Date: 2008-12-30
To: Enjoying the Good Life with Karen and Certain
Miles today: 0.0

      After arriving back at Certain¢s house, Karen allowed us a 10 minute shower each, which felt luxurious! (I couldn¢t believe how bad I smelled after only two days in the woods! It was worse than the four days in Vermont!) Then we went off to enjoy a wonderful meal at a French restaurant, where we were waited on by Laura Lee. Karen and Certain both ordered the rockfish special in honor of our hike, I had salmon, and Erik had steak. We enjoyed dessert afterward, with my chocolate cake with warm mousse inside definitely being the most decadent.         We ended up spending the next two nights at Certain and Karen¢s house! The following morning, after a delicious breakfast burrito made by Certain, with a side of papaya, and some coffee, we went out to the sidewalk to experiment with our alcohol stoves. On this most recent hike, I had a very difficult time getting my ion stove to retain a flame in the cold mornings. I had a windscreen around it, so I don¢t think the problem was due to wind blowing it out. The problem might have been due to the cold temperatures or maybe having leftover alcohol in the insulation. I¢m not sure. Certain had lots of fun experimenting with her cat stove, my alcohol stove, and Karen¢s vargo stove, but there were so many uncontrolled variables, our heads were left spinning¢¦ no insulation in one, twice the amount of alcohol in another¢¦ One thing we know for sure is that the cat stove boils water much, much faster than the ion stove, but it also uses more alcohol. There is a trade-off to everything. It does seem much more dependable, however- especially in the winter. I didn¢t have the same degree of enthusiasm that Certain had with the stoves, as I don¢t have a proclivity for using bic lighters. I¢ve always been afraid of burning myself, and the flame on these things always seems to leap directly onto the tip of my thumb, no matter which way I hold it or turn my wrist. This is another skill I must master on the trail. Although it was nearly sixty degrees out, it was a windy day and my fingernails turned blue from the short time we sat outside. Karen said she was worried about my hands.        Certain also gave us a lesson in staking the tarp, which I really needed. I hadn¢t been using the self-tensioning lines properly because I hadn¢t known how. Once she taught us, I realized how much easier it would be to tie down the tarp. She also presented me with the ¢what if the ground was unsuitable for a stake¢ scenario. What would I do? It was a great lesson for me. She taught me how to properly judge the placement of the tarp over the hammock and showed me how to stake the tarp lower to the ground in cold and windier environments. She is an excellent teacher and I am so grateful to her for sharing her knowledge with me. Setting up a hammock requires a lot more skill and experience than assembling a free-standing tent, and I wouldn¢t be able to consider using one if I didn¢t have someone to teach me some of the tricks.        While enjoying a fire in the evening and petting their extraordinarily well-behaved cats, I spotted the giant magnifying glass that Certain and Karen had so much fun with in an antique store along the trail in New Hampshire. I asked Erik to hold it up to his face and took some pictures, and our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard at the images. It¢s the little things¢¦        Michele went off to work early the next morning, leaving Erik and I to enjoy breakfast with Karen, and then we went off to visit Monticello. We all had lunch together, said good-bye, and headed back to Durham with much work ahead of us.