Date: 2004-08-24
From: Wintturi Shelter 

To: Thistle Hill Shelter 
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: broken clouds

Up,up,up - and more up. The saying goes, "What goes up must come down". But I don't remember too many downs today, only the four or five very significant ups. We aren't even in the Whites yet!Each one coming into camp tonight was saying the same thing, so I don't feel so wimpy.We've been seeing some moose scat alongside and on the trail the past two days. Someone even drew a circle around one pile with arrows pointing to it to draw other hikers' attention to it. Last night we were all awakened by the call of something rather large, in the direction of and fairly close to Swan's tent. General consensus was that it was a moose. I wasn't about to venture out and investigate!I was awake pretty much from that point on, not from any wariness of wildlife, but because I simply couldn't get back to sleep. We had agreed on a 9 a.m. departure, so I laid there a long time. The temperature had dropped to 50 degrees; I was in no rush to emerge from my warm bag. Tonight is supposed to be even colder. Glad my fleece is enroute to Hanover.Sunshine was ours to enjoy all day long. Lunch was consumed at the edge of a meadow after which we all laid down a ground cover, spread ourselves out and soaked up the sun's warmth for an hour. I believe Blue and Ursa actually napped briefly. They were suspiciously quiet for 10 minutes or more. We've been interrupting our hike with several 15-minute breaks and an hour-long lunch each day. I say interrupted because, although I'm certain it's good physically, I struggle to regain momentum and inertia following each pause. I still embrace the "gal on a mission" mentality and find it difficult to stop before the day's goal is attained. On the other hand, the slower pace and fewer daily miles just might be what are necessary to prevent injury. It's all a moot topic right now. We are advised to slow our pace going through the Whites to give us maximum enjoyment and saturation of the incredible beauty and awesome vistas. The more rugged terrains and the non-seasoned hiking status of my daughter joining us Thursday are two additional reasons for maintaining a more relaxed tempo.Baloo, a thru-hiker we'd not met until today, passed us and is sharing camping/shelter space here tonight after a 21-mile day.Blue vocalized what I had been thinking: "We are moving too slowly; we are wimpy hikers; we should be making a more heroic effort". It took a while before I was brought back to my senses and remembered I have no desire to do long-mileage days and end this journey even a day earlier than my intended six months. We are doing just fine and we will achieve our goal. This is not a competition. I am not being judged. I've walked from Georgia to New Hampshire (nearly), over 1700 miles. Even if I left the trail tomorrow, what I've done is not small potatoes.This is a belief with which I need to return to real life in a couple of months. As a performing musician, I am my own worst critic. Learning to accept my technical weaknesses and rejoice in my musical strengths is a lesson I yet need to learn. I'm hoping the AT is helping me travel in the right direction towards that goal.