May 13, 2005 | Day 47 | Miles: 13.9 | Total Miles: 548.7
End: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Danielle:
Overcast, a bit cooler, humid
The rhododendrums are starting to bloom. Gorgeous deep magenta blooms and purple flowers making a nice change from the greens in the woods. Plus we saw a few flame azaelas too. Bright orange flowers that really light up the woods. Very pretty.
There are only 5 of us here at the shelter--Treetrunks (he has very big calves! and is super nice), and Snowbunny and Hairball (a couple from NH who work at a small southern ski resort. A fun couple.). I think most everyone else who was around us hitched back to Damascus for Trail Days (an annual hiker fest with parade, vendors etc. which we decided to skip as 30,000 people in the small town seemed like it might be overwhelming. We'll plan to go back next year for the experience though.). We are happy with our decision to be out here. The trail should be a bit quieter for a few days.
Topic of the day: Stupid Little Things. SLTs are rocks and roots in the trail which set out to trip you up as you walk down the trail. This causes either stubbed toes, trips, jumps, ankle twists and much anger. As I am not entirely coordinated and often shuffle along, I tend to hit a few SLTs during the day, even more so when I'm tired. In response to this, Ryan devised something to make me feel better about it all. He picks up a small rock, hands it to me and I throw it in the woods with an "rrrrr." Silly, I know, but it sure is satisfying to see them tumble down through the woods :-)
Ryan, May 13
overcast am, sun later, really humid
well, i take back what i said about danielle being a good hiking partner. she decided to run the last two miles today. nearly killed me. i never liked her. so, i have a question: how do cows make such large turds? they only eat grass. i don't get it. what i'm trying to say is that we hiked through a bunch of fields today. very cool. not really mountainous at all. not what i expected. but, pretty neat. unfortunately, all the fields are encircled with barbed wire fences, and to get through them we have to climb stiles. we hit at least 10 today. and, you know how coordinated we are...interesting. most importantly, we hit the 25% mark today. so, now all we have to do is do what we just did three more times. one quarter done...so, unfortunately one quarter is over. oh yeah, trail days started in earnest today...we're celebrating by being on the trail...more on trail days to come.
May 14, 2005 | Day 48 | Miles: 19 | Total Miles: 567.7
End: Jenkins Shelter
Danielle:
Overcast and humid with a few thunderstorms, rain and moments of sun
A long day today. A big climb followed by lots of PUDs (Pointless Ups and Downs) and then a big 3-mile downhill. Plus it was humid again. Isn't it illegal to be sweating profusely at 8:30am? :-) Oh well. We made it. Of course we're tired out and will be asleep soon (it's 7:45pm), but all is well. It is currently raining and we are bunked up in the shelter again. Normally tenting is nice as you have your own space but on wet days, the shelter are great as it is a dry space. Plus then you don't have to pack up a wet tent! :-)
Ryan:
hazy, hot, humid, pm thunderstorms
i'm tired. today was hard. the weather, the terrain. ugh. probably one of our hardest days yet. but a good tired, and a good hard. so, trail days...we're missing it. trail days is an annual festival held in damascus to celebrate everything that is the at. there are all sorts of hiker related activities and events with vendors, and lectures and whatnot. a hiker parade down main street, a talent show, etc. sounds like a pretty cool time. but...they estimate around 30,000 people are in damascus for the weekend. um...damascus probably has a population of 2000 people or so. yikes. too many people in too small of a town. i came out here to get away from people. plus, all the inns and hostels have been booked up for months, so it means we would be camping in tent city. in a field with thousands of other people. yuk. so, we're skipping out on the chaos, and enjoying the slightly quieter trail. we would have gotten to see a bunch of people who are behind us now, but we're happy with our choice. plus, we came out here to hike, not to drink too much and sleep in a muddy tent. (although both of those have occured.)
today's song - walk on, u2
"you know it aches, and your heart, it breaks. you can only take so much. walk on."
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