Date: 2007-05-20
From: Beartree Campground(11.6 out of Damascus)

To: Pinefield Hut, VA
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Ok, it is still 5/19/07: "mr Happy" takes his shirt off to adjust the grill and draws alot of attenton from the girls. He has really filled out. I said, "wow, you have gotten all 'barrel chested' on me" and he looks down at his chest with a self assured/self realized look of satisfaction. "Tootsie Roll" noticed this and said, "look at how proud he is." I was thinkin' ,"that's my boy!" Anyway, a brief "had to be there story": for all the old rockers out there: you all have heard: WHOLE LOTTA LOVE by LED ZEPPELIN and know that in his day: all women loved Robert Plant(the bands lead singer). We were eating our feast and the song came on the radio. Something like this, "You need cooley; Baby, I got cooley; whole lotta love!" On and on; with, "I pack a cooley, baby....etc". Well, Tootsie roll had not ever heard the song and I was kind of getting into it; being a little inebriated; singing, "woman, you need loooooovvveee...." After the song she said, "Zero, do you carry 'a pack of Kool Aid'" I said that I would now! And that was the joke; the rest of our trip. I am still hiking singing the song and packing some Kool-Aid! Like I said, you have to have been there. We ate and went back to Damascus. We went out to tent city with alot of leftovers of high quality pork, beef, and vegetables and sat down where Mr Happy's ride from Mass had a corner of tent city. Mr Happy introduced me to this guy who runs a hostel in Mass(I am so sorry I forgot his name). He said that he had read my journal and knew me pretty well. We put the food down and it was such a vicarious experience seeing skinny thru hikers sucking on T-Bones in lingual ectasy. I watched them eat for a hour saying that was from "Tamborine" and I cooked it with the same passion that you fellas are eating it. I actually saw "Mo Lassus; The Jersey Diamond"! I could not believe it! We shook hands and I could tell that he was upset with me for not getting to tent city earlier. Now remember that I am a very self centered person; can be fairly emotional; and a psychologist. I noticed something different about Mo. I could not put my finger on it. It could have been as simple as him having alot of stimuli with all the people milling around; the time that we had been apart; or him having new friends. I dont know. Anyway, we went to the Drum Circle around 11:30 pm. Man, oh man, what a show: fire breathers; Dionysis with a tambourine; some young men and women 1/2 naked. Eventually, we went back to camp and I did not even make it out of the SUV. I feel asleep in the backseat and Tootsie put my down sleeping bag over me. Ahhhhh. OK 5/20/07: I slept really well in the vehicle. A public campground can be a loud place for a thru hiker! We awoke and I made some coffee with irish creme added and we tore down camp as efficiently as we set it up. These girls are some campers! We went into town and I took my stinky, smelly backpack to the carwash. I used the pressure sprayers to get the gunk out. Dirt just poured out. "Tambourine" said that she smelled it the day before and she nearly vomitted. After I washed my pack; we went back down to City park. I needed to try to get to Kincora hostel to help Bob peoples with his "Hardcore" trail maintenance that he does each year. I could not find him and I had to try to get to a computer and tell a friend that I was not going to make it. I did do this a Sicily's pizza and then we headed back to the trail in the Shenandoahs. I quickly fell asleep. The girls dropped me off right on the parkway about .2 miles about the Pinefield Hut. Tambourine stocked me up and hugs all around and down to the shelter I went...now, I want to say that the 65 hours or so that I spent with the girls was one heck of a time; absolutely incredible; trail magic does not even come close to explaining this type of giving; these girls have a friend for life; especially Tamborine; she started a thru hike this year and had a serious medical problem that had her get off the trail; I told her that if she came back out that I would be her pack mule....I went down to the hut and met "No Worries and ???". I immediately set up my tent; finished up sippin'on my last bit of gin and juice(laid back) and was about asleep around 7pm when "B.I.G." came in and talked awhile. He was heading Sobo. He had an Akita dog with him. Im glad I had my bug screen. The ticks are getting bad; but, none embedded in me yet and I want to keep it that way.