Date: 2011-04-07
From: Big Creek Shelter

To: Franklin Budget Inn
Miles today: 8.9

I stay on Albert Mountain long after sunset, watching the stars. Walking the half mile back to camp in the dark I worry about missing the turn off for the shelter, which several people had complained about. Walking a half mile in the dark with a headlamp takes longer than in daylight, and I wonder what landmark I'll hit next if I miss the shelter. Luckily I find it with my headlamp and am soon in my sleeping bag. The night is warmer than it's been yet on the trail, and despite getting to bed later than I have yet, I lie in bed for a while and listen to the mice, and remember my initial pre-hike reservations about shelters.I hike with Milo all morning and once again talking makes the miles breeze by. Milo makes a habit of touching every white blaze that he passes. When I ask about it he explain that the other day he hiked a mile without seeing a blaze, and worrying that he took a wrong turn, he was so happy to see the next white blaze that he kissed it. He hasn't kissed a blaze since then, but he does try to touch them, or if they're out of reach, at least blow them a kiss. I try to convince him to adopt an even more convoluted ritual like those baseball batters do, crossing himself and readjusting his knee brace for every blaze, but Milo decides to stick with the touches for now.I wear the knee brace I got from Troll, and use the knee wrap underneath that to prevent chafing. Despite the limited mobility, I manage to keep a decent pace, and Milo and I knock out nearly 9 miles before noon. We're just ahead of Troll and so along the way we meet Gordon and his resupply van twice. We meet him the second time at the end of our morning hike, and arrive in time to hang out with Troll, Charlie, Optimist, Stopwatch, Bubbles and Rebel. Troll, Charlie, Optimist and Stopwatch are all serial hikers, with well over a dozen thru hikes between the four of them. Troll and Charlie put on a comedy routine, trading barbs and mocked accents for a while, and the rest of us laugh appreciatively. The four serial hikers trade news of their other friends who have adopted the permanent hiker lifestyle. You can see their happiness to be reunited, and we first timers seem especially frail and insignificant in their presence.Bo shows up shortly before Gordon drives a van load of us down to the Franklin grocery center. Sober, he is quiet and inoffensive, but when it turns out that he and Bubbles are the only other two staying in town tonight and are looking for a third roommate, I don't have to agonize over my decision to decline.At the grocery store I go in on a bottle of glucosamine with Milo, who is headed back on the trail tonight. The weather is sunny and I long to go back as well, but I know that I finally have to start resting my knee and take at least the afternoon off. The motel is 2.5 miles from the grocery store, but being outside feels so nice that I put my knee brace back on walk the distance without attempting to hitch.I find walking off of the AT to be surprisingly pleasurable. Other than the 1.2 mile blue blaze to Whitley Gap Shelter, these are the first non-trail miles I've walked since I've started hiking. Since the AT itself is nothing but a recreational activity, you might not expect there to be much difference between miles on trail or off. But when trail miles are what advance you to Maine, what determine if you'll make the next shelter tonight or keep up with your friends, they take on a certain weighty significance. These off trail miles, in comparison, are pure leisure, and feel unexpectedly refreshing. No one else I know on the trail will walk these miles. No one will talk about how easy or hard they are. These miles are just for me, and they leave me hot and sweaty and contented.