Date: 2003-06-24
From: NJ campsite-near Blue Mountain Lakes Rd

To: Sunrise Mt
Miles today: 16.1

My feet feel fat today. Puffy. The soles feel burnt by yesterday's rocks. They are dazed and confused, poor babies.It feels like my socks are wadded up in my Trail shoes, though I know they are not. I walk slowly, waiting for the heart to pump up and swoosh away the edema.So, to Da Feet, the worst foot-hammering rocks of the Trail were the stretch before Waynesboro, VA and the first day of NJ. Not the infamous PA.Not only that, there's wilderness in New Jersey! Who knew? Why don't they tell you that? Up on a rocky crest, all we can see, to the horizon, are rolling, forested low mountains.On the failed-subdivision Trail, we spot another small porkie, erect quills backlit by the slanting, early morning sun. Porkie waddles up on a tilted stretch of rock; B-Roc pursues him for a photo. Porkie finally has enough of this vogueing and dives into a crack, daring B-Roc to enter. He declined.After a short climb, we topped out on Rattlesnake Mountain and sat, even the impatient Itchy Foot. He does like to be moving. But the breezes and scenery are fine, and even he is content for a few moments.On the way down, we met the thru-hiker 2x4, who I have been following in the registers. His yaller-dog Taiyoo was hunkered down, looking miserable. I went over to say hello, to get my doggie fix, and recoiled in horror. His poor muzzle was studded with porkie quills. "He was sniffing at the base of a tree," said 2x4, "when all of a sudden he jumped back." Taiyoo had them inside his mouth, in his soft palate. He said Weird Al's Sugar Dog got nailed by a porkie yesterday too.B-Roc loaned 2x4 a pliers, and 2x4 removed a few before Taiyoo said "Enough!!! It HURTS, dad!" So 2x4 decided to get Taiyoo to a vet. He finds a ride from an animal lover down at Culvers Gap.Well, the bugs are out in full force as the world heats up. I pulled off five ticks today. Yesterday B-Roc pulled off 25 ticks. The mosquitos follow us in clouds. I get bitten some, but they really seem to prefer B-Roc.About lunchtime, we pile down to Culver's Gap, where the famous Worthington Bakery has served thru-hikers pastries for 45 years. Alas, alack! They are closed on Tuesdays. So is the nearby Sunset Grill. We wander down to Gyp's Tavern and get cheeseburgers and onion rings. HOT today! There is no question of climbing out of the gap, up that sweltering mountain, on a full belly. So, we do that which would be unthinkable in our daily life - we unroll a sleeping mat and take a nap - fall stone asleep, in public, on the front porch of the Sunset Grill as the cars whiz by 30 feet away.While we are napping, itchy Itchy Foot gets impatient and takes off. B-Roc and I wake and pack up, after a soda machine takes my money. The hot slog out of the Gap causes me to stop several times for breath, something that has not happened in awhile.At the top is Culver Firetower, and of course we go up. Wowee! Breezy to beat the band up here. That'll keep the skeeters at bay. We sit and cool our backs in the hot sun, 75 feet above the top of the mountain, 360 degree views, wind whipping our hair, rolling views.The time on the firetower was the best part of my day, the hot breezes drying us and our packs. We were reluctant to leave.Itchy's early starts are painful but worth it on hot days like today. We catch up with Itchy at Gren Anderson shelter, where we cook and leave our food smells behind us. We walk on another hour and a half, looking for the perfect high site upon which to dry camp tonight. We want breezes, views and no bugs.I lead up the rocky slope, and near the top catch site of a magnificent stone pavilion, with a heavy beamed roof. THIS is one fabulous vista, with the sun setting slowly in the Golden West...We talk with Walking Man, the first 2003 thru-hiker, who starting March 1 and summited Katahdin June 11. He lives nearby Sunrise Mountain, and comes up to this pavilion a lot.Camping is technically forbidden here, so we don't. Instead, we prop our packs against a pillar and sit with the local lovers, who are collecting in pairs on the rocks. We sit quietly, as if in church, journal, take pictures, watching the sun slide down until it becomes an orange ball poised above the blue horizon. "It looks like my views of the Pacific," said Itchy Foot. "This is what I see."The silent beauty fills us with the sweetest ache. We miss loved ones who can't be with to see this orange-and-pink spectacle. It takes the breath away. It fills up the holes. We feel the kinship, the connection.So, here it is. Awe. My god! THIS is what I thought hiking the AT would be like - fantastic vistas, soul-stirring sunsets, and high, breezy, bugless, rocky campsites in the evenings. There have been so few sunsets and sunrises this hiking season, and the ones that come are so precious.