Date: 2004-05-31
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: light rain

 Donna's Entry: I'm Back! Maymester is over, life does exist! Sorry it's taken me so long to write in Ryan's journal but, well the last two weeks of school and school were tough, but are finally over. On Tuesday, I received a letter and package from Ryan. He sent home his tent, some extremely stinky clothes, and another disc full of pictures. He had called on Saturday, but I was at the Alan Jackson/George Strait/Jimmy Buffet concert and was not able to talk to him. He did call his Grandma Jo and I will relate the information he gave her in just a little bit. Back to Tuesday evening.....I was busy uploading Ryan's pictures onto his Trailjournal's photo section, (go there if you haven't in a while), when true to Texas in the spring, severe storms blew through. In my rush to try to round up cats and get them in the closet with me,(not possible by the way, you can get up to two cats in the closet, but while you are out chasing the other one the two in the closet conspire together and run out when you open the door to put the third one in),I failed to shut down my computer. Along with the Level 1 Hurricane force winds which knocked down a tree in my neighbor across the creek's backyard, there were also 8000 lightning strikes! So, in addition to knocking out the electricity in most of Tarrant County, it also fried my ethernet card. Of course, I didn't know this until I spent a lengthy time on the phone with some computer tech who told me to trade out my modem, get a new patch cord, and if that didn't work get a new ethernet card. So, finally, I'm back online and ready to get back to my summer job......Ryan's Trailjournal. By the way Ryan, all cats are fine, though I'm pretty sure I pissed off Mustard. I know this because she let me know in her favorite way. Out by the curb on Friday along with the suitcase and exercise step she left her signature on/in are the pillows from my bed. (She is racking up quite a tab) Anyway, when Ryan called my mom, he told her that they were going to meet up with Mountain Man in Atkins who would then drive them to Waynesboro where they would leave the trail to canoe up river to Harper's Ferry, which is 150 miles and would take them seven days. I've read in other journals about a floatilla of boats and canoes that were going to aqua blaze so I guess he is a part of this little side-adventure. At Harper's Ferry, someone will take him back to the trail at Atkins where he plans to resume his hike where it left off and trek northward once again. I will update as soon as I hear from Ryan again. In the meantime, I will now go back and type in the journal entries that I received while I was too busy to type. Actually, I was doing lots of typing, just not the fun kind! Be sure to go back and check out the new entries and pictures! Ryan's Letter: Mom,Sorry I don't have much more journal stuff for you, but here's what I've got. Everyone has made what we hope to be the final changes in gear and supplies for the rest of the trail. All four of us carry tarps instead of tents and DigDug is the only one that hasn't switched to an alcohol stove. We've all also sent home or bumped most of our cold-weather gear and plan to mail the rest of it after Mt. Rogers, VA. Our packs are all lighter than ever and we're leaving healthy and well-rested with five days worth of food. I hope that gets us 120 miles to Pearisburg, but if not, its only 75 miles to Atkins. Danny has decided to stay on the trail for the time being and hopefully we can all get to ME together. We have had two restfull zero days in Damascus (except for DigDug who had a stomach virus) and are ready for the long walk North through VA. I'll write again as soon as I get a chance. Take care of Mustard and Pickles and give them my love.Love, Ryan/Backdraft