Date: 2003-03-16
From: Wesser Bald Shelter 

To: NOC
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained last night, all night long. Luckily we were in the shelter, and by the time we were packing up, the rain had quit. We had a fairly short hike today into NOC, although it was mostly steep downhill, which pounded the knees, and brought a twinge in my left quad. It's hard to fight gravity.There would've been some great scenic views today, but once again, it seemed clouds had other plans for us. At times, we were between cloud layers and could see the neighboring mountains. The fog/clouds drifting up through them looked like smoke. It was awesome! Each day brings it's own kind of beauty.At NOC, I was greeted by my good friends Hummbob and Rejoyce (Bob and Joyce Falkins) :-) They were here when we arrived around noon, and after quick resupply at the outfitter, the five of us had lunch. Thanks for lunch, Hummbob and Rejoyce. I appreciate it. I'm so glad things worked out to be able to see them. Like I said yesterday, it's good to be around "normal" people. I wish I had more time to visit, but am thankful for the time I had.Hotdog, Bearkat and I are staying at the hostel here, sharing a room with a biker, John, who's on Spring Break from Dickison College in PA. The rooms are small, maybe 10'x10', but enough to sleep in. I'm doing laundry in the men's restroom/shower room because that's where the only working washer and dryer are. Doing laundry is always an adventure in clothing style. Tonight I'm sporting my beautiful yellow rainsuit and flip flops. I was moving my laundry along when our biker/roomie came in, and I quickly explained I was just doing laundry. He paused for a moment and said "To tell the truth, I didn't think anything of it." That's life on the trail. I haven't been seeing as many females as I did at the beginning, especially since Early Riser and Denmark have moved on, Lite Shoe took a little time off, and Speck's 5 Alive crew is up ahead. I don't mind being around guys most of the time, but sometimes I either need alone time or time with females. I guess I should get used to it, since only about 20% of thruhikers are female (although my parents estimated about 30% at Neel's Gap).We haven't been seeing too many other hikers the last three days. I think we're in a lull: one wave ahead; and one wave behind. That's okay though. That just means a better chance for space in shelters. I do hope we catch up to some of our Pack 31 friends though. I'm not disappointed at my pace; I feel it's about right for me. I'm not in much of a hurry.It's weird. We were on the trail for 3 days before coming here, but it feels like that was just yesterday. And now that we've been here for 5 hours, it seems like forever. Time on the trail is going fast it seems, and yet slow at the same time. Any time I want to know the date or day of the week, even if I just looked an hour ago, I have to check my watch. Days of the week don't mean anything to me, unless I'm headed for a Post Office. Otherwise, the day of the week doesn't matter much to me.In towns, or civilized areas anyway, I think about food resupply, eating a meal, showering, laundry, and sending my pocketmail. After that's done, I'm ready to get back to hiking. It's so beautiful and peaceful out there. I sometimes get antsy in town.The University of Wisconsin cycling club is staying here at NOC too, and they came into the kitchen/common area for dinner. The three of us had forgotten about dinner tonight, since the outfitter closed at 5pm. Oops. Lucky for us the cycling club had extra pasta, and offered us what was left. Of course we indulged. And it was good!