Date: 2005-04-12
From: Damascus, VA

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

start: Damascus, VAfinish: Saunders Shelter miles: 9.4day: 36The day began with another huge Lazy Fox breakfast.  The only problem with that is that it should be followed by a nap...  It's overcast today, looking like some light rain in the afternoon.  Goldilocks and I went to the Post Office with 11 packages to mail out.  One bounce box each, three boxes to send home with gear no longer needed, and the camera chip with pix from Hot Springs to Damascus, and three small food drops each to places further up the line.  The food drops are primarily to get some home-dried meals, which we like a lot.  In one of the boxes going home, we included a full, not-torn-apart copy of the Wingfoot AT guide so Mrs. Moosie (my wonderful transcriber and surrogate dog parent) can follow along more closely if she wishes.[later...]Geez, the light rain turned into a cold, steady, serious wetting.  We're alone (for now) in Saunders Shelter, the first one north of town.  Stopped in to warm up and get water, and immediately decided to dry off and get in the sleeping bags.  The spring didn't look too good, so we're purifying for the third time on this trip.Goldilocks is playing his new guitar.  Carrying it on his pack will take some getting used to.  He wraps it in garbage bags and ties it headstock down on the back of the pack.  This makes it a bit difficult to get anything out of the pack quickly.  It also required some monitoring and adjusting today with all the rain.Hey everybody, hold on to your hats.  I've got a new backpack!  Yes, I know.  It surprises me a bit too, as I love my homemade one.  But, even after sending some winter gear home, I find that I need to carry so much food that four days supplies isn't all that comfortable.  I mean, it's doable, but it saps some energy, I think.  I got the only pack I'd ever consider, the ULA P1.  Mt. Rogers Outfitters in Damascus stocks them, and I looked at one the other day, and today spent about 2 1/2 hours packing and repacking it with my full four day load, including food and water.  It weighs a ton more than my old pack (9.5 oz vs. 33 oz), but the belt and minimal suspension seems to carry the load well enough that it's a fair trade-off.  I still love my beltless pack, and will continue to use it in future for loads under 18-20 pounds.  My base weight with the old pack is about 10 pounds, so with a quart of water that only leaves 6 pounds for food, and I think I'm needing 3.5 pounds per day now.  The new pack obviously ups the base weight to around 11-1/2 pounds, and with water and four days food I should be around 27-28, which seems to carry fine - much better than with the old pack.  Also, big surprise, I have plans to chop the pack a bit, reducing weight and probably adding better pockets, etc.  In fact, I cut a few things off in the store already.  It's funny wearing a hipbelt after several years, but it generally felt pretty darn good on the climbs today.Just finished cooking and eating some wonderful escarole and beans with lots of garlic and parmesan cheese.  I'm feeling very full and warm now, and the rain seems to have stopped for a while, too.  Goldilocks is more tired than hungry I guess, and fell asleep before cooking dinner.It's quite dark now at 9:00, and it looks like all the people in town who were hiking out this afternoon either stayed put or hiked on, as we have this shelter to ourselves.  Very peaceful.I hope this rain hasn't been snow 2500 feet higher where we're headed tomorrow.