Date: 2006-10-26
From: wapiti shelter

To: pearisburg
Miles today: 16.6

======2003====== monday, april 14, day 52woke at wapiti shelter this a. m.......COLD!......we were down in a low stream valley....but we began to walk UP almost immediately and got warmed up real quick!....it was another BEAUTIFUL day, but VERY warm, and the trail for most of the day was REALLY, REALLY rocky!*.....so it was hard on our feet and knees (and even killeen¢s hip).....we had the most awesome time just talking, however, as we made our way together over these rocky ridges!....there were a couple of things in particular we discussed...one : ¢dependence¢.....on each other.....and on God.......killeen said he thinks we¢re becoming more INdependent as a UNIT (although most of the time out here we¢re very much DEpendent on each other.....not in a ¢negative¢ way, but in a way that causes us to appreciate each other¢s skills and talents and particular contributions to the hike..........as we walked and talked, the question arose : are we MORE or LESS dependent on ¢society¢ here on the trail than we are at home.....we considered that in some ways we are definitely MORE dependent (to be able to do this crazy long distance hike, we have different needs out here)......we require, for instance, a greater dependence on plastics and synthetics (NOT the case at home!).....and we RELY a great deal more on the provisions and technology that ¢trail towns¢ can offer.....yet....in some ways we are LESS dependent on society as we make our way over these 2000 miles...(because for the most part we are experiencing life without electricity, municipal water and other such modern conveniences and ¢niceties¢ of life).....there¢s an odd irony to the whole thing, however.....for though we sometimes seem more ¢isolated¢ to society on the trail, we are probably really less so than we were in our daily lives at home!.....so ...it¢s hard to say....we¢ll have to study on it some more....another thing we talked a little about was ¢change¢....what are we learning out here?....how are we ¢changing¢?...well....let¢s see.....i think i mentioned that it wasn¢t so much that i was becoming MORE patient necessarily (although heaven knows i could use a whole lot more of that particular virtue in my life), but it¢s just that out here there¢s so much more of a logistical OPPORTUNITY it seems to PRACTICE patience!......sure, there¢s always room for patience, but at home (now that i think about it), with everything we need always right at our fingertips, why would i ever be IMpatient?!!!...out here, patience is ¢forced¢ on us, though.......so whether it¢s actually ¢learned¢ (in a way that might continue to be practiced once we¢re home again), we¢ll see....it was awesome coming off pearis mtn. and ¢angel¢s rest¢ this afternoon........though VERY steep and rocky and HOT, there were lots of wildflowers!... ¢dutchman¢s breeches¢ especially!.....and then we finally got to see the redbuds we¢d been wondering about!....with all this purple/pink and lime green, it was REALLY ¢spring-y¢!we hitched a ride (i saw the imminent opportunity as we came out onto the rode, so i immediately stuck out my thumb and we got a ride!)....howard price was our ¢benefactor¢....a very nice local who lived on a farm just outside pearisburg.....hope we can look him up when we get home to thank him again....mr. price dropped us off at the hostel operated by the catholic church....very charming!....it¢s an old ¢barn¢ of sorts that sits up on a hill....got some pretty good pictures i think....we walked over to the ¢friends and family¢ restaurant and had dinner....roasted pork, salad, apple pie and icecream!...we look forward to the pizza hut noontime buffet tomorrow (as well as doing laundry, calling home, etc)....we have really enjoyed talking to braveheart here tonight about new zealand, etc....she¢s a really interesting person (whom we never would have had the opportunity to get to know if not for the trail and hostels like this one here in pearisburg!)we sat in the swing on the back porch for a while this evenin¢ listening to spring peepers and reading ¢christy¢ by catherine marshall ....it was far more meaningful to us reading portions of the text this time after having walked the mountains marshall so vividly describes....we laughed and nodded as paw read about some of the trails bein¢ ¢so steep a feller could take a bite out of it standin¢ up!¢ (or something like that....) we KNEW about that kind of ¢steep¢ now!.....we had walked over to the walmart a little earlier...(ooooh!...a REAL wilderness experience!)...i did have fun afterward, though, wandering around in the adjoining meadow, just relaxing and taking some pictures in the cool, breezy air of the springtime countryside...i¢m sitting in the loft of the barn (hostel) here now....the window is open to the balmy night and i can see the steeple of the church across the lawn with its white cross lit up against the dark sky....it¢s so peaceful here....the gentle song of the peepers.....a soft breeze freshening the warm air of the loft.... the quiet, satisfying sound of tired hikers settling into their little ¢nests¢ to sleep......i feel good....looking forward to exploring pearisburg on our day off tomorrow...======2006====== tuesday, april 4, day 52 (12.4 miles from laurel creek to the niday shelter)BEAUTIFUL, almost perfect day!...VERY blue, cloudless skies over some of our favorite places! (plenty of wind, though!)....from the laurel creek shelter we first came over to sinking creek (the little farm community we loved so much in ¢03)....it was nice to have a digital camera this time so that i didn¢t have to skimp on photos.....so i got plenty of pictures of cows and barns and such....(i even got one cow up close!....ooooh!...i¢m sooooo brave!).....but then we had that long, steep climb up sinking creek mountain....this is where all the real ¢slant-y¢ rock outcroppings are that in ¢03 were all wet with fog and rain......today, however, we had great views of the valley.......and the maples were blooming!......we¢ve seen several serviceberry today, too......the arbutus is ¢wafting¢ full fledge now as well, and it smells absolutely heavenly!....there were a few violets in bloom as we came down the trail into sinking creek.....we pitched our tarp here at niday thinking dave might like to have the shelter, but somehow he ¢sneaked¢ on by to camp over in the valley, i guess (probably came by when we were off havin¢ our shower)......thought today of how the woods have such quiet, ¢confident¢ strength to BE the woods....no striving, no anxiety....that arbutus has been patiently waiting there trailside all winter long.....and then!....like magic!...a little warm sun coaxes it to open and release its sweet secrets!....and the table mountain pines, so sturdy and stout have remained fixed in this rocky soil, their tops ¢dili-gently¢ whispering in the wind.....year after year they produce their ¢crops¢ of cones that feed the resident birds and other wildlife....they don¢t compete or worry.....i guess its all the same concept as when Jesus said, ¢look at the lilies¢......i want to learn to be as peaceful, as confident, as productive as the woods....trusting my Savior to make me all i¢m supposed to be as i sink my roots deep into the soil of His Life....He did say we¢d bear ¢fruit¢.....i will wait out the winter.....and then!....someday!....in the warm light of the SON, i will flower........i will bear flawless fruit with joy!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-----*really rocky trail.......funny...i didn¢t really remember last year (on our ¢06 hike) the trail being so rocky there (near pearisburg).....i DO have the distinct memory of there being SOME rocks, however, because i recall they were of an unusual sort of purplish-mauve color......anyway, i suppose that on our second hike we just endured what we knew already existed : rocky trail!....so maybe it just didn¢t SEEM so bad (attitudes can make a big difference for your hike!....and weather, too!).....or it could have been that our feet and knees and hips were in much better shape in ¢06 than they were in ¢03......*as i sit here transcribing and making comparisons of these two very different (albeit identical) hikes, i find myself caught up in a sort of strange thought....whether a fear or a wish, i¢m not really sure....but it has crossed my mind that tiny portions of our first hike are ¢eroding¢ under the winds of consecutive memory....and i find myself praying the rather odd prayer, ¢don¢t let our first hike be overshadowed by our second!¢.....there was something so excruciatingly delicious about that first adventure, that though our second even surpassed its wonder in some ways, it was like a ¢first love¢....it holds a very special place in our hearts and it¢s something that i, for one, don¢t want to fade away.....first love is always difficult.....you¢ve never been there before....you don¢t know what¢s around the next bend in the ¢trail¢....but you don¢t care!...the anticipation of the unknown and the possible delights thereof draw you in deeper and deeper to where risks are but open doors to unspeakable joy!.....i found the trail to be that way.....AND......i find my relationship with my Savior to be that way....we are warned in the final pages of scripture to beware the snares of merely ¢doing¢....we can get so wrapped up in ¢labor¢ that we forget to ¢love¢......ALL of our lives, our work, our relationships can actually suffer this deceptive malady.....we sometimes put our noses so much to the grindstone, that we can¢t lift our eyes enough to stop and really ¢see¢.......i don¢t ever want to be ¢blinded¢ by ¢doing¢.....i don¢t ever want to lose ¢sight¢ of my beautiful Creator and the joy of simply knowing His Love and ¢BEING¢ with Him!.....i don¢t want to ¢lose my first love¢!my prayer today?..... ¢Lord...help me to keep the small, hidden joys and lessons of our first hike....and help me to keep the deep and abiding joy of the eternal Love You have allowed me to know......never let me forget.....never let me forget.....¢