Date: 2006-07-01
From: Compton Gap, VA

To: Linden (Front Royal), VA
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Compton Gap to Manassas GapUp early to have breakfast, pack up, and dispose of a couple of pounds. How easily I had forgotten the ¢Pack Light,¢ rule when I had packed in my NYC apartment. Every single ounce matters when you¢re carrying it on your back for eight hours a day! Once organized, I enjoyed the hour-long drive from New Market to Compton Gap with my brother-in-law, Bill. Bill walked with me for a half a mile or so from the parking lot on the Skyline Drive, taking pictures and asking questions. Like so many people who live near the AT or who know someone who has hiked it, insight into ¢what¢s the AT experience really all about¢ is of interest. Like so many things in life, though, in spite of the number of books and journals and articles written about an experientially-based subject like this, the old adage seems to prevail ¢ ¢If you haven¢t been there, no words are sufficient: If you have been there, no words are necessary.¢ I guess there¢s only one way to experience the AT (or war, or childbirth, etc.) and that is to do it.After Bill left me to return home, the rest of the day was spent in the silence of the woods. I joined up with a Thru Hiker named Patrick (¢Mousehat¢) for a while but the pressing need for a pee break allowed him to get far enough ahead of me that I never saw him again¢¦ as the adage goes, ¢you¢ve got to hike your own hike¢ and that¢s how it was. The day was warm and it felt good to hear the sound of my breathing ¢ just as automatic a beat as 2/4 time is to a ¢John Phillip Susan March¢ -- and to blow the sweat drops from the tip of my nose and watch them explode like the white ball of puff from a dried dandelion as I worked the wooded inclines. I took lunch in the Mosby Primitive Tent Site and after a brief rest, and headed back out for an afternoon of hiking ¢in the zone¢ ¢ so fully in the present that it¢s hard to recall where I was or what I was thinking other than putting one foot ahead of another, one breath then another, one tree and then another¢¦As I approached Manassas Gap, I found a new plan for the remainder of the day starting to emerge from the focused blur of the zone ¢ rather than push myself the 16.3 miles to spend the night in a shelter described as being ¢The House to a Family of Copperheads¢ which keeps the mouse population down but makes it essential that you watch where you step, I could, instead, hitch hike into Front Royal and get a hot shower and a restful sleep in a real bed (and can put my size 14 feet down wherever the hell I want to!). I justified this plan by rationalizing that I would better off by starting off; starting up the gap nice and fresh in the morning rather than somewhat weary as I was now but I¢m sure that my residual fear of snakes played a disproportionate role in my decision, too. To make the decision easier, I decided to leave it up to fate ¢ I give it 15 more minutes and if I didn¢t have a ride by then, I¢d head up the mountain and on to the shelter. Well, God Bless Thelma and William who, at 14 minutes and 15 seconds, pulled over and let me hop in the back of their maroon pickup truck for the 7 mile ride to the Super 8 Motel in Front Royal. I felt like some kind of conquering hero riding through the streets of Front Royal standing in the back of the pick-up taking in the local scene. After saying thanks for the ride, I took one of the last non- smoking rooms in the Motel, cooked my dinner in the parking lot and made a desert run across the street to Spelunker¢s Frozen Custard Shoppe for a hot fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream and nuts (the closest thing I could find that was close to the sinful and addictive as the ColdStone Creamery¢s, ¢Founders Favorite¢). Upon returning I watched the France/ Brazil quarterfinal World Cup game on television then, lights out for a great night¢s rest knowing that I could answer the call of nature during the night without having to worry about where I might be stepping or on what¢¦ ahhh, contented sleep.