McAfee Knob
McAfee Knob
June 9th, 2012
New Sleeping Bag
June 9th, 20126/5/12 – 722 miles
Blue Sky, Comma-Kaze, Kleenex, Gandelf, Spam, Firefox, Benobo, Groove, Sicilian Gypsy, Mona, Slim Timber, Nuga, Bandana, Whiffle Chicken, and Sixty Five, just some of the hiker I met in town today. After days of walking alone a couple of weeks ago, now there are people I know everywhere.
Comma-Kaze, Blue Sky, Kleenex, and I shared a room at the Howard Johnson in Daleville, VA. With the coupon another hiker told me about, we only had to pay $11 apiece for the room. There was even a pool and Blue Sky and I took advantage of a swim as soon as we arrived while the girls took showers.
I rather splurged in town. Besides spending money on a lot of eating, I also dropped quite a bit of change at the outfitters. I ended up getting a Marmot Plasma 40 degree 900 fill down sleeping bag. The bag is amazing, weighs in at just over a pound and I think it is warmer than my old 20 degree bag. The sleeping bag was expensive, but two less pounds of weight for the next 1000 miles….priceless!
On my way into town I thought I was all alone. I started talking out loud, “Scotty, you’ve got to give me more power, the town tractor beam has got us and is pulling us in!”
“I’m givin’ er’ all she’s got Captain, if I give her any more she’s going to blow!” Just then I turned around and there was a trail runner behind me with a big smile on his face. I told him that we all start talking to ourselves after 700 miles on the trail.
Section or Thruhiker
June 9th, 20126/7/12 – 759 miles
I got an early start again this morning. My shoes are still in the break-in mode and I wanted to go slow. I don’t have any blisters but I feel some pressure spots that could cause me trouble if I’m not careful.
I only saw a few section hikers on the trail today. Here at the shelter I ran into a group of about 10 section hikers that had almost taken over the shelter and surrounding tent sites. It’s funny how I look at section hikers as being selfish for taking over “our” shelters, dominating the picnic table, and taking all the good tent sites, when not long ago I was the section hiker.
I’ve been staying at shelters with Comma-Kazi the last couple of days. We have been hiking the same miles. Comma-Kazi’s real name is Monica. She got her trailname because one of her niece’s always called her Comma. Blue Sky is a day behind us and Kleenex is a day ahead.
I just want to mention Kleenex’s website. She is hiking to help raise money for a project in the Christian Camp where she has worked as Program Director for the last few years. I’ve run into other hikers that are on the AT with a pretense of donating to their hike in the name of a charity, but Kleenex is one young lady that you can totally trust and believe in. Her faith and determination will take her far, not only on the AT but also in life. http://www.atforslcc.wordpress.com/
New Shoes
June 9th, 20126/6/12 741 miles
We all left town at different times. Kleenex left first, a day before the rest of us. She has a mail drop 80 miles north and needed to hurry to get there by Saturday morning. I wanted to walk around town in my new shoes for a while before heading into the woods so I left the next morning.
It’s odd how you can see so many people in town, but once on the trail, you can walk for hours without seeing anyone. I passed two shelters and finally stopped at the third 18 miles out of town. I thought I might be all alone at the shelter but several hikers showed up later. There was no place level to pitch my tent, and anyway it looked like rain, so I slept in the shelter with four others.
I guess I’m developing the thruhikers attitude about the preciousness of food. I dropped a piece of granola bar in the dirt, picked it up without a thought, and ate it. The standard joke about thruhikers is: a tourist drops some food on the ground, the thruhikers looks longingly at the food on the ground and asks, “Are you going to eat that?”
Thanks Readers
June 6th, 20126/4/12 – 722 miles
Comma-Kazi woke me at 5:30 am to see if I wanted to go back up to McAfee Knob for sunrise but I was too tired. I was in a hurry to get to Troutville, 17 miles north and pick up my mail drop with my new shoes. I only saw a few day hikers on the way into Troutville. Kleenex, Comma-Kazi, Blue Sky and I were planning on splitting the cost of a room.
I want to thank everyone for reading and commenting on my journey. It gives me an incentive to write down the adventure even when I’m tired. I’ll be glad to have a record to look back on in the future, also.