Date: 2006-05-19
To: A Day in the Life 
Miles today: 0.0

Aa DAY IN THE LIFE - by LeftyIt's amazing how full our days are. We have so many "chores" that have to get done in the course of a day so that we can do our "job" of hiking enough miles so that we make it to Katahdin by October. It's funny how we already have so many routines. Depending on what kind of backpacking we are doing, our days look very different. The past two weeks we have only slack-packed. I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about a day in our life as slack-packers since those routines are so fresh in my mind. Next week we'll do a 90-mile section of the trail from Hughes Gap up to Damascus. After that I'll write another entry about how different our routines are when we carry our full packs, and hike without van-assistance.Our days usually begin at 6am when Buoy reluctantly gives me my requested wake up call. I still don't have a watch. Pappy lent me the watch he wore on his AT hike 10 years ago. It only worked for a few days (even after a battery change) but it took me 2 weeks before I took it off and gave up on it. By 6:15am- I am out of the tent, have peed, have moved my sleeping bag and pillow into the van and I am sitting in the driver¢s seat waiting for Righty and Buoy to get up. If they are not moving by 6:20 I tell them that I am ready to go and will be leaving for McDonalds by 6:30am. 6:45am- mom and Buoy are in the van and ready to go. I am still in the clothes I slept in. I am ready for my morning coffee. 7:15ish we are at a McDonalds. Buoy orders for us. I try to get internet access by walking around the parking lots of neighboring business. 9 out of 10 times I can¢t pick up anyone hotspot. We always eat the same thing. I eat a bacon egg and cheese biscuit meal, which also includes a coffee and a hash brown. Buoy orders a Deluxe Breakfast which includes a pancake, a sausage patty, scrambled eggs and a hash brown. He also orders a second meal, which includes a McGriddle, hash brown and coffee. We share a large oj. I think the mcgriddle is the grossest thing I have ever tasted. It has sausage, egg and cheese sandwiched between two muffin-looking things that taste like pancakes and syrup. We always go up to ask for a refill on our coffee even though they don't officially give free refills. Since we see all the old folks doing it we figure we could ask to. So far no one has denied us a free fill up. After breakfast we use Mc D¢s bathroom as our own. We change clothes, brush our teeth, use the toilet and get cleaned up. Then it¢s off to the trailheads. Most often Buoy drops mom and I off first and then goes to find the northern end of the section so he can hike south to meet us.Mom and I are usually hiking by 8-9ish, Buoy by 9-10ish. After more than half of the day¢s hiking is over we meet up with Buoy for lunch. The first thing he does is hands me the car keys and gives me directions to where the car is parked. He then tells me how hard it was for him to find the trailhead and give me directions on how to get back to the southern trailhead. He tells us about all the north bounders he saw so far. Buoy has developed a reputation as the happiest hiker on the trail. Everyone knows about him, even before they meet him. When hikers meet him for the first time they very often tell him that they've been hearing about the German who is a north bounder who hikes south everyday. Just the other day, when the three of us were standing in the middle of a field, it was down pouring on us and we were carrying on a conversation as if the rain wasn't even there. It was a bit bizarre. When in real life do you just stand in the pouring rain, chatting and carrying on? After I double check my bags a few times to make sure I do indeed have the keys in a safe place, I get a kiss, and we are off in opposite directions again. I spend a lot of the time on the trail snapping pictures, trying to identify flowers and mushrooms and obsessing about wanting to see a bear. Of course, there is also some hiking going on. Most days involve a lot of up and down, a lot of sweating, a few short breaks with mom and some friendly trail talk with new and familiar hikers we meet on the path. On a 15 mile day mom and I generally hike 9-4, and on a 20 mile day we are generally done by 6. Once mom and I are in the van we go pick Buoy up at the trailhead he dropped us off at that am. He's usually done pretty close to the time we reach his trailhead.Then we are off for the closest fast food we can find. There used to be a battle about what comes first: food or Buoy's shower- but I think that mom and I have won this battle (at least for the time being).On the drive to dinner we begin talking about our day. It's fun. Between the three of us, someone has usually seen some pretty cool wildlife. Okay, between Buoy and Righty. The most wildlife I have seen in the last month is a Coyote I saw today from the van while driving on Interstate 81. At dinner we start talking about our next day. After dinner it's time for bed. The past 2 weeks we have tried to stay at one place for 4-5 nights at a time. This has helped us cut down on the time needed to find new places to sleep as well as saves us the time of breaking and setting up camp so often. The last few campgrounds we have stayed at have been $4-$12 a night for all 3 of us. After cleaning up and moving our sleeping mats and bags back into our tents we say goodnight to mom. she turns in first, usually by 10ish. She'd go to bed earlier if she could, but it's that late by the time we get back from dinner. Buoy and I hang out in the front seats of the van. I get my pills (a zyrtec and singular for my allergies and asthma, a multi-vitamin Maya made me buy, a healthy breast pill, and two Tylenol pm to knock me out). Whoever said sleeping in the great outdoors is more comfortable than a bed didn't have a comfortable bed. One of us will usually ask the other, "Did you cry today?" Every other day or so at least one of us will have shed some tears for some reason. Sometimes it's just the beauty that moves us. Sometimes it's a song on our Ipod that we are hearing differently than we ever had before. Sometimes it's the feeling of amazement that we are actually living a dream. Sometimes it's the sense of accomplishment we feel at the end of a hard day. Sometimes it's the gravesite of a person who died too young. Sometimes all it takes is just taking a really deep breath. Buoy has a list of nighttime routines. He rubs something on his feet that he swears helps. All I know is that the two days I hiked - after putting it on the night before-my feet hurt more than they ever had. Buoy pours himself a little Captain Morgan. He grabs a good book. I usually head to the tent next.Speaking of bed, I'd better get into it. We're at the Day's Inn tonight and next. We drove up to Damascus for Trail Days. Thanks for the tip, Ellen!