Date: 2008-03-10
From: Continued Local Preparation

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Miles today: 0.0

I have found that it's best to set a happy and hopeful tone for one's trek. My chosen way of doing this is to make jokes and to tell Trail Stories. After all, Fellow Trekker -- when I look back on many of my trail adventures, not only were they rather humorous (some lessons are more easily learned than others), but some of my best friends participated with me...OK, bring in the next verse of that Appalachian Trail Song of yours, Glen...VERSE:I first hiked left, and then hiked right,        Perhaps you¢ve never had this plight.While hiking north in fog, you see        White blazes weren¢t so clear to me¢¦REFRAIN:A North-Bound hike is painless        It brings on many changesAnd I can take what comes for six more monthsRULE OF THUMB: I you don't like the weather you find on the Appalachian Trail, just wait a while -- IT WILL CHANGE!Imagine those poor, tired, hungry, and totally stressed-out Army Rangers (found skulking in the bushes and performing stealthy trail-crossings above Camp Merrill near Cooper Gap and vicinity), enduring the same weather as you, but with perhaps 60 to 80 pounds of gear and camouflage paint all over them... and they actually have to do something when they get where they're going -- probably a fast-paced ambush or something... Having endured similar Army training in my past life, I have a tendency to 'drop' a couple of my packs of trail snacks near where I encounter them...SCIENTIFIC TRAIL FACT: 'Crash Into Things' [now called, 'Mary Poppins,' if you're following her journal on this site] was 99% more likely to actually see the Ranger Candidates than I (they normally choose to be seen, if so, and she's of considerably more interest than I -- and therefore worth the risk of chastisement from their controllers).However, while camped at a stealth site near there one year (I had to see if the rumors were true for myself, after all), I watched through the partially opened door of my Twin Peaks as a Ranger Patrol made a trail crossing very close to where I was camped. The Patrol Leader first cautiously checked my shelter from a safe distance, and then very quietly told the next Ranger, "...he's asleep, don't wake him -- pass it on..." It was all I could do not to laugh out loud with excitement and delight to watch these guys attempt to stay in, "Tactical Mode," while trying not to disturb the Thru-Hiker... *lol*They slipped across the trail, never once disturbing my 'sleep,' and I never heard from them again -- until the extensive shooting of blanks took place some time later -- their practice ambush, I suspect... *laughing* There I was, empathizing with those guys, and there was a bond I felt with them, even though I'd never be able to pick them out of a crowd in the future... I hope they made it.A FEW TRAIL EVENTS OF NOTE:- I'm convinced that I freaked-out 'Certain' and 'Persistent' the first time I met them in person. You see, through the magic of Trail Journals, I'd been following her adventures while I was recovering from those rather severe heel blisters. So, of course, when Ron Haven scooped me onto his little yellow school bus at Winding Stair Gap with a promise of a 'Slack-Pack' from Wayah Bald, mostly downhill back to a late afternoon shuttle into town -- THERE THEY WERE -- several seats back in the VERY SAME BUS! It was, for me at least, like coming home to very good and long-time friends...- The first time I met 'Tabasco,' a former Marine and a guy with the highest tollerance for heavy loads on mountain trails I've ever met, Duck Walk was chasing me down the back side of Tray Mountain and up the next one with the pot support section of my BushBuddy [the original 10 ouncer, not my current 5.1 ounce BushBuddy Ultra]. Near the start of the rather steep incline, I saw a very heavy-looking Italian Canvas Cheaperthandirt Surplus Duffle Bag [you know, the kind with the metal chain to lock it around a metal bunk in the baracks?] -- just sitting by the side of the trail with nobody in sight.I thought to myself, "...This is odd -- where is the owner?" Well, it turns out that in about 15 minutes or so I had my answer. It was this guy wearing a Monster Pack, trudging his way up the mountain. This pack had at least two Army Surplus two-quart jungle canteens clipped to the outside, a sleeping bag (or a very large, whatever-it was) and who knows what else. He told me that his name was, Tabasco (after the little bottles of the stuff found in each Meal Ready to Eat [MRE]), and he told me that he was the owner of the duffle bag at the bottom of the mountain -- He was "shuttling" his gear... (Now, that's a Double Dose of Adventure if ever I heard it!). I wished him well, and continued on my way, shortly after which Duck Walk finally caught up with me to hand me the pot support that I as yet didn't know that I was missing... *laughing and shaking my head about that one*- Oh, and how about the time... *Editor's Note: Sorry folks, the Colonel has, 'Closet Duty' today. The contractors are coming to replace the master bathroom starting tomorrow, and in order to do that, he has to remove about two rooms' worth of gear and clothing from his side of the closet (the adjacent wall)...*Appalachian Trail Corollaries to Murphy¢s Law (continued):- Many trekkers might be able to fit into one shelter, but the capacity is only one skunk ¢ for as long as he/she desires.- The largest snakes only sun themselves along your chosen route of advance¢¦- How many fellow trekkers can fit, with their gear, into the back of a North Carolinian¢s pick-up truck? All of them, Y'all...!- The part that¢s required to repair your broken trekking pole is the very one, the last of which was sold about an hour ago¢¦- Cellular phone signal strength is available in direct proportion to your desire to sleep rather than to listen to one-sided conversations around you.- The tent site you¢ll most likely select near a shelter was the most convenient place for a fellow trekker to relieve him/herself just last night¢¦