Date: 2007-05-04
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Trying to rest and ice the foot today. Got up for the breakfast, and ate 3bowls of cereal, 4 pieces of toast, OJ and milk. I was starving again.Persistent called one of her friends who is in sport's medicine and asked herabout our feet issues. Besides the normal advice we've already received, she didsuggest that perhaps our shoes are worn out. Now, I had heard a figure of 500 miles per pair of trail runners, but Persistenthad heard 300, so that made me think. We don't believe it is a coincidence thatwe are both suddenly having foot pain, and yes, we've put our bodies through314.2 miles of abuse, but when shoes go, it really affects your body.Well, remember, I had REI send my new shoes to Damascus, VA, which is stillabout 3 1\2 weeks off. I called REI today to see if they had already beenshipped, and yup, they had. I was hoping they hadn't so they could send them toErwin instead.Next step was to call Damascus' P.O. and see if they had arrived. YES! I askedthe man if it was possible to have them sent to the Erwin P.O. and he said YES!! Because REI sent it priority, it can be forwarded for FREE!! So, my new shoesshould be here tomorrow or Monday latest!! Man did I luck out on that one.We walked up to McDonalds for lunch, this time it was the 5-piece ChickenSelect, 2 chicken snack wraps, 2 cups Dr. Pepper and an M&M McFlurry. God, howtotally unhealthy huh? LOL It felt good to be full though.We walked over to Ms. Janet's house to check it out. A little chaotic, but inan organized way. She is SUPER nice by the way. I don't know how the womandoes what she does everyday and still smiles constantly. She takes a personalinterest in you and your situation, which is a rare quality. We were checking out the shuttle prices and I looked down where the mail wasstacked for hikers, and saw a box for Persistent! She had NO idea she wasgetting anything! LOL Good thing we went there. (on a side note, it's wise tolet any hiker know you are sending them something, because we don't hit the P.O.unless we've got biz to take care of there, and it is best to send thru the postoffice, not UPS).Right now, we're trying to figure out how we're going to do these next few days. As usual, I get stressed in towns, because logistics are tougher, mainly becauseyou don't know how "things" work. Ahhhh...yes, yet another thing for me tolearn how to chill about. LOLPoint blank, towns are expensive. Shuttles are expensive, eating in towns isexpensive. A lot of us are a little stressed about funds, because there's somuch you can't control out here (illness\injury\dangerous weather, etc.) For those of you planning your hikes, you'll find in towns that if there is ahostel, there's a slight chance it will be full if you're part of the mid-Marchto early April crowd (especially if the weather is bad). You'll also learn thatmost towns have a motel that will cost you $5-$10 a nite more, but I hear upnorth it is a lot more expensive, so just be aware of this. As much as hostelsare an incredibly generous service to our community, even a few nights @ $20 anite adds up. The only place to stay that is free is out on the trail. There have been severe thunderstorms rolling thru the past 2 afternoons, sohikers have been coming in left and right. It's just not safe to be out thereon ridges and mountains with lightening striking.Oh, I was able to get some advice from a doctor about my foot. He (who hasthru-hiked and still hikes a lot) told me to do what I'm doing, ice, stretch,take ibuprofen, and that zero days weren't so much the answer as lowering mymileage and going even slower (I wonder if walking backwards towards Springercounts, because if I go much slower, that's what I'll be doing! LOL). I thinkthe slackpacking opportunity couldn't be happening at a better time, so that iswhat we're doing tomorrow from Sam's Gap to Spivey Gap. There's going to beabout 10 of us, so the shuttle price will be cheap.Persistent and I talked a lot today about what we might be able to dodifferently out there so we don't feel like we're always dragging in to camp solate. We decided we need to make better use of the daylight. The sun is coming up now around 6:30 a.m., but we usually don't wake up till7:30 a.m. We've decided we're going to try getting our bodies used to gettingup earlier so even if we do have to hike for 12 hrs, there will still be plentyof daylight for doing evening camp chores.We're both admittedly grouchy morning people (and when Persistent says she'simpatient in the morning...she MEANS it! LOL). We'll see how it goes. We'reon mother nature's turf out here, and we've got to be willing to adapt andchange with her. We are going to Trail Days in Damascus the weekend of May 18. We're HOPING tobe hiking in a bit before, but if we're still a bit off, our friends Gadget andScribe said they'd come pick us up. OK all you hangers, I am INCREDIBLY close to getting Persistent to agree to hangwith us @ Trail Days! *evil laughter* "I'll get you my little pretty!" LOL!! I must have caught her in a moment of weakness, because I told her I new she wasresisting just because it had become such a big deal that she hasn't convertedyet! LOL She admitted I was correct in my assumption. I'm really thankful to be hiking with her. In some ways, we're two peas in apod. We seem to always be on the same page when it comes to hiking matters, andit's cool it has worked out that way so far. It would be too cool if we bothstood side by side on Katahdin someday. Maybe that dream will come true for us. I hope so. God knows we've seen and encouraged each other in our most vulnerable and difficult moments, and it seems only fitting we would get to celebrate that moment together too. I guess only time will tell. ~Certain