Date: 2006-08-10
From: Back to Cabin

To: Cabin
Miles today: 13.3

It was another full house last night with Luna, Cup A Jo, a female, her father ,a brohter, Flashback, and a couple of other hikers who¢s names I didn¢t get. I finally decided that I would do the 13.3mile sobo,and slack it, and come back one more time.Everyone is moving on today as I slack south, and I hope to see Flashback again somewhere down the road. I was on the trail by 8:00am and Aqua said he would be at South Arm Rd. between 3 & 4 pm. It was a little overcast and the terrain was moderate, and even my feet felt pretty good. When I looked at the map this morning, I knew I made a good decision about doing the sobo. Bear asked me to stop at Bemas Mtn. Lean-to to replace the old register and put some TP in the privy. I wasn¢t going to stop there at first but if it would help the other hikers in some way, I was more than glad to do it. The 5 miles to the lean-to was a mild hike and I had to ford Bemas stream which was easy, and I managed to stay dry. As I topped the west peak of the Bemas range I ran into Mud Diver who spent a few days in Andover instead of the Cabin. It was nice to see hm again. We talked a little about our hikes and our experiences along the way. He¢s a very delightful young man, and a very strong hiker that I¢ve had the pleasure of meeting. He gave me his e-mail address and we plan to keep in touch. One thing that the Bemas range has is plenty of blueberries and I indulged myself by the handfuls. ¢What a treat.¢ They were delicious. After about another mile I ran into Swamp Fox & Rocky who said they enjoyed their stay in Andover and they were trying to figure out how we keep bumping into each other, when I should be way ahead of them, so I told them it was because of my sobos that I do on occasion. They are slow to medium speed hikers, but they make a lot of stops to take in everything and still manage to get where they¢re going. That is something I tell hikers before I put them on the trail to start a thru hike, ¢ Take Your Time!¢ to enjoy every minute and everything you encounter on your journey. You may only get one shot at this in your lifetime. There was another hiker talking to Rocky as I approached them, and it sounded like he was saying that he¢s on his second time going north to south then south to north in one year. I would have a hard time doing it one time, never mind twice. He was an interesting fella. About a mile before the summit of Old Blue Mtn. I came upon a work crew I had met at the cabin yesterday. Bear lets them stay to get cleaned up, wash there clothes, and to resupply and relax alittle before they head back out to do more trail work. It¢s a young conservation group that comes out every year to maintain, or build new trails. When I saw what they were doing, I just had to thank them for the trail, and the awesome work they were doing. They were digging out rocks that I would have thought were unmovable with the equipment they had to work with. It took a lot of brut strenght. Even the girls surprised me. I took the time to get some pics of them and their work, and I was also surprised that they remembered me from the cabin. I thought I was doing pretty good on time, but when I got to Blue Mtn. at 3,600ft. I still had another 2.8miles to the road, and it was just after 3 already. That meant I had to get my butt gear if I was going to make it to the road by 4. I just had such a good time today that time just got away from me. That happens on the trail now and then. I did get to the road by 4pm and Aqua was there waiting patiently, and it turned out he had been there for long time, so I still would have been late, even at 3. He said he didn¢t mind because he got to read a book. As we drove back to the cabin we talked about how he cut his thumb off while splitting logs for firewood. He said he just got careless for one second and it was over before he knew what hit him. The doctors did a great gob in reattaching his thumb and said he may get his full range of motion back, but that time will tell. His appointment is in a few days to get the cast off. I wish the best for him. When we got back to the cabin, Bear said there would only be two for dinner tonight, myself, and a hiker named the Professor. He is trying to finish his 7 year journey. We also have a group of 8 coming in later from the Searra Club out of Kentucky. Tonight I will prepare to move on. This is a hard place to leave once you get here because Honey & Bear are so sweet, and make you feel right at home.