Date: 2011-05-30
From: (123) Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Quarry Gap Shelters
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: few clouds

5/30/11.      Quarry Gap Shelters.      Shelter.      20.5 miles. In the morning my parents dropped me off at Pen Mar, and I resumed my thru hike. I had not slept the night before because of dauntingly long list of chores I had made for myself (I kept thinking of new and stupidly time consuming ways to lighten my pack weight), and so only a few miles in I was already debating spreading out my sleeping pad along the trail and taking a nap. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were hungry, and I was the main course, so stopping was impossible (I don¢t carry bug spray. I have no idea why...). My hike today was more of a ¢Lemur and friends¢ reunion than anything else. Being the popular guy I am, I knew everyone I passed, and got to catch up with Buffalo and German Sheppard whom I hadn¢t seen since hiking into Damascus, Portrait who I hadn¢t seen since NC before the Smokies, Gingersnap, Wild Rain, and more. It was great to see their faces again, and still going strong towards Maine! Around Lunch time I stopped at a camp site containing two shelters, one with a sign on it designating it as the ¢snoring¢ shelter, and the other ¢non-snoring¢. I found this trail humor to be delightful, and imagined what it would be like to hike past this spot at night when it is full of campers, with one shelter sounding like a piano falling out of a three story building and the other dead silent. After a quick snack in the non-snoring, I started up the slope of a mountain and had my first encounter with a Rattle Snake. It was a tan Timber Rattler, maybe three feet long and poised to strike. I had nearly stepped on the critter when its rattler alerted me and I jumped back. I took some pictures, and then I picked the angry snake up with my poles and tossed it into the woods so that it would not be a danger to those behind me (and also to protect it from the sorts of people who feel it is there duty to kill any and all snakes). I spent a portion of the afternoon with my friends hiking in a single file hiker line (they called it a train, ¢Choo Choo¢), that consisted of Buffalo, Portrait, German Sheppard, and Moosehead. Day and weekend warriors kept staring at us as we went by, probably being the largest group of filthy rag-tag young persons they had ever seen, all bearded and tan in the way that only thru hikers can be. (I suggested that we hike tallest to shortest as a joke). We soon entered the Caledonia State Park, which was packed for the Memorial Weekend. We had been hoping to buy sodas but everything was closed. Portrait had the most difficulty in accepting this, and started going around talking to picnickers trying to ¢Yogi Bear¢ some food from them, and though funny, he did not have much luck. I left the group at Caledonia and arrived at Quarry Gap Shelters, having hiked 20 miles. My feet were killing me in my new shoes so I decided to call it quits, plus I had been debating whether I even wanted to continue with my usual big days now that I was nearly halfway done, and in less than two months at that (my original goal for the entire trail was 6 months, 5 going fast haha). I was still feeling sleep deprived, so I lied down in the shelter and took a nap. When I woke up the shelter and surrounding tent area was full of hikers, so I joined them around the picnic table talking and eating until nightfall. Portrait, Moosehead, German Shepard, Buffalo, and Gingersnap were all there, as well as some new faces such as Cayenne, Thin Mint, and Lizard. (Among noteworthy topics, Buffalo was also reading Catcher in the Rye, and is a only a chapter ahead of me, though his book looks rather different since he does not rip it apart to save weight the way I do. I am very strict about such trivial details). ~My first day is finished. Many had told me that it would be difficult to get off trail and then back on. I disagree. Other than sore feet and lack of sleep (both of which I could have avoided), I was fine. The Appalachian Trail is a life, and I embrace it as I would any other. I hike, expect little, and just¢¦live.~