Day 18

(My lunch spot)

Day 18-

Spent the morning wondering about my piloting. Can I fly A-10's near DC? I need to find out. Can I volunteer for the civil air patrol?

Today's 21 mile jaunt left me a lot of time to see the wildlife and think about stuff. Saw some turkeys - yesterday I was attacked by a grouse! Saw some deer. Plenty of birds and rodents. Good stuff.

Hiked more than 9 miles in 3 hours this morning, humping it up a big bald before noon. What a lunch spot; cashed my peanut butter on the top of a mountain! Fuckin' A. I think I have head lice. Little jumping bugs all over my stuff. That sucks. Good thing I only have 25 or so lbs of gear to wash. *Day 25 update- no weird bugs in my hair.

Any who, Ben and Kenji show up while I'm chowing down like mad on my snacks. I took some pictures and headed off. Storms threaten all afternoon but none hit. 21 miles is a long way. I stop for water because I'm drinking so much. Fresh filtered out of a mountain stream? Yes it is that good. Ben and I hit the shelter at the same time anf find it full of old dudes. We pitch our tents and make dinner right before a huge storm rolls in. 1st real test of the Big Agnes tent. She's dry as a bone! Two Lions has named me 'Spaceman' which I cool with me. Tomorrow we'll head into town for supplies, A&W, Mexican food and junk. They seem to have adopted me, so I'll keep with them (should keep me ahead of schedule) as long as it makes sense. I was wrong, I don't feel lonely without Dad. Everyone out here is a friend until they prove otherwise. Rain on the tent tonight. I will sleep well...

*You might not know this but before I left for the trail, I failed a flight physical on my way to becoming an Air Force pilot. I'm a private pilot right now and things are looking good for me as far as my flying career is concerned. I love sleeping in tents in the rain.





A doodle

Day 17

Day 17-

STORMY! Nothing motivates like a summer storm. Two today, one at 2, one at 4. Big cracks of lightning are fun when you're flirting with the bottom of the clouds. You could see the bolts race through the cloud base; it was awesome. Slower paced morning... really just enjoying the walk. The Trail opened up into some beautiful meadows. Been playing tag with Craig and Lisa all day. Shelter @ 4. Ben, Two Lions, Kenji laugh like hell. Late night again, 20 miles tomorrow.

Here we gooooooooooooo --------->

*Today I meet Ben, Two Lions and Kenji; I'll be hiking with them for pretty much the rest of the trip. Get ready for some good banter about these smooth operators.

Day 16

I love sleeping in tents

Day 16-

I like sleeping alone in tents. I have so much space on my own little planet. Zip the flaps and this patch of earth becomes my domain. And then, in the morning, I take it with me. Too cool. Last night we burned the midnight campfire and talked about god knows what till late. I retired as the stars clicked on. Up and at it for the morning, I had the tent down, breakfast, coffee, new H2O packed and on the trail at 8:10am. Nice.

2 hours of downhill later found Craig, Lisa and I sitting at a country store .6 miles off the trail eating ICE CREAM! I ate 3 ice cream sandwiches (.50 ea), a twix bar, bought 2 bags of tea and 2 snickers and an orange. Even though I am eating candy I am still losing weight. The owner drove us back to the trail so it only cost me $6 and .6 miles. The orange went well with PB&H lunch. Chunky did NOT work well in the dispense tube. Today's 15.4+.6 was pretty tough. Crazy uphill till about 2pm followed by hard ridge scrambles over rocks, some vertical for 5-6 feet. It was fun, but strenuous. Craig and Lisa showed up 45 mins after I arrived at Larry's Cabin. Danny followed 15-20 later. Without Nikki. He left her alone. He waited an hour and said he was worried, so I mounted up my flashlights and we went to go find her. She was about 1.5 miles back and had been crying because she thought she was lost. I can't believe Danny left her. Glad she was OK. Hopefully she won't let that happen again. We got back at about 9. 14 miles tomorrow. I'm tired. I don't have any more time to talk to you, loser.



Craig and Lisa; The coolest couple ever.



Danny and Nikki

Lateness

Hey readers... right now I'm working or in class for my masters 12 hours a day and I'm also moving apartments and trying to maintain some contact with the outside world. What I'm trying to say is that I'm a slacker but I'll do my best to update this as much as I can.

Day 15

Goodbye, Dad!


Twas the night before Day 15
And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse,
When suddenly I sprang from my bed,
And took the best dump of my entire life.

7am, on the button, I took care of business old school. Now I'm ready for the trail. Dad and I walked across the street to the diner and ate pretty light. Took our last showers at the hostel and bid the staff farewell. At the outfitter I got a new watch band and hooked it up in a futile effort to avoid thinking about Dad's departure. The van pulls up, his pack goes in, one last picture and hug and he's gone. I felt very alone all the sudden. I realized I had nothing left for me in Hot Springs and 11am is plenty late to start a 11 mile day. I picked up a can of V8, an apple, a snickers and a smooshed fruit for lunch. Went to the post office and discussed my detest for V8 with a loitering local, dropped off 8 post cards and I'm out! Down the trail. 31Lbs of fully loaded hiking fury. I tore into it, really enjoying my pace. I will miss having Dad here, especially during breaks and at campsites. This adventure is new and totally different from the last two weeks. Also, I am a day behind. I'll spend the next two days at this schedule, but will (in 3 days) double up two 10.x days for a 21 mile catchup. That will be a good day's work but I will stay in a hostel that night I think. I'm in my tent tonight, the Spring Mountain shelter was dank. They've been going downhill since the smokies. Met Craig and Lisa on the trail and they're camping nearby. Danny and Nikki showed up late and will be coming up here too. I have a fire ready to light; it should be a good night. So lets talk about how my thoughts differ when Dad is not around:

Thought Breakdown With Dad:
What are my Feet/Hands Doing? And when will this downhill end? 20%
Personal Biz, Move, DC 10%
Friends/Family 5%
Boobs 5%
Is Dad about to Die?/Am I slowly killing Dad? 30%
Cliff bars, snickers, dried fruit, coffee, breakfast specials, beer, steak … 30%

Without Dad:
Boobs 20%
Move to DC 10%
Crazy, Zany Inventions. Future trips. Plans w/ friends in the future. Random Plots 30%
Boobs 10%
FOOD 30%



Climbed to the fire tower before Spring MTN, met locals, one gave me a trail magic cookie. It was delicious. Took some good pictures, too.



Fire Tower

Day 14

Dinner at Elmer's

Day 14- Zero

1st day in 15 that I've laid my head in the same spot as the night before. I feel refreshed yet anxious. Dad and I spent the day being mildly constructive but mostly lazy. We ate breakfast for about two hours, which consisted of a biscuit (two for me) and many cups of black coffee. We went to the outfitter where I squared away the rest of my meals and snacks and dreamed of buying a tarp tent. The confounded Frenchmen put it in my head that my ultralight monopole Big Agnes [tent] just isn't light enough! Too bad that less than two pounds of fabric with n poles or footprint runs for about 1.5x what I paid for my whole setup. I decided that I can wait for a tarp tent. Clearly, this bothers me. We went to the Hot Springs Spa and found that there are no hot springs, just 17 whirlpool tubs along the river with natural mineral water pumped in from the earth's molten core as the operating fluid. Of course, no one told us this before we paid our $25/hr for two in #7, but we enjoyed it anyway. It may have soothed my ankle. I'll find that out tomorrow. The whole time as we soaked behind a privacy fence I was haunted by two thoughts: 1) what has been done in this tub before we got here and 2) what has the staff done about it? Regardless I lay here freshly showered and presumably still STD free. We left the spa and went straight to the bar, where we found our fellow hikers and had a few beverages. Came back to Elmer's to relax before dinner and did just that. Met Chris, Danny (Steve), and Nikki. The Vontramp family is also staying here, along with the crazy Kentucky guy from Fontana. Emily the Vontramp daughter, at a breakfast fit for a race horse. Truly awesome. Dinner was good but not as spectacular as yesterday. The salad was the best part without a doubt. Amazing greens, veggies, and dressing. I will be hungry in the morning this time, however. Following dinner, Dad, Steve (Danny), Nikki and I went to the bar and watched the [Red] Wings tromp on the Penguins to win game 1 [of the Stanley Cup Finals]. I reflected on this in my post card to Randi. I admired Nikki's choice in music at the juke bo and reflected on my lack of female trail companion. Someday. Not yet. Soon, I'll be lacking a companion entirely. I am anxious. I offered for Dad to stay on, but he's gotta go back to real life. I think he is very sad to leave, and I am sad to see him go. He'll hit the trail back to MI when I hit the AT in the morning. We'll have breakfast, go to the outfitter, then I'll bid him farewell and start the next chapter of my trek. I assume that my experience will change greatly. I expect to be faster, lonelier, more efficient, more introspective and will reach out to others more. I wonder if the miles will go faster or slower. It will be interesting. I will miss Dad. I will not miss his snoring. I will now enjoy this bed and breakfast tomorrow.

*The only other time I've encountered hot springs was in Idaho, and they were just pools within a rock formation that had just shown up on their own time. These were not hot springs at all, they were just hot tubs. I wouldn't really recommend the place... I'd just recommend you stay at the bar. It's less awkward that way. This was a fun day just chillin' with Dad as I really had nothing else to do. I think my body was grateful for the recovery. I keep calling Danny by Steve because he looks just like my friend Steve from college. I was jealous that he managed to get his girlfriend to hike with him, but that story unfolds in a later entry....



Dad Celebrates! [French tarp tent in background]



Eclectic Elmer's

Day 13

Dad's Last 3 Miles down to town

Day 13- This is extraordinary

Last night was your average shelter night. Woke up to hammering rain on our tin roof. Still woke up dry as a bone thanks to our circa '38 shanty. 3.2 beautiful morning miles into town. Breakfast at the diner was good. Real good. I had a western omelet with apples + a pancake. Dad had eggs + pancakes. We walked across the road to Elmer's hostel and then it all changed. Wow. The house was built back in time and everything inside is ageless. All the cards, letters, nick-knacks, instruments, newspapers, furniture, dogs, people and sights and smells add up to everything and nothing. It all just fits. We check in and we know that this just feels like home. We have a quick tour by Nancy and she shows us our room. I can't wait to sleep in the bed. Gonna be sweet. We hit the showers immediately and I soaped over twice because the first time just didn't do enough. Been over a week. We did laundry in town and split some beer in the garden. We moved the party to the local watering hole and used some local IPA to wash down some great conversation. We returned to Elmer's to find the Hiking Poles (Polish couple) playing piano. The French couple departed just before. The Poles can play beautifully. Time for dinner: four courses straight from their organic garden in the back yard. Chris prepared miso tofu soup, amazing salad w/ home made dressing, vegetable enchilada and flan for dessert. Holy crap, I was about to split I tried to eat so much, it was delicious. Tea and hiking stories cap off the meal. Some real good laughs too. Now I'm sitting in the music room listening to Nancy and Dan (neighbor) play guitar and sing folk music. Dad's reading nearby and Sean (resident) will join in the music occasionally. Dog cruises in and out at will. I wish I could write this house's vibe down. It's intangible. It's too home, too strange, to different to describe. All I know is that I love it and I'm already planning my return. Tonight, I'll listen to their music and read. I'll also sit with way too much good food in my stomach. Tomorrow, we'll go check out Hot Springs' Hot Springs, square away my next few meals and drink a few more beers. We'll do dinner here again, I'm sure. Sunday I'll head out on the Trail again but for now, this is just great.

*Elmer's hostel in Hot Springs, NC is an AT institution. He's a hippie that's never quite given up the 60's and the house surely fits that creed. I am continually surprised by the sense of community found along the trail. As soon as we set foot in that house the staff greeted us like we were friends they hadn't seen in forever. I will post pictures soon, but right now I'm sitting in an airplane headed out to Alabama on a business trip and my pictures are at home. I'm flying over the trail at 30,000 feet as I write this, how crazy is that? What I didn't write about here is that we also did laundry this day and it feels SO GOOD to have dry, clean socks and underwear. To this day, I can't wait to find a reason to go back and have dinner with Elmer.

Here's a youtube video of the John Prine song that Nancy and Dan were playing for us:






Dan and Nancy Play