Date: 2003-05-28
From: campsite

To: Woodshole Hostel
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

I lay in the tent this morning listening to the rain. It was just after 4:00 am. I turn over and go back to sleep. When I wake up again it has stopped raining. I lay there and try to remember where I was. Where am I anyway? The hardest part of the day for me is the first hour.I do not want to climb out of my nice warm bag, put on damp smelly clothes or push my protesting feet into boots. Once I get up and get packed and start walking I feel better, but getting to that point is tough. I am about ready to take a zero day. It has been 10 days since I had a zero day. I have a mail drop in Pearisburg so maybe I will zero there. A zero day is just that. A day when you do not hike at all. Now you may have to walk for several miles while you are in town, but you are not on the trail nor do you carry your pack. I opt for a cold breakfast this morning. I have put some cereal in a baggie and added some dry milk. All I have to do is add water and voila!!! It is not as bad as I thought it would be. It is a near perfect day for hiking today. The rain moved through and the sun even came out for awhile. There was a wonderful breeze blowing to keep me cool. I planned on stopping at the next shelter for lunch but got hungry before I got there so I just sat on the side of the trail and had lunch. I took off my boots and gave my poor feet a rest. The blisters are somewhat better, but the pain is still in my feet along with more swelling.Wouldn't you know it, the shelter is just a few minutes down the trail from where I stopped for lunch.Oh well.I cannot beleive how bad my feet hurt,not just the blisters either.But a all over aching painful hurt.It makes the going not only slow but painful and really distracts from the joy of being out here.I do not understand why after all these miles ,now I am having foot problems.The blisters I can understand,that was my fault.I pop a couple more Vitamin I and continue.It took me 90 minutes to make the climb up from Wapiti Shelter.Of course it is a 1200 foot increase in elevation over a couple of miles.It seemed to me that it was over a couple of feet.I am really disappointed that the climbs are still so hard and I am so slow.If I would just quit comparing myself to others I would be okay.So many things keep bouncing around in my head today.I feel irresponsible for being out here while my husband and son are having to take on more and more duties.I do not want to jeopardize our livihood,but neither do I want to run in and rescue or fix everything as is my nature.I come to a place in the trail where someone has used stones to write out the number 600.Have I done 600 miles ???WOW!!!!!Another mile stone for me.It does not seem real that I have walked 600 miles.My feet tell me oh yeah ,it is real all right.Of course I take a picture and do a little jig.I stop to get water and Baltimore Jack comes hiking up from behind me.He has hiked the trail more than anyone I know.He is going to his daughter's graduation from high school.I deduce that he has been somewhat estranged from his kids since a divorce.I encourage him to try to form a new relationship with them.That is a need that we all have in our lives,to have something of a relationship with our parents if it is possible.I find as a person gets older they begin to realize that life is not forever and somethings are better to forgive and start again.I finally come out of the woods to the road leading to Wooh's Hole Hostel.I have been looking forward to this for a while.It is a half mile down the road to the hostel.It feels good to be walking on a smoothe surface for a change.Tillie Wood runs the hostel alone now that her husband has died.The house is made from chestnut logs and dates back to the late 1800's.The bunkhouse is a building that was taken apart elsewhere and rebuilt on this site.It too is a log structure. The loft upstairs holds plenty of hikiers.A nice dry place to sleep.It has a dogtrot with a cooking area,and table and chairs.There is a refrigerator,loaded with drinks and candy bars.You put the money for them in a jar.A solar shower is rigged up for dirty smelly hikers to wash away the grime of the trail.Towels rent for a dime.The first 8 hikers who sign up for breakfast get to eat in the big house with Tillie and enjoy a homecooked meal.I am not one of the lucky first eight.The outhouse in back completes all the things a hiker needs to feel at home!There is even a phone to use.I use it to get me a room in Pearisburg for tomorrow night!The bunkhouse is already full,so I pitch my tent along with several others.I am happy to see Triple T and Chicken Legs.I told them I had ate a blizzard for them and drank cappachino for them while I was in town,but it just didn't seem to me that they could get any enjoyment out of that.I pulled out the bag of Doritos and handed it to them with a smile."These are for you."I said with a grin.They were suprized and amazed but grateful.The bag was quickly opened and passed around to be shared with fellow hikers.I fix a lot of things for supper since there is plenty of readily available water.I start with tomoto suop and crackers,then have mac and cheese,followed by chocolate pudding .I feel like a stuffed pig when I am through.A happy little porker at that.The rest of the evening is spent chatting with hikers who I have met along the trail.Those in front of me and ones behind me that i do not know.Before bedtime Tillie wants a head count of the hikers here.There are 15 guys,12 gals and 3 dogs.This is the biggest crowd she has had to date.I am impressed with the ratioof gals to guys.As one of the male hikers put it,"This is paradise."I turn in just as the rain starts ,and write in my journal.I marvel at the fact that Tillie is 82 years old and still going strong.Her love for hikers is evident.This is a beautiful place,far from the maddening press of traffic and crowds.She ehjoys talking about her life and the things she has done.More importantly she enjoys listening to the hikers and their stories.This is a good place to be tonight .I am blessed.Tillie stays the months of May and June here.that is peak hiking season.