Date: 2008-05-24
From: Spring in small ravine

To: Deer Park Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Soon after leaving camp today, the two of us are walking along the trail when up ahead behind a tree we see a blue cooler sitting in the woods. Doug sees it too and gets excited. We have read about this--people leaving food for AT hikers, but skeptic that I am, I don't believe. We reach the cooler and whip it open and valaaaaaa, food! It's filled with yummy treats! Nutty bars, moon pies, hohos and pop, even a garbage bag so we don't have to carry it with us. What a wonderful surprise! We drop our packs and sit to enjoy food we didn't even have to carry! If I could I would give the people who left it a great big hug! What niceness. A gift to a stranger with nothing gained or asked for in return. I write a short thank you note and we band-aid it into the cooler and head out. it's sure to be a great day! The trail today has been a bit of everything. We climb Max Patch early on. What a neat place! A grass covered mountain top, with a narrow winding trail along the top, posts with white blazes to mark the way. The grass is a mix of buttercups and yarrow, yellow and white and green. From the top we can see nothing but mountains in every direction. We wind our way through mixed hardwood forest, a rushing stream has been within earshot for much of the walk. I just passed an ancient hemlock tree--its trunk so thick it would take 4 of me to reach all the way around it! I stretched my arms around it, a hug, hoping to gain some of its incredible strength. To be here all these years! Through storms and wind and rain and seasons, a silent watcher of the forest. If only it could speak...Many of the hemlocks we've seen in the last few days show signs of the wooly adelgid (creature responsible for the demise of many hemlocks along the east coast) making me wonder what this forest will look like in 20 years. Some thoughts on what I saw while hiking that day:We saw a mama grouse and her two babies this morning. Mama was trying desperately to get our attention away from her precious chicks, limping and dragging herself along and making an aweful racket. We left her in peace.I saw vines as thick as my thighs, giant rocks covered with moss and flaky lichen, the forest floor blanketed with violets, wild geranium, trillium, mayapple, ferns, cohosh and so many I can't identify. My favorite are the maiden hair ferns, their black stems and spiral fronds, perfectly formed, like abstract art.Rocks strewn randomly, some as big as cars or even houses, dark and secret crevices underneath, secret places for creatures of the night, one had, in back in the dark corner the rib cage of some large animal. On top of some rocks, trees grow, miraculously mangaging to gather enough grip to grow and prosper......Late in the day, I'm dragging. Tired and weary, I see a thick rope-like shape on a huge tree. I get close and see its a black rat snake, its body glued to the rough bark in the vague shape of an S. I stop, watch it, marvel at the strength of its muscles to cling like that. I'm so bummed I have no camera (dropped and broke it at the hostel two days ago). And it's about that time of day--the same thing happens each and every day. Always alone, Doug long gone ahead, maybe 4 or 5 or 6:00, just wanting to be done for the day. My feet burn, feel beaten, as if I've been walking on coals, my toes swollen, my knees and ankles and hips aching, my shoulders screaming for mercy. I stop and very reluctantly, check the guide book to see how much farther. Doug usually tells me, but lately, he hasn't been where he said he'd be.(because the guide book has been wrong about the water, not Doug's fault) I look,see how far I may have yet to go. 1 mile, or 2, 3. An eternity at this point in the day. The little girl in me wants to sit down and cry, refuse to go on. "I can't possibly go any further!" I think to myself. But the sensible, strong and smart woman in me realizes the futility of that. Of course I must go on. And so I do. Step after step after step, dragging myself along. I have stopped looking around, have stopped being inspired by anything. I just want to arrive! An hour passes. Going on two. I walk on. I'm so tired. And I begin to have bad thoughts. If I ever do get to Doug I am going to push him off the first cliff I see! Or jump off it myself. Or at least, launch my backpack, watch it toss and tumble and roll down to the ground! I want to be done with this!And when at last I round the bend and see the sign for the shelter I want to scream with relief! But I am silent. I look and see at the bottom of the sign, the tiny scrawled note from Doug directing me to his campsite. All is forgiven. I see him and he says, "19.5 miles today!" And he is tired too. We are united in our pain and success. He offers to get my water boiling for dinner while I set up my tent. And he gives me one of his freeze dried meals. Yummy! It is delicious! So much better than my Ramen. He hangs the bear bag while I enjoy the last of my dinner. The exhausted, we both retire to our tents. It's 8:30 on a Saturday night! We will be asleep by 9. :-)