Day 9

Day 9

Sitting here on the porch of the Davenport Gap Shelter, watching the rain come down, I feel like I'm on another planet entirely. I'm looking into a ravine filled with trees 60-80 ft high easy. Rain's been falling on and off all day. Shoes are caked with mud and socks are soaked. But. I. Feel. Great. Last night the shelter was so packed we had a French couple on the floor, bunks full over capacity and 2 in a tent. The stupid wench mentioned in yesterday's entry kept the whole place up with her shrill voice asking "Is it easier to rise or to fall" and discussing her pretentious answer with the rest of her crew. This was after an obnoxiously loud conversation with the French folks about the moisture content of cheese. Now, I don't want to fill these pages with bad vibes, but she's the only person I've met on this trip that I have not enjoyed. I figured it was worth recording. Especially because of the cheese moisture conversation. That was priceless. Today the Mines left us 2/3 through the day's hike. Yesterday, it took them (Dads) 2 hours longer to arrive at camp. Today, we waited an hour at the lunch spot. Dad learned why I was frustrated the first few days! It was sad to see them go because their time was short and they were happy to be out with us, but Dad and I were happy to have our pace back. We had a great talk about the frustrations I had and he experienced. Then we finished a 15 mile day like it was no big deal. Dad's got his trail legs. This is a lot of fun. Views came and went today as the mountains went in and out of a tide of clouds. Rain came in ribbons and sunlight would come through every now and again. Very interesting weather today. This shelter is a bear cage as well and it has me paranoid. As I write I keep checking my peripherals. Tomorrow we leave the park and will stay at Groundhog or the local hostel... time will tell. 36 miles to Hot Springs!

*So if you know me, you know I generally like people. The woman I had such a problem with was the president of one of the trail clubs which maintain the trail along the section we were currently hiking. She was chastising us aloud about not packing out our gray water after cleaning our dishes, as she was putting hers into a ziploc bag and then into her pack. Now, I love the planet and I think we should leave no trace along the trail, but don't yell at me for watering local flora with my soapless dish water. That night after everyone was comfortably snuggled into their sleeping bags, Tim from Michigan would have to shine a headlamp into her eyes in order to subtly communicate that she better shut up or she might wind up duct taped to a tree. Hikers appreciate their sleep. Later on, we'll meet back up with the French couple and get their side of the cheese story.