Date: 2015-05-20
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Glasgow Hiker Shelter
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: broken clouds

CONFESSION: Even though my trail runners are too big, and my feet slide forward when I go downhill (I am actually startin to kind of dislike downhills), and my heels hurt, they are so nice and comfortable compared to the Toe-Pinchers and the 10s. If I get a smaller but wider size next time they might be perfect (did I mention I am wearing men's wide shoes? My feet really are that freakish). If I continue to apply 300 layers of duct tape my heels to prevent blisters, the trail runners and I could live in harmony for a few hundred more miles.People should start taking bets about how many pairs of shoes a Red Panda needs to thru-hike the AT. Maybe my town hall friends can start a pool. I am already on pair number three, not counting camp shoes.Next, I would like to discuss something that I am coming to call, to myself, the Trail Phenomena. Weird and bizarre coincidences often happen along the trail. For example, there was a Pizza Hut right across the street from the Howard Johnson where I stayed in Daleville. And Chris and I arrived in Glasgow on pizza day, getting discount pizza at the restaurant right in front of the town's hiker pavilion. It is like the universe knows that Red Panda needs pizza when she comes off the trail. I am pretty sure that I have had pizza in every town I have stopped in so far. I am determined to continue this streak.Anyway, two episodes of Trail Phenomenon have recently occurred. One, I ran out of duct tape to tape the hell out of my feet. Kroger in Daleville didn't have duct tape, so I bought a roll of medical tape. But I got my feet all soggy swimming, so I went through it too fast and didn't have enough for the next day. BUT OF COURSE, THE FREAKY AT GODS DELIVERED. The last two shelters we stopped at yesterday, Bryant Ridge and Cornelius Creek, both had random rolls of duct tape laying in them. Go figure. So weird. Good for my feet, though.THEN, the bug spray. I sent mine home a long time ago. Chris has been diligently applying 100% DEET to his legs lately. He offered to share, but I passed up the opportunity to slather my skin with poison. But yesterday on the trail, we passed a random orange bottle sitting on a log. There are always random things all over the trail. Yesterdays there was a pair of men's underpants hanging in Bryant Ridge Shelter. One day, there was a bag half full of tortillas hanging in another shelter. The other day, Chris and I passed a pair of shoes, some weird coiled wire, a camouflage shirt, and a leather belt on a rock. One day I passed a FURRY WINTER JACKET abandoned on the side of the trail.Anyway, the bottle was bug spray. And only 30% DEET, a lower concentration of poison more suitable for me. Why is this Trail Phenomenon? Because Chris found a tick on him this morning, and I found one on myself this evening. FREAKY, RIGHT?! I slathered myself with my new 30% poison today.Okay, now onto today. I hiked. Haha. Same as most days. It was EXCELLENT. Oh! But I forgot about last night. Around 9:30, I heard loud voices moving towards the shelter from way far back behind the privy. I almost yelled "I am trying to sleep!" Seriously, 8 p.m. is hiker bedtime.Good thing I didn't, because it was a forest service officer come a-questioning. I was so tired, I tried to listen but couldn't hear much of what was said. Itmdidnt sound like anything too interesting or exciting. I heard something about a car and a guy doubling back. Not enough drama to be worth staying awake for. So I put my headphones in as earplugs (my actual earplugs were hanging in my stupid bear bag) and figured I could ask Chris for the details in the morning, since the ruckus seemed to be occurring right by his hammock.OF COURSE THEN THE FOREST SERVICE GUY'S OTHER FOREST SERVICE FRIEND SHOWED UP IN A FREAKING TRUCK. Here I am, thinking I am in the middle of nowhere in the woods in Jefferson National Forest. Nope. Apparently not out of driving range of the forest service. They shined their lovely headlights directly into my tent as they drove up, too. Thanks for that, officers.I snuck over to Chris while he ate breakfast and asked if he knew what had happened. A hiker had gotten separated from his companion after returning from Trail Days in Damascus, and was hiking north and south trying to find him. I am not sure about the car. Not a riveting story. It certainly was not worth the sleep it cost me.Otherwise, the night was awesome. Great temperature, lots of stars. I had an awesome night view and woke up nice and dry. Got to see the sunrise through the trees, too.Chris takes longer than I do to get ready in the morning so I usually end up sitting and waiting for him for at least ten minutes or so. It's not bad. I enjoy the morning peace. Today I updated my register entry, adding that I was already thinking of pizza. The other two shelter register entries of the day also mentioned pizza. Did I mention that I ate half a large pizza for dinner tonight? Because I did. It was great.We hit the trail before 7 and it was SUCH a nice morning. Cool and breezy. The whole day was nice. Breezy, not too hot on the shady trail, for the most part. There were some hills, but nothing too bad.We got to a dirt road just as a Jeep was passing. It stopped, and the driver got out. His name was Luke, and he had just filled two coolers up the trail. We chatted for a while before moving on, stopping to grab lemonades, apples, and other goodies. I didn't need it, but it was nice to have trail magic. I haven't come across any in a while.We made good time. Chris keeps a really good pace, which I appreciate. He stops and waits for me if I get really behind, which is nice. He hikes very steadily, while I sloppily weave around behind him, blowinmg snot rockets and banging my trekking poles clumsily like a maniac. I am glad he doesn't mind leading the way so he doesn't witness this behavior.We stopped at a spring for water and I caught a frog. Then dropped it. Then caught it. Then dropped it. He was a slippery sucker. As I slung Bertha back on in preparation to return to the trail, I felt something drop in my shirt. I pulled my collar away and peeked down. A MILLIPEDE. A THREE-INCH LONG MILLIPEDE. IN MY BRA. I am not afraid of bugs but holy jeez, I scrambled to get that thing out. Centipedes and millipedes freak me out. They are everywhere around here. I hate them. Chris found this ordeal much funnier than I did. I get the heebie-jeebies just remembering it.We made REALLY good time. The trail was so pretty along the James River, too. We ran past a group of high school students who kindly cleared out of our way, yelling "We've got hikers! Move over!" Then we crossed the longest footbridge on the entire AT. It was awesome. Girls in bikinis were sunning themselves, strertched out on beach towels in the middle ofnthe bridge. Below us, a guy was kayaking around the river with his dog. I yearned to be on the water. Let's go kayaking in June, okay, mom and Dan?!Then we reached the road into town! We got a shuttle into Glasgow in time to get my mail drop before the post office closed. I packed way too much and shared some excess with Chris. Then I got more Band-Aids from the Dollar General and sorted my stuff while Chris bought the rest of his food supplies needed to reach Waynesboro, the next town.Glasgow has a cute little shelter-thing with a little grassy area and a HOT SHOWER for hikers. Apparently it was constructed as an Eagle Scout project. Thank you, kind Eagle Scout. I washed my nasty clothes in the shower and strung them up to dry between my tent and Chris's hammock. They even mostly dried. I am so clean!Chris returned from his shower and asked how I felt about the possibility of pizza in the near future. Stupid question. Red Panda is always ready for pizza. Even after she has just eaten half a pizza.So we feasted and chatted with other hikers in the restaurant (which is like a ten-second walk from my tent, thank you, Glasgow!). There is a group that Chris had been hiking with for a while that he spent some time catching up with. Meanwhile I tried not to fall asleep, with my bloated pizza tummy making me extra tired after a 20 mile day.It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so who knows when we will set out. It depends on how warm it is and how heavy the rain is. If I get desperate, I can always yell at Chris from my tent, or take my umbrella over to his hammock to check in to see if he wants to hike through the rain or wait it out. Hopefully it won't last long.I am thankful for this cute hiker shelter place thing, a free hot shower, clean clothes, the bag of crispy M&Ms Chris bought me, and the CLEAN clothes mom sent. I mailed home my hideous purple outfit. Thanks again for being my mail support team!!