Date: 2009-05-22
From: Colverdale, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

May22 --I arrived around 19:00 and decided to take it easy this evening since the outlook to continue today was lacking in water resources. Still full from the pancake fest and not walking a difficult trail today, I wasnt eager to start dinner although I did have my usual. I just spent the last hour or so trying to once again adjust my mailing drops, but there may be trouble this time. I figure I will be in Montebello, VA, the next drop, on Wednesday, zer0 on Thursday and depart on Friday. If the box hs gone out, 0k, but my maps are "locked" since I was going to bump that box to Luray, VA unopened, no charge. Something may be thrashing around in the woods out there... Anyway, recalculating where I will be when is making a schedule, which is something beyond the scope of this project. And if it hasnt been shipped then, with the holiday on Monday, will it get there by Th/F? Anyway, it was warm on the trail today, drink a lot, sweat a lot, but a happy day nevertheless. Featherfoot is officially back on the trail as of yesterday when I found a large black crow, or raven maybe, feather, which I tied in place of my lost feathers. And today I came across first one, then a pile of feathers that looked a killing, no carcass, and I took three large tail feathers of what I guess was a grouse, and tied them on, with 2 smaller ones at a shelter break. I've seen deer frequently lately, as many as 4 together, and today I was startled by a hen turkey charging out of the huckleberry bushes, 5 feet off the trail just behind my right elbow, squawking and flapping and thrashing toward me, and I reacted even before I turned, probly from fear, by waving my arms and shouting back. I figured she had a nest right there, but when I went back to the spot, she did nothing but circle me, clockwise in an ever widening spiral, clucking nervously while I tried to take videos before moving on. Later, I realized that my new feathers may have been of a close friend or relative which would account for the outburst. I hope she didnt think that I did it. I read somewhere a long time ago that when backpacking, avoid tenting on the trail and right near water sources and the reason was that the trail at night becomes a highway for animals to go to the watering hole. True or not it made sense, and I could imagine Brer Rabbit racing past Brer Bear, and I was reminded of this today, just observing all the activity on the path itself. The insects are in constant motion, not only the small butterfiles and flies, but now larger butterfiles, swallowtails, spicebush or pipevine and bright green flying beetles, ants ant lions and many others I probly don't notice, and lizards are now common, scaly and brown as lo g as 5" loiter, perhaps waiting for a good snack and black snakes wait, perhaps for a lizard, all these creatures, and plants too, leaning into the open space, more leaves, more food, higher production, I thought that it was just us, the trail is a happening place for everything, humans too. There is one new relatively new species that I have encountered, gone, whether by latitude of climate change, are the flesh eating gnats, and my now favorite flying pain are little dots that either want to fly into the dark depths of the pupils of my etes or are trying to perfect landing on my eyelashes, but amazingly they manage to do this whilst I am walking full speed, bobbing and weaving, heavily breathing, and eventually the force me to stop, turn around and face the opposite direction for 3 seconds, and then continue. I can't figure out how they learned to do that or what they practice on when there are no humans around or maybe there are billions of these things, but I never see them, I might catch a glimpse like an eye floarer. I am once again here in my tent at Wilson Crek Shelter very aware of the newext dimension on the trail, bugs. Other dimensions literally on the trail are the rocks, I can no longer consult the elevation profile map as to determine the degree of difficulty, or, more important, miles/hr. Rocks kill my time, the souls of my feet and my enthusiasm. Wait, rocks don't present enough of a challenge stepping and stumbling? 0k, for the last week, there have been intermittent, long, sometimes hundreds of yards, of trail covered with 4-6" of brown leaves to conceal sticks and stones that, yes, hurt my bones. Now, if we could just get some of those unemployed landscapers with backpack leafblowers... nah.