Date: 2006-05-03
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: 0

Cell goodToday is my first 20+ miles day, I hiked from 7:30 am to 7:15pm with an hour lunch break.It was a beautiful day all day and I enjoyed being outside. The hiking was pretty fair, too. I hiked my first Blue Blaze trail because a bridge was out. There were signs at the last few shelters. When I reached the blue blaze junction there was another sign and a tree was thrown across the AT white blaze path. The blue blaze trail was a dream, it was an old logging road and it was pretty level. The map shows the trail following the 3000 foot contour line. Towards the end of the blue blaze I came across a wild rooster, I didn't know they lived in the wild.When the blue blaze ended I was on a road low in a valley near the creek. That meant the next thing I did was climb, it was a mile-long climb. When I reached the top I was looking at a huge cell tower. I called Sue from there and we had a good conversation. As we talked I reached a road crossing and an old section of blacktop that isn't used any more. I sat down and relaxed for a few minutes and tried to see where the trail went. I soon discovered it went down the road and onto an overpass over I77. When I got to the other side I met a nice lady who was waiting for her husband to come off the trail. She gave me a root beer soda and a bunch of chocolate chip cookies. We had a nice conversation while I ate and then I headed toward the trailhead. I soon discoverd she was not at the trailhead so I showed her where it was. Thank you Jenny from Maine for the cookies and soda!After getting back on the trail I had a hard climb back up to the rideline. When I got up there I met Allan, Jenny's husband. We had a nice conversation and he informed me there would not be any water between shelters. I decided to stop at the Helveys Mill Shelter. It was 1/4 mile off the trail and the water was another 1/4 mile. I decided to make dinner then in case I got here in the dark. Also, I figured the extra food would provide the energy to hike the extra miles.When I got to this shelter there was already 4 tents set up around it. That is quite a feat, as there isn't much room for them. I set mine up and now there isn't any room.A thought kept coming up in my mind today; I've had this thought before. I've been situations that could have ended my life. One time I was in the back seat of a friend's car when he decided to pass another car. I remember seeing the bridge wall inches from the car as we passed a one lane bridge. I also remember one canoe trip when I almost had my leg wedged between the canoe and a rock. I probably would have drowned. The thought I have is why was I spared when others are not. I sometimes think I was spared in order for me to touch someone's life. But how could that be? I'm no one special. I'm just an ordinary guy. I've been given a gift; I hope I use it wisely.Along that line, today's song is "You've got to stop and smell the roses. You've got to count your every blessing every day. You know the road to heaven is a rough and rugged road. You've got to stop and smell the roses along the way."I dedicate my thoughts to the memory of Donny Clark, a young man we lost to a situation I luckily was spared from.Old Goat Sue's Note: Old Goat has been wanting to do a 20+ mile day, so he told me he feels great about how today went. When we talked, he told me that today¢s hiking was fabulous. The great weather and easy hiking made it easy. (His entry doesn't sound quite as enthusiastic as he sounded to me when we talked.)Old Goat talked about how frustrating yesterday's hike was - it was extremely rocky and very hard to hike. He said some people stopped early after how hard the hiking was because they were so frustrated.I told Old Goat about an e-mail he received from the Australian sisters. When we were together, Old Goat mentioned wondering where they are now. They arrived in Damascus today. They seem to be on the same hiking pace as Old Goat now ¢ about 2 miles an hour and they¢re now hiking 15-18 mile days. They won¢t catch up to him since they¢re so far behind, but they¢re doing well. He was glad to get an update on them.On the home front: I had the brakes on our Honda worked on a few weeks ago. They haven¢t felt quite right since then, so I finally dropped off the Honda on my way home from work today to have the mechanic look at them again. Old Goat owns a Mustang that we don't put on the road from November to May. It's back on the road now (as of May 1st), so I figured I¢d use that car while the Honda is at the shop. I didn¢t expect a problem with the Mustang...I moved it only a couple weeks ago and it ran fine. Tonight I couldn¢t start it! Thank heavens for wonderful friends ¢ I called Dean again (Thanks, Dean!!!). The timing was perfect ¢ they were going from one activity to another, so Dean and his wife stopped over to take a look at it. He put our battery charger on the battery and came back later. The battery needed some charging and the posts needed cleaning ¢ in no time at all Dean had the car running like a charm. As we were chatting after he finished, Old Goat called ¢ so I put my phone on speaker and we had a wonderful group conversation. They've been following his journey closely and loved hearing from Old Goat!Thanks for being such good friends, Dean and Brenda. It's nice to know I can call any time for help if I need it.