Date: 2017-06-23
From: Rockfish Gap, US250 & BRP

To: Skyline 84.3
Miles today: 0.0

Today the group hiked the first 22.3 miles of the trail in Shenandoah National Park.  I didn't hike.  I had hiked these miles late last September with my friends Susan and Bill Hosaflook (see journal entries from September 19 to 22) as preparation for this hike.  I didn't count the miles then because I planned to rehike them.  Now, however, I realize I need all the rest I can get.  So I've gone back to those entries to add the miles and am taking today as a rest day.  While the group was hiking I stayed in town.  I succeeded in setting up an appointment with an orthopedist in Winchester, Virginia to get my cast removed on July 6.  From July 2 through 7 the schedule is to hike from Turners Gap, MD to Clarks Valley, PA (123.8 miles).  All of us have hiked this section during our group prep hikes.  Everyone except Rennie is planning to take this time off, either to rest or to hike some miles ahead.  Hiking ahead builds in rest days for later.  I'd rather have rest days spaced out rather than have six in a row.  My sister Diane is going to drive here from Wisconsin to help get me to the doctor's appointment and to shuttle me where I need to go to hike ahead.  Scott will be back from Iowa and wants to hike.  Arlene may also be interested.  We plan to pick some longer hikes, say 19 or 20 miles, and hike them in two days rather than one.  I spent some time trying to coordinate all of this.  Then I ate a leisurely, highly calorific lunch.  Now I'm at the outfitters waiting to be picked up by Patti, one of our southbound hikers.  One thing I like about hiking the AT: being on top of a mountain early in the morning.  The feeling of being in the woods early in the morning is indescribable - the freshness, the quiet, the beginnings of birdsong.  Looking out over mountains makes me thankful to be alive.One thing I dislike about hiking the AT: being filthy.  Within a half day of showering there is dark grime under all fingernails.  We touch trees and rocks to balance and pull ourselves up.  We kneel in wet places to take photos, then brush the dirt off our knees.  We crawl into our tents on hands and knees.  We set up and take down dirty wet tents.  We clean our hands with hand sanitizer. This kills germs but just moves the actual dirt around from place to place on our hands.  After one day our hands feel sticky.  We take bird baths in our tents at night using baby wipes.  This deposits more chemicals on our skin.  Now that the warm weather has finally arrived, we try to bathe in streams if there's enough time.  Even so, we feel constantly smelly and grubby.  We wear our clothing for many days between town stops or showers.  The shirts made of synthetic fibers smell of body odor after one day, really bad body odor after two days.  The third day the microbes have multiplied exponentially and create a massive stench.  We hate to put our clothes on in the morning because they smell so bad.  I have two lightweight wool shirts that are much less stinky than the synthetic ones.  I am lucky.Wildflower of the day: the pretty weed I found along the road while walking to the outfitters.  Can anyone identify it?