Date: 2003-08-14
From: Algo Mountain Shelter

To: Wiley Shelter, NY!
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The sun was out today and it put me in such a good mood¢¦ plus the miles were low and I was able to relax and take my time during the day¢¦ something I haven¢t noticed that I¢ve missed but no doubt I have. I¢ve decided that today¢s journal entry should recap some of the things that I love about the trail. I love exercising every day. I don¢t think there¢s ever been a period in my life when I¢ve done that, but I really do like it. It balances me and energizes me (or poops me out dependent upon the Miles and or terrain) and in general keeps me psychologically and physically healthy. I love the different smells along the trail. At times the woods, water, marsh, fields, whatever, will smell so sweet that I wish there were a way for me to bottle the scent up and take it with me. That¢s greed and consumer in me, but I¢m also glad that I can¢t do that because it makes those ¢mmmm¢¦¢ moments so much more precious, and they always surprise me at unexpected times and I just love that. I love having every day be different, although the walking may be repetitious, the scenry and terrain is always different. Sometimes the highlight of the day is the shelter, or the town, or a beautiful spot along the trail where I stopped for a moment. It¢s not so important what the highlight was, but just that every day is new and has its own adventure to unwind. It¢s spectacular. I love finding natural beauty along the trail. Lately its been in the many forms and colors of mushrooms and fungi¢¦ but it¢s also in some of the rocks or the designs that trees make. Sometimes its really, really, little¢¦ and other times it¢s a whole view. Actually I find happiness when I come across old stone walls and old stone cellars of long ago, crumbled houses too. You find these things along the trail and you know they¢ve got an ancient story to tell. I like that. The trail isn¢t all nature, and that¢s okay. Both realms (or are they one) are interesting to me and I take joy out of seeing beauty in them both. I also just love the trail for what my time upon it has allowed me to do. Make new friends, see life from a different aspect, think retrospectively about anything with a better grasp on what it really was to/for me, and also give me time to determine what it is I¢ll be doing next. Ruth asked me this morning just what I liked best about the trail¢¦ and I hadn¢t anticipated that question, nor thoroughly thought out my answer to it. But above is a start, and it¢s truly hard to rank them better or worse than each other. I suppose if I really had to do so and make an ultimatum on my absolute favorite aspect of the trail, I¢d still come out with a tie between sweet natural smells, each distinct and unique, and the small beautiful things you encounter upon your hike. Today was the orange mushroom family that I took a picture of. The picture didn¢t capture how the sun was hitting them so perfectly, but it¢ll remind me of the moment that it caught my eye. Alright, it¢s later and I¢ve just gotta write about tonight ¢cause it¢s rockin¢ right now and I don¢t want to forget it. ¢Right-On¢ made potato chips for us all from the potato that was slipped inot his bag at the bars in Great Barrington. Funny story there. ¢Riddler¢ is sharing the peppermint schnapps he ¢yogied¢ off of some day hikers 2 days ago and Fisherman (yes, we now have a Fisher King and a Fisherman going Sobo!) has a crank radio that¢s playing here at the shelter. Crazy to think we¢re having a grand ole time at the moment after more than 2 months of no electricity while at the same time about 14 of the U.S. is having a frantic time after one day of no electricity. Gotta love the woods! Excellent folks and an excellent time! Absolutely perfect day.