Date: 2005-04-12
From: Unnamed Woods Rd.

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

The prediction of rain held off for the morning and I was on the trail while the others were still putzing around and organizing. I tend to travel more simply than most and so my pack is lighter and I both set up and break camp much quicker than all but a few. While they are fixing dinner I am usually finished with eating, bear bag is hung and I am in bed. When thet are fixing breakfast I am making the final adjustments on my pack just before departing.On this particular day I was anxious to get moving because we'd lazily done only a mile the day before. Although I likely got a half-hour headstart I know it wouldn't last since the others hike much faster than I. With the coolness of the weather and the absence of rain I was off at a good pace, feeling quick and alive.In about two hours and I was passed by Yard Sale and Giggles (Yard Sale being so named because he's lost so much gear that fellow hikers decided, if placed on one spot, it would make an impressive yard sale). So Giggles and Yard Sale casually passed me by while chatting and laughing as if I was no more than a barely moving tree, continuing their conversation as they cruised on by. I thought about this for some minutes and something in me may have snapped. Where it was possible to do so I began to run; where running was impractical for reasons of safety I leaned hard into my poles and hiked rapidly. This was in an area of switchbacks and at one point I passed them in one direction on a lower switchback while they travelled in the opposite on the other. The aspirin and vitamins in my upper pack rattled noisily and I heard Yard Sale exclaim "What the hell was that"? Soon I passed them by and in doing so I turned and shouted back "You are now travelling at less than 1.0 Nimblefoots". I had just passed my first 20-somethings.The pace continued for some time, it was as if I had turned back the clock to a time that probably never existed then either. As morning blended into afternoon and as the cool weather turned to cold rain, the clock rolled forward into reality and I slowed to the normal Nimblefoot pace (which oddly enough is always 1.0). Soon Figaro and Tofu (the Walking Karaoke Machine - because they're always singing) caught me at the base of a mountain and quickly passed by. Too tired to care I watched them speed on at 1.2 or 1.3 Nimblefoots and humbly resumed my battle with the mountain.By then the rain had soaked through my water protective clothing (Note: the word "waterproof" shall not be used in this journal) and I continued to hike because viable alternatives were few and far between. Trudging up and down mountains had become drudgery and it was at this point my brain perked up a little and I coined the word "trudgery" - when trudging along is just plain drudgery. And so, on I trudged through the rain, chuckling at my attempts at reinvigorating my sodden spirit.I recall reaching the base of a 5500' mountain with the shelter to be near the far side. There was no second wind from this awareness, but at least the thought that eventually I would arrive kept me going -- that and, as previously mentioned, there were no other healthy choices. Soon (not really) the mountain was scaled and I was descending the other side only to find no shelter.As it turned out, the shelter would not appear for another 3 miles with the rain getting colder and the wind more fierce as I slogged through the muddy quagmire.At about 1/2 mile from the shelter I heard voices from behind. Turning around I spotted "The Fun Machine" (Giggles and Box of Fun) and "The Slacker Confederacy" (unknown and Fraggle) gaining ground easily. As they closed we were able to shout back and forth and I soon realized that the last spot in the dry shelter just might be the prize for the first to arrive. Instantly rejuvenated I slalomed down the muddy trail, literally using my hiking sticks as ski poles. They never had a chance and I owned the second-to-last sleeping space while they had to set up camp in the cold rain. Such is life, equality and justice for an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker. Young women camping in the rain, with this old fart warm and dry.