Date: 2004-08-05
From: Cornwall Gap

To: Rocky Forge Road
Miles today: 17.5

Today was, for the most part, glum. Glum Weather. Glum Energy. Glum Outlook.After last night¢s heavy rain, today¢s weather was grey and cool. So was my attitude. There was no major cause of my glum-ness, I can attribute the minor ¢glitches,¢ I encountered during the day to my glumness like running out of gas for my stove, or when the battery for my water purifier died nor was it even when I ran out of toilet paper at a strategically inopportune moment (good thing the only leafed plant within arm¢s reach wasn¢t poison ivy!). The cause of my glumness wasn¢t even when the AT got ¢misplaced¢ for about a half an hour after crossing a country road. The real AT re-entered the woods 50 yards further up the road, while ¢my AT¢ re-entered directly across the road where it came out on an old fire road; which was complete with white ¢blobs¢ (versus blazes) painted intermittently on trees, probably as markings for snowmobilers. At least the trail went missing for only a half hour for me and not for four days, as happened to ¢Slowpoke¢ back in Georgia.Being in a state of ¢glum¢ isn¢t something I have experienced on the Trail before and it perplexed me. Even a cameo by BOB through a crack in a low hanging cloud while crossing a meadow filled with Queen Anne¢s lace, only served to lift my spirits for only a short while. Then back to glum.It took a serious analysis of the number of spiders I had eaten over the past two mornings, combined with a purely opportune phone call that I made from the Pen Mar State Park, to put a finger on the source of my glum-ness¢THERE ARE NO OTHER LONG-DISTANCE HIKERS OUT HERE AND I MISS THE COMMON TIES AND THE FELLOWSHIP!Here¢s how I came to this profound tidbit of trail self-psychoanalysis¢¦EATIN¢ SPIDERS. If you¢ve read very much of this journal at all, you know that I am definitely NOT one of those ¢quick-start morning people.¢ As my mother (age 95) still says, ¢That boy (age 59!) is a morning butt-dragger.¢ She¢s right. Rarely am I the first person out of the shelter and unto the trail. And it¢s the first person on the trail that has to contend with the numerous spider webs that are strung each evening across the path. Apparently the AT makes for prime bug trapping for spiders of all sizes.For the past two days I have found myself waving my poles in front of me, vigorously brushing invisible silk from my arms and legs, and even slapping my head while trying to evict, eject or annihilate some swift-footed arachnid into whose web into which I had done a full frontal facial assault. Nasty! I realized that this should not be happening to me! IT¢S THE EARLY RISERS, who should be eating these spiders (along with the coveted early worm). The conclusion is that I am getting these spiders because there¢s nobody here in front of me to clear up the trail. Unlike true AT Long Distance Hikers, the ¢weekend warriors,¢ (college-escapees and i.e. Boy Scout wannabes), just aren¢t in a rush or well enough organized! to beat even a butt-dragger like me out of the shelter. PHONE CALL. I had just finished two sardine burritos for lunch and was contemplating a dinner made without water and without heat (the best I could come up with was a GORP burrito), when I remembered that I had promised to call an attorney who had done some work for our company and who lives in Waynesboro. I had told him that I would give him a call when I was in his ¢neighborhood.¢ Even though I did not know Bill very well, within a few minutes I found myself agreeing to spend the night at his house with him and his wife, Valerie, and, within a few minutes of accepting his invitation, I noticed that my glum-ness was starting to disappear and my spirits were rising. I was looking forward to spending some time with people whom, although I really didn¢t know very well then, I do feel some degree of connection to. Later this evening, as I sat on their patio eating the better part of a dozen hot chocolate chip cookies and watching the rain come down, we talked about our experiences, journeys and enjoyed the kind of ¢get to know you¢ conversation that people frequently have with others associated with the Appalachian Trail. I then realized the significance of what I have been saying all along¢¢The AT experience IS all about people.¢But it¢s not just any people. The AT experience for me is all about the ¢AT people¢ :those people with whom you share the experience--the hikers with whom you share the same fears, successes, frustrations, elations, terrain, weather and equipment. It¢s the¢ trail angels¢, like Bill and Valerie, with whom I shared a dry, warm evening of delightful chatter. Without the people who create the fabric of your personal journey, the AT is just a very long walk under very, very challenging conditions. I realized today at the ¢Gut Level,¢ that without the connectedness to people who are a part of my AT experience, I would feel glum. Now, to a warm dry, bed, with a full tummy and a grateful heart!