Date: 2004-10-30
To: The middle of the end
Miles today: 0.0

Early Bird and I sat around till the afternoon when Kristin got there. I planned on going back to Boone and slackpacking for a few days so I could stay with Kristin. A few days rolled by and I knew I had to keep hiking. So in the morning I had Kristin drop me off at Roan Mountain (33 miles north of where I got off) I planned on doing the Erwin to Roan Section in a few days. The day was bright and warm, but Roan and area was covered in two feet of snow and ice. All I had worn that day was a tank top, shorts, and tennis shoes, and I was still warm. I hiked fast, thinking mainly about seeing Kristin again, even only being away for a few hours made me very lonely. Up and over a few balds and down to Over Mountain Shelter, an old red barn converted into a hiker shelter. I ate lunch there and continued on my trek. Little and Big Hump Mountains are spectacular, if ever anyone has time for a two day hike in the mountains (or a long one day) I would recommend Carver's Gap to 19E. With almost no clouds in the sky and great weather, I set out down Big Hump after a snack. On the way down I ran into four other Hikers: LWOP, Biscuit, Slim and First Light. We sat and talked for awhile and I found out they had been sitting sunning on that rock for about five hours now! Apparently they were in a fix, the next shelter was only a few miles away and if they went there they would ahve most the day left. The shelter after that was almost 20 miles away and they didn't have time to do that. I immediately saw an opportunity for me to do some Trail Magic. I offered for them to come to Boone for the night with me and we could go get some AYCE (All You Can Eat- a hiker's heaven) at the Golden Corral. I've never seen anyone move as fast as they did to pack up and come with me. We made record time down the mountain talking and having great fun the whole way. Down at 19E I walked up the road and called Kristin. She got there and found 5 smelly hikers and their packs just waiting to be crammed into her tiny Honda. The night was great, we DESTROYED the Goldern Corral buffet and slept like kings. In the morning I had planned on hiking with the guys to Kincora Hostel, but was so sunburned from the day before in the snow and sun that i could barely move, so I dropped the guys off back at 19E and went back to Boone for some rest.The next few weeks passed much in the same way. Kristin dropping me off in the morning and picking me up at night while I ran along the Trail doing high Mileage to stay on time (which I didn't) Some days I would hike for 25 or 30 miles in 12 hours. I skipped around, going to whatever section took my fancy for the day. I met alot of people wh need mentioning if I could remember their names. Two southbounders named Ponderer and Spoon who had less than five hundred miles to go are some that come to mind. This was part of my downfall, I got used to hiking and then seeing Kristin at the end of everyday. Things weren't going so well for us. She hadn't had a job for six months and I had been giving her a lot of my money so she could survive. She also didn't like the fact that i had gone on the Trail and resented the whole thing. She never really supported me in the first place on it. I copleted every section from Roan to Damascus when i realized it was now or never. I realize now that I had already given up the substance of my dream, to be in the woods for six months and be around nature. All I was looking for now was to finish. I decided not to hike the 33 miles between Erwin and Roan, I would do that later, when I finished. I only had about 100 days to finish the next 1750 miles and I had to move fast. I'll write more about my slackpacking later, but stayed tuned for next time: The Killing of a Dream. (God that sounds depressing)