Date: 2005-03-25
From: Standing Indian

To: Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

3.25.05Day 127am Sorry for the lack of entry last night. I was the pleasant hostof a lovely migraine. Made for an interminable night. Thankfully,the headache is gone now, tho' my stomach remains a little queasy. Queasy enough that oatmeal was not an option on the breakfastmenu this morning. Camped atop Standing Indian Mountain last night, acrescent of tents arcing across the summit. We were audience to aphenomenal sunset, the red and purple hues a vibrant backdrop to thecrackling campfire. The clouds obscured most of the stars, but Orionpeeked through momentarily. Yesterday, I left Bly Gap ahead of thegang, and didn't see them again until Standing Indian Shelter, despitemy copious (and lengthy) breaks. (They apparently mirrored thesiestas I took, meaning they never caught up.) So, there were somenot-so-vague threats of bungie-cording me to a tree this morning, tokeep me from getting a head-start. But, no ropes necessary today, aseveryone seems prepped to depart.12:45pm Okay. Well, we didn't actually end up leaving until 8, but Irestrained myself, and stayed w/ the group. The trail has been a realbeaut this morning, a nice, gentle, graded path, crossing overbubbling brooks, no steep slopes, either ascending or descending. Just a meandering walk in the woods. Which I'm very glad of. I feellike I'm balancing a precarious tightrope w/ my head, and if I pushtoo hard, the migraine will return. So, slow and easy goin' today. Chilling right now in a sunny, enchanted grove in Carter Gap. Easy tolose track of time here. Impossibly blue skies, hardly a cloud insight, basking in the sun. People asked me, when I told them of myplans to not only return to the Trail, but to start on SpringerMountain once again, everyone (absolutely everyone) asked me'Why? Why start there, why not pick up where you left off?'. And Iwould stutter and stumble over my reply, b/c it was just so inherentlyobvious to me. Begin at the beginning, w/ everyone else,struggle along, through the same blisters and aches and bad weatherand everything else, bond over the good days and the bad days. That'swhy. And every other aspect as well. What I've written about for thepast 12 days. That's why. And, though I may be traversing the sameterrain that I did last year, everything is different, b/c I see itall through different eyes, under a different lens. I've changed, andgrown, and matured from the person I was last spring, and thatcertainly affects how this journey affects me.8pm A few days ago, I had a minor (and humorous) tumble. Today, Idid a full-fledged face-plant in the mud. Well, not 'mud' exactly. More like wet dirt. And, before you say, Isn't that what mud is? Wetdirt? Well, this was just damp dirt, but wet enough to get allover me. I was walking along, happy as could be, in our usual hikingarray -- Break in front, Cuppa Joe behind me, Weatherman as thecaboose. The, suddenly, my world upended itself, and I was munchingon a mouthful of earth. My sandaled foot snagged a root, which caughtunder one of the straps of my Chacos (and I have the bruise to proveit). So, w/ my foot ensnared, I fell forward, heavily. Really, asidefrom the dirt (which, considering my smelly, sweaty state, is hardlynoticeable anyway), there were no other casualties. Except for myLeki pole -- the top shaft of my left pole had a little kink in it,when I picked it up (after picking myself up). When I attempted tostraighten it out, I was suddenly holding two halves of a pole. Whoops. I have a phone date w/ Leki set for tomorrow. I just hope Ican get a replacement soon. Hiking w/ only one pole is quite adifferent experience, a whole different rhythm w/ your arms. Plus, Ijust prefer the added balance the second pole provides. Should beinteresting, going up and over Albert Mtn. tomorrow. I'm actuallyreally looking forward to it. I know it's gonna seriously kickmy butt, and I'll likely be cursing it before I reach the summit, butthe rock scrambling is kinda fun. For brief durations. And tomorrowis also the side-trail down to the Wasilik Poplar. I don't know whatit is about that tree, that grove, that reverberates so deeply andintrinsically w/in me, but I definitely have been anticipatingreturning to it. Another thing I've been anticipating w/ pleasure isthe hot shower I'll be getting tomorrow. Wohoo! Oh, to be cleanagain. I realized yesterday that our schedule puts us into Franklinon Sat. afternoon; the post office closes at noon. Argh. We gavesome thought to cutting tomorrow short, and jumping into town onSunday. But then, all the weather reports we hear speak of heavyrainstorms Sat. night. No one seems exactly keen on camping in therain. So, into town we'll go. No complaints here.The hike today was superb (aside from my little mishap w/ the trekkingpole). Nearly 10 miles, and I hardly broke a sweat, which, for me, isa rarity indeed. I kept expecting some huge, interminable ascentaround the next bend, b/c, this is, after all, the AT. But, it nevermaterialized. My disappointment knew no bounds. Tomorrow will morethan satiate my desire for extreme elevational variation, though. Ijust really enjoyed the pace of today, the past few days; heck, thewhole dang journey to date. Recently, we've been taking like abazillion breaks -- I've almost managed to finish my book already;that 3 hour siesta really upped my progress yesterday. We're not inany rush. I may not be covering as many miles, as rapidly, as I didlast year, but when I look back at what I was doing then (15, 17 miledays), I think -- I was plain crazy, speeding along like that. There's simply no need to push it, this early in the hike. I lovethis loitering, sauntering, meandering experience. Today, we chattedw/ the groups of hikers, as they passed us by while we sat trailside,soaking up the sun. Just to record some names so I don't forget --Serentiy, Jax, Soulman, Brownie, Took, Gypsy Lulu, Thatch, Raz,Mothergoose. We didn't encounter Bassline, but he found Weatherman'slost 'britches' (aka thermal underwear), and passed them on toSerenity, who returned them to their rightful owner, who wasexceedingly happy to have recovered them. And, w/ the cold nights weget out here, I would be too. But, hiker's midnight is fastapproaching, and so I'm off to bed, and hopefully a decent night'ssleep.