excess oil out would violate the ¢Leave No Trace¢ ethic. Rest Stop told her yes, it does, but make sure to pour it right by her hammock. Through the mosquito deterring, he told me to ask Orbit why she only brushed her teeth at night. Embarrassed, she told me that her father told her that the bears would leave her alone if she didn¢t smell like Colgate.Mt. Everett vista pretty lame but the climb up was no problem at all. The mileage on the handbook and the signs are not to scale. I guess they¢re trying to make the Boy Scouts and gringos feel like they hiked a long distance. Coming down Jug End involved a large amount of grinding noises from both knees. Places where you¢re hanging by a root, a heel, or by one hand around a small tree. Horribly eroded and only going to get worse. I thought about the sweaty SOBO¢er yesterday and felt sorry for him.Such and incredible amount of flat swamp walking through dense pine canopies! Lots of fly guts smashed into my face and eyes. Mosquitoes following my every move. No breaks, keep moving and they don¢t land. Being hairy is beneficial in this line of work. I feel them instantly. Occasionally I¢ll splatter one that struck red gold. Mostly they¢re dying without a last meal. Still, it¢s not as bad as I¢d been led to believe. No mosquitoes flying into my mouth. No DEET and I don¢t need a blood transfusion. I stopped for a break in the blazing hot sun to keep the vampire bugs away. Low on food and I¢m being greedy today. I¢ll pay for this tomorrow! The genuine mileage is back. Normal grind again. Hard walking through shoulder high grass in swamps. Thank God for those walking platforms. Met a trail maintainer that gave me a most excellent ice cold Gatorade. So good and so needed in this heat. Met Josey sitting on a rock on the way up June Mt. He¢s incorrectly convinced himself that he only has 2 miles to Tom Leopard lean-too. He told me that he was going to make my whole day then said Longshanks is doing trail magic barbecue at the shelter for lunch. It¢s 11:40 am and he says Longshanks left for town supplies at 10 am. I¢m excited but not about the food. I hadn¢t seen Longshanks since Fun Dip¢s trail magic in VA. I¢d finally caught him1 Not that I was happy to see him, but to have caught him at his fast pace. Maple there at the shelter. Figured that. They must be a couple now. What a doosy trail between June Mtn. and that shelter. Went around my thumb to get to my elbow. Lots of PUD¢s and rocks and stairway climbs.Exhausted by Tom's shelter. Rest Stop there. Water's a nasty yellow stained puddle. Huge climb back from water source with 3L of water. Didn't feel like waiting for Longshanks. Disappointed that he wasn't already cooking when I arrived. Not waiting around and getting to camp late just for hot dogs. Good thing I didn't. The road where he parked with all the supplies was 1 mile away and pretty hard to climb with a case of beer and groceries on your back. He had called Maple at the shelter to send people to help carry the supplies from the parking lot to the campsite. I haven't seen Longshanks in a long time and when I do I'm shocked at how long his beard has grown. It's almost as long as mine! Looks the same otherwise. He still doesn't remember my name. I guess I'm not important enough. It seemed like the "trail magic" was more like a family party in the woods. Besides, I'm sick of junk food and it's repercussions.Rest Stop didn't wait either. I can tell that he thinks Orbit's ahead of us, but that trail maintainer hadn't seen her. I think she's behind us.When I left Tom's shelter I passed four flowery smelling civilians headed south. I assumed that they were affiliated with Longshanks. They smelled like a perfume counter at the mall when they passed. They ignored me and Rest Stop, but Orbit would tell us later that they had given her chocolate. Being a girl hiker has it's perks.More bugs, mosquitoes, swamps, shaky unbalanced wooden plank walk-ways and climbs to Mt. Wilcox shelter. The spring was not on the path to the shelter. It was on the AT. There was a dry puddle near the shelter but I ended up backtracking and getting water at a trickle of a nearly dried up creek. Rest Stop here at this shelter also. I told him how I was thinking of leaving for home on the 6th. I told him that I'd flipped that Michigan quarter again and it said to go home.I'm loaded down with 3L of water for the last climb. The climb never really phased me for some reason. It's like it's overstated in elevation. It felt nonexistent actually. Nice surprise for a tired wayfarer!Saw a beaver munching on pond scum. It was either a beaver or a nutria. It almost looked to big to be a regular beaver. The mosquitoes around the pond have mercy on my flesh and let me pass with dignity. The mileage seems to be off here also! Awesome timing for that with this 6lbs of water on my shoulders. I'm pretty sure that carrying that much water for 6 miles should have felt considerably longer. The trail gods surely are pleased with me today to bestow such a gift upon my weary soles.Caught a military looking guy and a short lady wearing a bug net over her face. Funny place for a bug net, it's quite pleasant here by comparison. We were walking through the most incredible nettle carpeted forest floor that I've seen since Pearisburg. Nice slope here with a winding path through tall shady trees opening for a view in all directions for 1/4 mile. I asked the couple if they'd seen anyone. They described seeing a guy with an incredibly small book bag and gigantic calves. Haha, Rest Stop would of gotten a laugh out of that description. Well, at least I know where he's at. I thought I'd left him behind at that last shelter but he took off before me some how. He was talking about doing a 40 mile day but I didn't really believe he'd do it. Today was rough on us.I talked briefly with the section hikers at Shaker campsite. Mostly to see if they'd seen Orbit. They hadn't. The military guy and bug net girl arrived a little later than me. While unpacking their camp chairs and 10lb (5 person) tent, the lovely couple informed us that it was their "honeymoon!" Good for them! The lady claimed to be a "camper" and told us that her husband (military guy) was the "hiker". Two different things they claimed. They were cutting their trip short because they'd been to ambitious with their itinerary. 15 miles of hiking today had worn them out.One of the section hikers was talking about what he felt like it'd be to be a thru-hiker. He was curious and asked, "How's it feel to the realize that you'd be in the wilderness for 6 months?" My response, "Restless"Tired of the mosquitoes, bugs and gravity...I set up my tent and hid from their questions. Tonight might be my last night in the woods for weeks. I talked to my Dad for a while to calm my nerves about leaving the trail for a while.Orbit came through looking for Rest Stop. Glad to know where she's located now. I guess it's hard hiking with someone for as long as they've been together.I fell asleep before dark listening to the hum of hungry bugs. There's a roach that's taken up residence in my contrail. Ahhhh, at first it grossed me out, but what the heck, the more the merrier!