Date: 2010-05-30
From: The Priest Shelter 

To: Maupin Field Shelter 
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: few clouds

Day 84 {Down the Priest (right) and back up Three Ridges (left)}Dear reader, if you are hiking up the Three Ridges section of the Appalachian Trail and you find my body, please feel free to burn it and send my ashes to my wife. I am fairly certain that I died climbing up that hill, but am to stubborn to admit it. I am fortunate to have confessed my sins to The Priest shelter register last night. Who ever started that trend must have known that some of us would be dying today on the Three Ridges   May we now have a moment of silence to honor my memory. This morning I wasn't feeling to good and my legs felt like lead right from the beginning. I hiked the short stretch up to the ridge where I updated my journals and tried to call my daughters. Neither answered their phone so I packed away the phone and started down the monster downhill from the The Priest mountain. Normally I enjoy a downhill but today was just a chore. I knew a swimming hole awaited me in the Tie River at the bottom so it wasn't all bad. It turned out to be more of a wading hole, but it was clean and fast moving and cold and in the sun. All good things. I hung out there for 1/2 an hour, reluctant to start up the 3000' climb to Three Ridges. Finally I packed up and moved up the trail and soon found myself huffing and puffing and sweating and swatting at flys. I never knew there were so damn many flies in the woods. Even horse flies are showing up. They buzz around my head and keep trying to land. I'm strarting to wish I had a long tail like a horse to swish them away with. Instead I beat myself half to death swatting at them when they land on my head. Its gross to know you are walking around with fly blood and guts smeared all over your head. They stay away when I wear the straw hat I mugged from a little old lady in her garden, but its too hot to hike with while struggling uphill.The first shelter was only 2 1/2 miles up the hill and even had a little downhill to it at the end, but I was wiped out when I reached it. I was beginning to wonder if I was coming down with a cold or virus. Although I had only gone 7 miles so far I was considering calling it a day. I had been hiking 15 days straight without a zero day and that's a long time for me. I dunked myself in a small 3' deep "swimming hole" under a small waterfall then ate some lunch. Afterwards I laid down in the shelter and read for 3 hours. Around 4pm when the heat of the day had passed I felt motivated to climb the mountain today rather than in the morning. So away I went, and straight up went the trail. This mountain is easily the rockiest mountain I have climbed so far. From top to bottom and side to side were rocks of every size and shape. This trail was so steep I was scraping my nose on it while standing straight (perhaps I exaderate just a little). Somewhere along this part is where i left my body. Keep an eye out for it when you hike through here. I continued on in spirit and drifted over the crest to finally start the 2 1/2 mile downhill stretch to this shelter. A thunderstorm was booming a few miles away so i was in a hurry Its nice how effortless it is to hike without a body, but I fear my ghostly apparition frightened many of the folks brought out by the memorial weekend holiday. Its hard to yogi food when folks can see right through you. Still, I got food from two different groups.I am here now and have crafted a temporary body from sticks, stones and river mud. This should hold me until I get to Waynesboro 2 days from now. Its a big town and should have quite a few body shops. Good night and sweet dreams to all of you out there not living the Bodiless Dream.