Date: 2004-05-22
From: The Hensley House

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

I called the hospital after another incredible breakfast. Giardia or not, I would be getting back on the trail; it was just a matter of when and whether I would be carrying an extra few ounces. Giardia would definitely mean antibiotics.   Ring, ring. Ring, ring.   Drumroll, please.   The test was negative. Giardia free.   With the improvement I felt in my health over the past couple of days, I wasn't surprised at this information. Still far from being 100% healthy, I almost ended up staying an extra day with the Hensley's, but I wouldn't have been able to get a ride back to the trail from Joy until late afternoon tomorrow. Leaving today would mean getting a ride back whenever I was ready.    I weighed my options. Waiting til tomorrow would put me a day closer to feeling completely better. Besides, considering the time it would take to be ready and get to the trailhead, the fact that my stomach was likely to act up and cause me to hike slower, AND the fact that most of the hike to the shelter was uphill, I would probably be hiking into the dark.   Hiking ALONE in the dark. I hate that.   Maybe spending another 24 hours with the Hensley's wasn't such a bad idea after all.    Then I thought of Camel and Tinder. And Flora and Fauna. And Patrick. And all the other hikers I came to know that were now likely to be so far ahead of me due to these two days of recuperation that I was going to have to hope that they took a zero or two.    And I thought of some of the hikers who had already left the trail and how most didn't stop cold turkey. It was a gradual, dwindling process.    And I thought about that feeling I had two days ago when I woke up alone in the motel in Buena Vista, just before Joy and Bloody got there. That feeling I couldn't quite identify at the time--it suddenly hit me.   I felt like I was off the trail.   In the past 9 days, I had hiked only 3--a total of 21.4 miles in the past 9 days. An average of less than 2.4 miles a day. And here I was actually considering another zero day.   With a deep breath and a heavy sigh, I walked into the living room and asked Joy if I could still get that ride today.   I packed up and decided what was coming with me and what was staying. I had been invited to spend another night once I reached a specific spot in the Shenandoahs, only about 20 minutes from the Hensleys. Another shower, hot meal, and night in a bed? See you in about a week.   After the drive back to the trailhead where I had picked up the hitchhike into Buena Vista a distant three days ago, and after saying goodbye to Joy and Bloody, I stood there looking into the woods. The time on my watch read 2:30 PM. I would be hiking into the dark if I wanted to reach that shelter. It was almost certain.   Almost.   Wasting no time, I started to hike.    And hiked. And hiked. And hiked.    And then I hiked faster.    The only breaks I took were for water. I was surprised to find my stomach cutting me some slack today, as if it also had no interest in hiking past dark. I ran into a few other people, most of them going in the opposite direction. Unless I just happened to need water at that moment, they didn't get much more than a friendly "Hello." The only time I slowed down was early into my hike when I reached the bald of Cold Mountain. Just where the forest ends, there was a hive hanging from a tree to my left. Every inch of it was crawling with bees. I figured it was far enough away that they wouldn't bother me, but, after snapping a photo, proceeded slowly so not to tempt The Fates.      Not far after that, I took my only "extended" break. By that I mean it was slightly longer than just stopping to take a few gulps from my Nalgene. The view at the top of Cold Mountain was beautiful; it would almost be worth hiking into the dark to stay up here even longer.   Almost.    I reached the shelter at 8:15. There was still enough light that I didn't even have to pull out my headlamp until I got there. Dances with Wolfcookie had passed through in the past couple of days and left me a "Get Well" message in the shelter register. Yet another friend ahead of me that I would not be seeing in a while.   I fell asleep in the shelter with two other hikers, yet I felt as lonely as I did waking up that morning in Buena Vista.