New Orleans

We arrived in New Orleans around 1 PM on Memorial Day, May 25th. This means that we missed the moment of thought and silence at 3PM. I notice this around 3:30 on Bourbon Street after ordering my first beer on the way to the cathedral. Yeah, there is so much sin in that sentence I fear my Catholic grandmother reading this. Hey, I stuck to my guns at least about finishing the beer before going into the church at least! The St. Louis cathedral is the oldest in America and what I expected. It was beautiful, wonderfully constructed and a classic Catholic church. I was secretly hoping I might stumble across something to be an architectural rival to the amazing European cathedrals, but alas I was still taken with the classic beauty and peaceful energy it offered. Cristy took a video of a man falling asleep in the pew doing the whole body nodding/falling. Sure, she is going to hell too, but this was funny stuff man! We almost couldn’t contain ourselves. He was wearing beads and probably hadn’t showered in a week. Oh well, that described me too not that long ago! Except not falling asleep drunk in a church I mean.
We had lunch at Café Pontalba that had been recommended by Nano. I also suggest the combo of Gumbo, Jambalaya and red beans & rice. I further recommend Voodoo Juice for a drink! We continued walking around Jackson Square, taking lots of pictures of everything. NoThai is not impressed, he says it feels just like Telaveve. Having never been there (hehe), I’m even taking pictures of the surrounding buildings because I think the balconies are amazing. We make our way to the market just before they are closing and we convince NoThai not to buy his girlfriend a crocodile head as a souvenir (sorry Dana if this is something you would have liked)! We head back to our hotel, the Prince Conti Inn (very nice for the cheap price) to rest a bit before getting ready for the night. We followed my fathers advice and drank our way down Bourbon Street (hey, dad said so)! We stopped in booty shakin’ clubs (where I danced on stage for a free shot), the oldest bar in the country (an excellent candle lit piano bar that makes you think you have stepped back in time). We poked our heads in to listen to some jazz, blues and karaoke. We even went into an uhm, adult bar where an entertainer was rude to us (after declining private entertainment, we were informed she was trying to make some money here)! We walked around the art district to window shop between drinks before NoThai called it. I turned over my room key and Tippy and I headed to gay town where we found a men’s dance club to crash with our estrogen. More of me dancing on stage and then we headed out to demand hand grenade’s from the proprietor that had already closed. They obliged and we were again on our merry way. It was about 3:30 when we made some friends that directed us to where we could find lady bars (but they were closed), and reggae bars (which were a bit of a trek). We decide maybe we’ll stay another night and do that tomorrow but for tonight, a bathroom and some greasy eggs are the only things left to be accomplished. We happily find Cody (the guy I was stage dancing with) at the diner and we promise to e-mail him pictures.
We load up the car the next morning and check out a bit before 11am and head to the aquarium. It was good, about what I expected and I think worth the $15. We went to Café du Monde and had beignets (over rated) and then our last stop was the cemetery. I took lots of pictures here too. I was surprised to see the hurricane damage so prevalent here on some, but completely untouched by others. We drove around the surrounding neighborhood west of the city to see more local flavor. Again, it was strange to see how some buildings had been restored, completely rebuilt or still dilapidated right next to each other.
New Orleans concluded, we headed north to Michigan as it was decided to forgo Florida for now. It was a very long drive, Cristy and I sharing driving duties. I got dropped off in Plymouth before NoThai was deposited in Southfield. Driving through Kentucky a bit after sunrise was my favorite. I've always thought Kentucky is so beautiful.

Mississippi

We stayed at Tippy's grandmother's house as well as her father's house. NoThai tried fried catfish (some of the best I might add) and Reese peanut butter cups. We booked our room in New Orleans and I'm looking forward to it. We plan on leaving here early tomorrow morning to have two full days. I have everything updated, photos uploaded and even a video, so enjoy!

Mississippi

Onward to Mississippi today! We stopped in Starkville to tour the other MSU campus and visited Ryan (Tippy's friend) for a short visit before arriving at Granny's. She has an evil cat named Baby that hates everyone, including Granny, who she sometimes bites!
My knees are incredibly stiff and sore. I've been taking the oils my mom sent and hopefully they will heal/get better. The alternative is that I've done permanent damage to them. I can feel things inside there moving around when I bend my knee!

Oh, so that is my plan, by the way - to get back on the trail, sort of. I would like to get my car and keep on going up the trail to see the hot spots and section hike. I'm not done with the trail entirely, I'm just done climbing mountains everyday with 40 lbs on my back for the next 4 months! It has been a great experience (for all the reasons I've already mentioned) and I'm so happy to have met the most wonderful people (again, I can't say this enough). I've challenged myself mentally and physically and risen to that challenge, but it is my choice to stop. I could keep on the same way for the sheer sake of saying I did it, but that isn't important to me. It stopped being fun, and I want to do this the fun way. Maybe I'll fill in the gaps I skip later if it becomes important to me to finish that way at some point, but right now it isn't and it is so much more important to me that I do what I want right now the way I want. I feel like I got a lot of what I was looking for out here too. There are just some other areas I was looking forward to seeing and still want to go see, like Dragon's tooth, McAfee Knob and others.

So, I'm really excited to go to New Orleans (and hopefully see Bluto and Photoshop) and I'm also looking forward to meeting back up with Queen Becky at some point along the trail when I get my car and keep on. Tippy is talking about not going to Florida now and wanting to go back to Michigan. Nothai and I are deciding our options for driving back with her or not.

Alabama

I slept the best I've slept in a while (latest too, eleven). We went to Nacalola Falls Park and illegally rock climbed enough to work up a sweat and then went swimming at Jeff's dads house. Jennifer, Jeff's GF, cooked an amazing spaghetti dinner and I was turned back onto cooked mushrooms when they are stuffed with yummy cream cheese concoction! Heading back on the road tomorrow morning.

North Carolina to Alabama

Breakfast at Waffle House (Tippy was very excited about this), and then stopped at a Goodwill so NoThai and I could buy a new normal clothes. Tippy tried to take my finger off with her car window at a tattoo shop where I needed to stop for a new nose ring. We said bye to Bluto (will we see him again in New Orleans?) and did a drive by through Asheville. We drove north through the Smokies (Tippy hadn't ever been) and stopped at Clingman's Dome. The weather was perfect, better than when I hiked through even. This is certainly another affirmation that I shouldn't be hiking anymore - beautiful weather on the days I'm not on the trail! :) NoThai and I relive the 'good 'ol days' by having lunch at Newfound Gap. We drove through Gatlinburg and Pidgeon Forge so Tippy could see the tourist vomititous that it is. We make it to Tippy's college friend, Jeff's house in Gadsten, Alabama around 1AM. I am wondering what kind of crack she smoked before we arrived and how I missed out - she was bouncing off the walls when we got there - it was cute!

Damascus to Asheville

We found and were able to get close enough to the wild ponies at Greyson Highlands...YES! I enjoyed this scenery greatly. It was a treat to see something that was starting to look different. The ponies were smaller than I imagined and shaggy. We walked down the trail for a bit to these huge rock formations that I wanted to climb on.

We drove through Damascus again (to pick up Becky's prescription), through Johnson City (got an oil change), Erwin (dropped off Becky at the Beauty Spot) and settled in Asheville, North Carolina in a hotel with Tippy, Bluto and NoThai. It was a long day of driving and we were all getting restless I think. I'm glad we took Queen Becky to the beauty spot though, it was beautiful! We got some really great pictures there. I also had the opportunity to say goodbye to Mala as well.

I reacquainted myself with a razor (it has been a whole week since showering, but I still felt clean since I hadn't really been sweating at all). Tippy and NoThai wrestled and Bluto played with his laptop until it was bed time. We are all pretty rambunctious after being in the car all day and we all crashed pretty hard. Bluto made an exception to his 'I don't share my bed with dudes' rule thankfully, so he and Nothai snuggled together all night. :) It was pretty funny, and in the morning Bluto called Nothai "lover hebrew" making fun of Cristy and I. It was hilarious and a name I think will stick for a while for him!

Trail Days

I really didn't write each day in my journal during the weekend, so I'll need to just sort of write what I can, not particularly in the right order and I'm likely missing some detai
We moved our tents to Dennit and Meagan's property where NoThai secured us spots when he arrived last week. The Baptist church hosted an excellent free dinner for early arrivals. Over the weekend I ran back into almost everyone I hoped to see (except Wolverine!). Chef, Screefreak, Nano and Walking Home got a ride into town from Miss Janet's daughter and then Bluto showed up a bit later. I even saw Black Eyed Susan again and had dinner with Flying Turtle! Of course I met tons of new people, of which I can't remember half of. Wolverine and I just missed each other all weekend (the only disappointment for me). Tippy had to relocate into her car the second night when it rained and her fly wasn't pulled taunt enough and her tent flooded. Watching and listening to the drum circle around the tent was amazing! :) Queen Becky was face painting and painted Tippy and I perfectly. Tippy, Photoshop and I went to hear a Native American flute player and then I got my T-shirt ready for the parade. Walking Home exacted revenge on a small local girl for squirting me with a squirt gun by throwing a water balloon of steel at her face! Tippy got pulled over by a bike cop for letting some girls ride on the back of her car - he let us off! I laid in a bunch of hammocks and wish I would have tried that earlier. I found an amazing green amber ring and taught KamaSutraRed how to belly dance! Tippy and NoThai jumped on the blow up bouncy thing.
Okay, so we said our Goodbye's in Damascus to everyone at Mojo's (the coffee shop). It is sad, because I know that this weekend is the last time I will ever see some of my traveling companions again. I knew it, they knew it, and we just sort of said, "okay, bye!" I am going to miss all of them. Everyone has been so great and honestly I think the people I traveled with kept me going longer than I might have made it otherwise. I am really going to miss everyone. :(
We headed to Greyson Highlands with Queen Becky in our car and NoThai with Bluto. Along the way, we saw a sign outside of a church that said, "Stop Drop and Roll won't work in Hell!" OMG!
We set up camp in Greyson Highlands, had dinner over the fire and had a great night laughing and listening to music over a nice fire. It got a bit colder than expected and I realized this is exactly why you don't send cold clothes home until Pearisburg!

Boone to Damascus

We drove through the country today after some shopping in downtown Boone. We stopped at a "Country General Store" where we bought 2 cucumbers to add to our lunch. The funny part about it, is this general store had about 5 cans of soda, a few candy bars, a couple of bags of chips and crackers and a box of tomatoes competing for our business. We were looking for a nice place to pull off the road to have lunch and settled for a cemetery. Morbid maybe, but it was beautiful. Cristy read my medicine cards and then we were off to Damascus for the Trail Days festival. When we arrived we set up our tents in Tent City because it was almost dark. We found NoThai at Dots having a beer and Queen Becky walking back to camp. Our reunion was filled with laughter and squeals of joy. We proposed our plan to NoThai to drive south to visit Cristy's family, then New Orleans (because I've never been and we will be 2 hours away) and then to Florida to get my car before heading back to Michigan! He is in and I'm so excited!

Even though Cristy isn't hiking she somehow managed to pick up a trail name tonight, Just the Tip, and Tippy for short! I can't recite the whole story here, but it's a funny one. We hung out at Dots and Nothai and I filled each other in on everything we missed the last week.

Roadtrip Begins!

Around noon today Cristy arrived and we both screamed and hugged each other for a while before we got in her car and started our road trip. We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway and decided to do some hiking (gawd). We paid $5 to hike up what was supposed to be a 3 mile hike up Grandfather Mountain. After three hours and rock climbing it occurred to me that the 3 mile hike was probably just to a different trail head we had passed a while ago. We had taken the 'profile' trail, which brought us to a neat spot where you could see a rock outcrop that looked like the profile of someones face. It was 7:30 and we needed to bust it down this mountain to be out before dark. I hadn't brought my headlamp or anything really that would help this situation. We made it back to the car just as the last bits of sunlight disappeared. We drove to Boone, North Carolina and got a room for the night that advertised, "One bed, two people, $29.95". It was perfect. It was a great first day of hiking, non-hiking adventure. It was great to see my chicken!

Deep Thoughts After

I want to write down and capture all the things I've thought of so I don't let them slip by. These are all thoughts I've had to some degree while walking that I haven't had the time to really write about, and I want to take the time to do it now.

I see food differently, as a source of energy and sustenance. I'm able to clearly distinguish eating for necessity from other reasons we often eat. I can feel hunger differently and know what a proper portion is. I want to change things in my diet. I want to read Eat for your Blood Type which was recommended by Connie at Greasy Creek Friendly. I also want to explore vegetarian and more healthful cooking, inspired by Elmers. I'm aware of how I feel after eating certain foods or too much and that feeling of sick isn't worth it.

I see my body differently, as a powerful vehicle that needs better care to be used to its fullest (or at least better) potential. I see the trivial things like body hair, pimples, bruises and blisters as parts of the whole rather than imperfections to remedy and dote on instead of seeing the whole. And the whole is a lot better than the way I saw it before. I'm ready to take better care of my physical vessel.

I see people much differently, especially those that aren't the same as me. I feel that they have even more to teach me. I've been humbled by the people I've met, some of which I might have judged before, I appreciate for their differences, simplicity, complications, etc. I really have fallen back in love with people.

We learn of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in school and it makes sense in a theoretical world, but I'd never been without the basic needs to really appreciate the extras. And now, I feel the need to simplify those extras because I think it blinds you, takes you off course from what is important and what matters. Your physical crap accumulating doesn't matter. Having food, shelter and clothing matter, then people and your relationships with them. Too many (including me) stock our homes full of things to try to fill the emptiness in our hearts. After taking care of our basic needs we should look for happiness through life and laughter.

I see myself differently. I was always measuring before. Mostly against myself, not others. But even still, I was measuring things that don't matter, like my future plan for "success" or how to get there the "right way" and a lot of black and white thinking. I've always been pretty free with money, as a means to an end and not minding spending for others or myself. However, I see frugality as more of an asset inasmuch to find different ways to achieve the same results without spending money at all. I think I've also been much too hard on myself and too consumed with the exterior picture instead of the real inside. The real inside is so much more important, and when you are happy with that the exterior will look good too, maybe just in a different way. I judged others, but hardest of all, myself. To what measuring stick though? A pretty screwed up one when I didn't have any good answers to the question. I think even the questions were deterring and assuming certain truths that are completely fictitious. The reality is this: I simply am what I am.

Roan Mountain Decision

There were a few other people at Greasy Creek Friendly, but I honestly don't remember them. They were all planning on walking like a million miles the next day and I was not, so I didn't bother getting to know them. Connie (CC), the hostel owner was very nice and freely shared her beliefs on lots of things with me. I embraced her suggestion to read a book, "How to eat for your blood type" which sounds like it makes a lot of sense. I got the 2 packages Dad sent - thank you, and the package Mom sent.

I spent my computer time uploading pictures today - so enjoy those and know I'm doing well.

I met Genius when I got back to the trail - and it is a good thing too, because I wasn't entirely sure which way was north! We walked and talked for a short bit and he stopped at the next shelter to take a nap. It seems he isn't feeling well. I signed the register, had a snack and kept on. I stopped at this little spot among the pine trees (my favorite) for lunch and laid on the ground for a break. I laid looking at the sky, thinking...I realize at this moment that I'm a camper, a day hiker or even a weekend backpacker. I would rather pitch my tent here and relax, but there are supposed to be thunderstorms tonight and I've only walked about 4 or 5 miles. It occurs to me later, but I'll mention it now- I'm sick of doing what I don't feel like doing out of commitment outside of work obligations. This is my life, I only get one - and I'm going to start living it my way without the pressure of 'shoulding' myself when it comes to my personal life. Maybe everything won't get done efficiently or sometimes even at all, but I'll be a lot happier!
Okay, so I continue on, cross a road and start up Roan Mountain. This is going to be a 3 mile ascent going up over 2,000 feet. I run out of water, I trip and wipe out at one point (thats gonna leave a mark!), and it starts to rain. I'm sick of rain - it has rained or snowed almost every day out here and the days it hasn't have almost all been on a zero day - this is unusual I'm told, but it doesn't help my rapidly increasing hatred of moisture in the air. Spicoli passes me after we talk for a minute. We haven't seen each other since Franklin and we update each other on our counterparts. Moe also creeps up behind me - this girl is FAST! She is just as surprised to see me until I explain that I skipped from Hot Springs to Greasy Creek. We talk about 'owning your decision'. I get interviewed by some day hikers very curious about what I'm doing and why - these questions maybe couldn't come at a better or worse time (either might apply). A few southbound slackpackers pass me, including Ned the Fed whom I've heard so much about and hadn't ever met.
I'm at Asch gap and still have 2 miles up. I don't want to do this anymore. I feel drained of all motivation to continue up this mountain or up any others. After conquering so many other mountains, winning while climbing...I know that this one is defeating me. I think of the road I passed and wonder where it might go. Could those slackpackers have a shuttle there picking them up that I could catch? I contemplate my options as it pours and thunder rumbles around me. I'm done - I turn around and head down the mountain - defeated? No, actually feeling totally relieved! I'm proud of everything I've done and how far I've gone, but I'm not enjoying it and that is the most important part for me right now. It took only a few hours of being alone with myself to figure out that I'm done with this part. My adventure is not over, not at all, but I'm done thru hiking the AT. And it might sound strange, but for me and the way I know I am, I'm proud of myself for quitting and being honest with myself about how I feel. I'm sorry to anyone who feels disappointment at this, if you were looking forward to the whole journey. There are a lot of great people's trail journals to read that are still walking, I'm just going to change up my adventure.
Moving on with the story of this day, I get to the road and nobody is there. I picked the direction I thought might be north (I was right!) and that brought me to a house about a quarter mile down where I found four very helpful and wonderful guys. We took some time to get to know each other and I stayed at the house that night. They fed and entertained me with southern hospitality, humor and storytelling. I got a ride the next day to Linville, North Carolina and stayed at the Pixie Inn. I met a few locals staying in the next room, one guy who is also thinking of hiking the trail. We talked gear a bit and one of them offered to give me a ride to Damascus in a few days. I called Cristy later that night to see if she was still thinking of coming to Trail Days. She talked to Nate and everything is good. In fact, she is on her way here to pick me up and we will head to Damascus together! I'm so excited to see lover chicken!

Hot Springs

Last night at Elmer's I met Dylan and Rachel, two kids that are doing work for stays at organic farms around the USA. This sounds really neat and I want to check it out later. I'm putting the website here so I can find it later; wwoofusa.org

Pidgeon also sang to me a song, Amy, that I'd never heard before. It was really neat, watching all of them play together, including Scavenger.

Elmer's is an old Victorian house that reminds me of Grandma and Grandpa Heany's in Chicago. It is absolutely beautiful. The bathrooms even have the claw leg tubs.

One of his guests that is a pianist gave us a show after dinner. It was very good, and included several classical songs.

Bluto decided he is going to New York to visit his mom for mothers day and offered to give us rides wherever we wanted to go. NoThai is going straight to Damascus for Trail Days. I am getting a ride to Erwin to get my mail at Greasy Creek Friendly and then I'll walk into Damascus. Looks like I'll meet up with everyone in Damascus and we will see how this week alone goes.

Oh, Elmer asks a dinner question (by the way, the homemade vegetarian cuisine here is wonderful!), and it was; "What is your final destination?" I said that I hope to never have one and always be looking at what the next adventure is.

Roaring Fork to Hot Springs - A change

18 miles today...you know this is only possible when the promise of a hot shower and warm bed is at the end of the day. Nothai doesn't know, but he pushed me the last 7 miles, in a good way. It was tough for me to keep up with him - he is a machine, but I just kept truckin' along...and made it to HOT SPRINGS by 5:30!
Walking on cement after walking on trail is so weird...it looks like there is something wrong with you. Nothai and I got acquainted with the entire town trying to find a place to stay. We settled for two cots on the porch at Elmers. It was GREAT! SETTLED - HA, we are opting to stay another night in the same place instead of taking an inside bed. We watched a lightning storm that woke us in the middle of the night. It was amazing.
Elmer's is a fantastic place. I ran back into Seaweed and Fisherman, Maui (sp?) Bob, Transition and many others. Nothai is heading to Michigan from here. I'm so glad to have met him and have really enjoyed our time, talks and laughs together. He is really an unforgettable person and I feel sad that he is going, but happy for him too. Hopefully he will still be in Michigan when I get back. It has been great being included and getting to know all the Clusterfunkers, but I need to change things up for me and hike my own hike. I have been letting the group set my pace. There is a pressure I'm feeling, not just from hiking with others, but a pressure even in my own mind about how fast I need to go to get to Maine before the park closes. And to do this at some point you need to put in higher mileage days and I'm just not happy doing it that way. I like to take my time during the day and stop whenever I want; because I see something neat, because I want to listen to the water awhile, etc. I also have packages ahead of me that I need to get to that I'm stressing about. So, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to do this my way. I might not pass every blaze and be a true "2175 mile hiker", but I came to the conclusion that I'd be very unhappy on a daily basis if I do it that way. I've spent a month pushing myself and I know that physically and mentally I am capable of that, but I'm really not enjoying what it and doing it my way. Unfortunately, my way will never get me there in time because I like to screw around and lollygag. It is better than cursing my way up a mountain though and hating the day. So, I'm jumping ahead 70 some miles of trail to Erwin to get my packages and walk into Damascus for Trail Days, which I'm trying to convince Nothai to go to. YES - I'M CHEATING AGAIN - THIS TIME IN A BIG WAY...I'm okay with it. When I decided this today after thinking for the last two days about things I really felt relief. This is my adventure, and I want to hike the AT in my way. I have hiked straight through 270 something miles.

Topping Max Patch

Bluto headed back to Standing Bear with Nosence. Nosence is going to California to hang with friends and Bluto has swine flu. Not really swine fever, but he is sick and hacking up a lung and thinking of meeting us in Damascus for Trail Days. He had a hard day yesterday and woke this morning feeling horrible. I almost got him to push on by brow beating, but he is truly sick I think, otherwise my wily female charms might have worked! :)
Today was the hardest and messiest day so far! It was really crazy. I was sweating bullets early in the day and planned on stopping to take off my base layer pants (under my rain pants) and also change into my short sleeve shirt instead of the long sleeve shirt I was wearing. It started raining (this is now expected every day) so I put my pack cover on and enjoy it, as I was really hot and the rain was cold and felt great.
To the left of us (CFC was all walking together), a visible gray sheet of rain was rushing toward us literally like a wall of wetness sounding like a waterfall (it made us paranoid later when we heard moving water around a corner that we might get the wall of rain again). It poured on us, very very COLD rain. This at first was okay because we were working up such a sweat, and almost welcomed. However, it didn't stop after 5 minutes like usual, and like I said, it was really cold rain. It continued, and got worse. Nothai took off ahead of us when Screefreak, Chef and I slowed to adjust clothes. Eventually I got separated too when I stopped for a couple of minutes too. I was trying to ascend Max Patch (which I hear is supposed to be beautiful balds resembling Scotland), and the angry wind is pelting my face so hard with stinging icy raindrops, I can barely look up and keep my head down against it. I'm seriously thinking about hypothermia and pushing myself because I know if I stop that could be really bad! I'm shivering and getting pretty cold. Now, when I say that I'm soaked - I'm being literal about this. If I had jumped into a pool and gotten out that is how wet I was. My feet were just sopping. The though of lightening enters my mind as I hear thunder and realize that I'm in a BAD position if it starts. There really isn't anywhere for me to run, if I could run...but I'm doubting that I could do that with my squishy feet. Thankfully no lightening, and in fact, everything abruptly stopped right before leaving the area enough for me to pull out the camera and get in a few foggy pictures.
I'm having thoughts of not finishing today, not quitting, but not thru hiking everything the 'right way'. This could be low blood sugar talking. It could be that I'm in a bad mood too. I'll think more about what I mean tomorrow.

It is what it is

I've walked 245 miles! We left at noon to give Screefreak a little more time for R&R and got in an easy 7 something miles to the shelter. Another rainy day. I don't know for how many days, but it has rained every day for a while now it seems. The rain isn't normal rain either. It is very sporadic and changes in a heartbeat from a drizzle to downpour and anything in between. The only thing I'm sick of right now is the "swoosh swoosh swoosh" of my rain pants. I made a muddy mess of things trying to get into my tent tonight. I took my pants off outside but then stepped on them inside out so they are a muddy mess out there. Oh well, the inside is dry and mud free - that's the only thing that counts. I literally stripped outside of my tent and just left my clothes out there in a pile to deal with tomorrow. Everything is wet, there isn't anyplace to hang stuff really and it is supposed to keep raining, so what difference does it make really? The point that counts is that I'm in my tent in dry clothes and my tent is keeping everything wet on the outside!
So, another deep thought today entitled: "It is what it is". This popular corporate catch phrase kept running through my head when I was thinking about the differences between being out here on the AT and life in the real world. Out here, everything is just accepted. Nobody expects or gives apologies for the sweating, stinking, farting, peeing, snotting, heavy breathing, fast or slow walking, etc. These are things that in the real world have perceptions attached to them that are cause for embarrassment, apologies, ridicule even...and out here it just is - and it is accepted as such. I love it. I love it because I think that this way of looking at things is so much healthier and I wish everyone could see life this way. Again, this may not make sense to you and I could go on about it more (I thought about it a lot today), but I'm recording it more for my own looking back later. I guess it is about judgments being made again, about others, about ourselves, about what others think of you or your ideas of others. Instead of all that - it is what it is.

Standing Bear Farm

First let me say, pictures are coming soon. I generally get 30 minutes per town to try to read e-mail and update the blog. Unfortunately pictures take a bit longer and sometimes I can't even upload because of computer limitations.

It was a short day - 3 miles into Standing Bear Farm, a hostel. It's funny how things work out here. I didn't get a hat in Cherokee but I wanted to get one for the rain, and then I found an abandoned Addidas hat in a shelter that nobody has claimed. SCORE! I forgot to buy sunscreen for my nose and cheeks, which have been getting burned and my freckles are jumping out of my face. I found some 50+ SPF 'baby face' stick in another shelter - DOUBLE SCORE!

Okay, so I think I may have spotted the Jack O'Lantern mushroom (which I wanted to see oh so much) while in the Smokies. I'm not entirely sure - I took pictures, I'll look it up later.

I got my replacement drugs from Cristy and her letter (which I've read twice now). Sounds like there is a bit of drama going on at home. I'm really happy to have the drugs though. I'm definitely feeling the affects of not having it. I was getting headaches like I used to. I've also been getting some 'brain fog', which could be dangerous.

I have met a bunch of new people here; Walking Home, RLB, Quatro, Wren, Bonbon. Ran back into Birdie and Bubbles (yay!), Bluto is here as promised and Screefreak even showed up about 4pm. Things didn't work out so well with him and his GF hiking I guess and she is back on her way to England. They tried to head out of Fontana and turned back two days in a row before they called it and he took her back to the airport. Nosense got dropped off from his brother too! Bluto's leg is on the mend and he'll be heading out with us tomorrow, although now he thinks he may have caught swine flu from Birdie who has been laid up here sick. Looks like the CFC is back in force.

TriCorner to Davenport Gap

It rained all day today. Sometimes just a drizzle, but for the most part all day it rained in some form. I like it. I know I'm in the minority here amongst hikers, but I love it. I probably wouldn't love it many days in a row when everything I have is wet, but I like a day or two of it. It makes everything look real.
Today was my highest mileage day yet – 14.8 miles! I stretched for a long time tonight and I think that will help with body pain. I'm not stretching enough I think. My muscles are angry at the end of the day and even more so in the morning. I'm not stretching often or well enough.
Oh-two local guys told Chef and I that we weren't going to make it because we are too late. Everyone at the shelter tonight thought that was incredible. Nothai went all the way to Standing Bear today to take a full zero tomorrow. Chef and I will met him tomorrow after 3 short miles in. Tonight Chef, Ging-er, Nano and I are playing Uchre (sp?).
Oh! Ha, so I had to go poop while walking today, which puts you in an awkward position. You have to scope out a good poop spot. Something easy to get to, but out of view from anyone on the trail. I left my pack on the trail and go to do my business. I finish and on the way back I am trying to watch were I'm stepping so that I leave as little trace as possible and also not step on a snake or something. Totally bit it - and slide down the hill on my back to the trail and pack. Rain clothes are really good for this, sort of like sledding. I laughed at myself and continued on. More importantly, I was bumming a bit before, thinking about a past relationship and ready to really get myself into a funk over it. After laughing at myself, I just wasn't feelin' the funk and was really taken by the beauty of the moment instead.

Icewater to Tri-Corner Knob

We were about halfway done packing up this morning when all of a sudden – RAIN, big fat thick heavy rain pouring from the sky! Well, we had been lucky the last couple of days, the weather having been pretty nice (if not a bit too hot) when it was 30-40% rain with isolated thunderstorms supposedly yesterday and for the next week. I guess we got it today. It only poured for the first 45 minutes maybe of us walking then sort of drizzled off and on. Honestly, I'm really happy it did. I don't think it would have been the Smokies if I didn't get rain. Also, the clouds/fog do amazing things in the mountains that I was really looking forward to seeing again. It was great.
Walking the ridge lines today felt like Groundhog day, like we were walking the same path over and over again or something.
There was a really neat view where we were actually seeing the isolated thunderstorms. I took a picture, but I'm not sure how well it will come out.
We walked through a lot of pine forests today, and it reminds me of NERO. I realized that there was something missing though-Suede. I don't know why...actually, I do know why-the smell of dirty suede and pine reminds me of NERO when I first started playing. I thought a lot of those days today.