Date: 2003-04-22
From: Damascus

To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.0

i slept in today! until 7am anyway but it sure felt like a difference. i had a couple town chores to do, including watching lucky eat 4 monstrous pancakes (they were yummy--the record for a hiker is 7, i see images of that restaurant scene from "the meaning of life"). i was going to meet my uncle jack at 11am but he got here 3 minutes late. Sigh...anyw, we drove back to wataga lake and hiked 9 miles south to the kincora hostel. it was a pretty hike on a cold and blustery day but jack said he enjoyed it. since i couldn't be home for easter, having jack drive 6 hours to hike with me was the next best thing: it was good to talk to him and i really appreciate his company today. for the record, i did hike with my pack fully loaded--i'm not going to slackpack unless i have a good excuse.when we got back and got fed, my next job was sorting through my mail drop-o-goodies from home. some of the stuff was expected: pop tarts, dehydrated meals, etc. other things were more of a surprise: a huge batch of brownies from my aunt and 2 bags of rice crispy treats from my mom (i assume). some of these have already been eaten by myself and other lucky hikers. i've decided to carry the rest out to the shelter i'll be sleeping at tomorrow: that will be a great surprise for the other hikers. so i think i've mentioned in my journal that i was going to start carrying my old 5 pound, 2 man tent because i already owned it and can't really afford a nice, light, 1 man tent at this point. so...the gambler (aka jasper) and i happened to be talking about this and it turns out that he just bought a tarp and was going to send HIS 3 pound, 1 man tent home but has offered it to me to use on the AT! i was blown away by this offer and his generosity and will take it, at least to experiment with for a couple days. jasper rocks the casbar (what IS a casbar?)another very cool thing that happened today: as i was sorting throuh my mail drop i come across this large sealed brown envelope. my friend who is getting married, Kate, is a 5th grade teacher and each student in her class had written me a card of encouragement! this was a total shock and surprise and i hope they find out through Kate that each card is going to be saved and sent home so that i can remember them when i'm done hiking. those cards and thoughtfulness of her students will help me push on when i hit a brick wall. thank you so much! and ANOTHER good thing that happened today: i was in the damascus outfitter talking to jeff, the king of outfitters, about how my pack is rubbing my hips in an uncomfortable way and how i've lost enough weight around my waist that the hip belt is at it's max and he says that i am using a guy's pack (because of the angle of the hip belt) and this year they came out with a female version of the same pack which solves my problems. So... king jeff calls osprey who makes the pack and next thing i know he tells me that a new female pack (called the ariel for the girl gear heads out here) will be waiting for me in my next town stop, atkins, VA. how freakin' cow, that is so cool! all i have to do is send my old back pack and that's it! so i am never going to buy another pack if it's not osprey and i highly recommend it to everyone cause they obviously care about their customers and they are going to get such a letter from me when i get back home and i'll beg for a job working for t! hem.what a wonderuful day. me happy for many reaosons.