Date: 2004-04-29
From: Matts Creek Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: broken clouds

First let me apologize. I lost my "thought book" so this entry today might be lacking in the detail department. I keep a small notepad in my shorts pocket so it¢s always handy to jot down daily details. At the end of a day its very difficult to remember what happened over 12 hours of hiking. I will do my best.I woke, hiked, had lunch, hiked some more, ate dinner. Yeah, I thought that was funny too :-) Was the first to leave the shelter which is a good thing because lately I¢ve been getting late starts. Crossed the longest "foot only" bridge on the entire AT. It was quite impressive to say the least. One big disadvantage from leaving early is all the spider webs. They accumulate so much that it all starts to stick together so much that you can barely move. Then on top of that I had so much mosquito venom in me I just wanted to lie down and sleep. Other than that it was nice to get an early start. Hiked a little bit more and realized I should have taken advantage of the privy before leaving the shelter. So I scouted on up a hill out of sight of the trail and I stumble upon a box in a garbage bag. Took care of business because that was first priority, and then came back to the box. At first thought I thought it could be a dead body, or a block of cocaine. Could see my face on newspapers..."thru hiker helps cops in big bust". It turned out to be a box of extra hiking supplies and warm clothes. It was well hidden and could not be seen from the trail. That¢s why I expected something unusual.Ate lunch on top of Bluff Mountain. Also arranged a ride for Saturday morning to pick me up at the trail head at 8am. How did I make the call you might ask? My trusty ham radio ¢buds¢ relayed the message to the owners of the B&B. The ham radio does come in handy, but it will be shipped home on Saturday because the charger is just too much weight. I don¢t want to bounce the charger to the next post office because its a hassle. The ham radio will be missed, that¢s for sure. Making the call saved me from hiking 3 miles to the B&B. Got my first tick today while walking up towads the spillway. In fact that¢s exactly where I lost my "thought book". After flicking the crawling tick from my leg I wrote about it in my "thought book" then placed the book back in my pocket without securing it with the Velcro flap on the pocket. Then I thought I felt another one and jerked my leg up for examination. So that¢s when the book fell out. I did not realize it was missing until I was 2 miles down the trail. I wanted to write something and noticed the book was gone. The feeling was horrible! It felt like the scene in Castaway when Wilson (the volleyball with a bloody handprint as a face) fell off the boat. Tom Hanks jumped off the boat but could not save Wilson. I could not go back two miles, it was far too late. I¢m just hoping someone will retrieve it for me.Sunshine and Red Dog are planning operation 19 X 13. Also known as operation "lunch". They are going to hike 19 miles by 1 o clock (1300 hours military time...hince 19 X 13) so they can get a free lunch. This whole fiasco started because Sunshine needed to be at the Post Office before they close at 4:30. The B&B offers a free lunch to thru hikers between 11 and 1. So Red Dog and Sunshine figured why not go for the free lunch while they were at it. So they are going to get up at.... brace yourself.......4:30am, and hike 19 miles before noon. That¢s 3 miles an hour! That¢s difficult to maintain on flat ground. THIS NEXT STRETCH IS NOT FLAT! Glad its not me! An easy 16 tomorrow, then Saturday its 2 miles downhill to meet my ride in the morning. Can¢t wait for a nice long shower and that wonderful town food! Great weather for hiking, life is good! It¢s been two months already, can¢t believe it.