TRAIL DAY 72
Mon, May 2, 2016 This was going to be a fairly easy corrugated day although up is up. It had rained during the night and the tent and ground were wet with drops sparkling in the morning sun. The day would be uneventful but for perhaps 4 points
One: Spring was pushing out more and more and I was captivated by her fresh, new, tender shoots. Their shape and brilliance. The little dots of color. If you’re not going for a record and you’re not under a Visa time limit or pushing for the start of school – which is to say if you have the extraordinary privilege I had to hike the trail with sufficient leisure to take in its marvels, then you see things. Lots of things – big and little – wet and dry – moving and still – rustling and waving in a breeze. You see things overhead and underfoot knowing that there is much more you don’t see – so much more.
It was another grey day with the occasional break in the clouds as nature relished the fullness of the elements.
Two: I had said at Marion that my life would be ever different after. I have not yet mentioned the big, painful difference post-Marion: FEET!
When I started preparing for the AT, I researched and shopped for my gear pretty carefully. I went to REI in Towson, Maryland, to EMS, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to other local stores, asked about, read, went online, met for several hours with a thru-hiker who had gone with his dog as well, met with another thru- hiker, went to the ATC for contacts with older hikers, etc. At EMS, I was happy with Merrell boots. For my shakedown hikes, I had bought a pair and began hiking with never a problem, not so much as a slight rub. I used a thin liner sock and a heavy Smartwool sock over top. FANTASTIC!
I bought another pair of these boots to start the AT and was just as thrilled with them. When I did my hunch-over, hang-between-your-poles rest stops, I was, of course, looking down at the ground and my feet firmly planted there and would often think to myself, with quiet, comfortable pleasure, as I wiggled my toes, “my feet are happy – very happy!” Their happiness drove home how well I had prepared and the excellence of my selections.
It was over!
I had gotten my new boots and my summer boots at EMS as well. There was a ramp to try out your footwear going up and going down to see if there were any odd pressure points. I did that. I walked around the store and out into the mall. My feet were fine in both pairs.
But, the proof of the pudding is in the woods and on the mountains, day in and day out.
There must have been a subtle difference in the pressures of the summer boots. My happy feet until Marion became a daily drag and persistently painful for over 1,000 miles. My first note in AWOL about this issue appears on the first day north of Marion: BAD BOOTS! At the Jenkins Shelter, after my longest day, I have the note: TOES!
On this day, as I made my way north with my ever-faithful companion – whose feet seemed to be doing just fine – my toes were really hurting. Ever step was painful and I found myself grimacing with each one to the point that I was aware that my face was really screwed up as if that would help relieve the pain. In what might be thought of as an odd self-conceit, once I caught myself in such intense pain that I decided to freeze my pose and document it for posterity and for my own recall. It worked! Seeing my contorted face brings it all back.
Three: Hail. When I got to the Jenny Knob Shelter just off the trail to the east, there were several other hikers already there. There was room in the shelter but, as others had done, I planned to set up my tent. I found a spot to the left of the shelter looking out and near the trail leading to it. Some ladies had their tent to my left and others were straight ahead and to the right of the shelter.
There was talk of a severe storm expected with heavy hail. It was supposed to be the kind of hail that would pepper your tent with holes. I decided to risk it.
Four: “Wildcard.”
Many people wonder if you’re really safe on the AT. They’ve seen the movie, Deliverance, set in Appalachia and they’ve read of a murder or two and maybe about “Inchworm” who was last seen on July 22, 2013 and found over 2 years later on October 14, 2015 near Remington Pond, south of Spaulding Mountain, Maine. She had gotten lost west of the Appalachian Trail in thick underbrush and fallen trees when answering a call of nature. She had no cell service and tried fires and strips of a shiny survival blanket to alert aircraft which she heard again and again to no avail.
Then, of course, they wonder about bears and snakes and wonder if you carry a weapon or other deadly device.
Surely, the statistics of crime on the AT are lower than in society. I have found nothing to the contrary.
But. One should be alert and smart.
Anyway, as I was setting up my tent or tending to some other tasks at the Jenny Knob Shelter, an unusual hiker came down the path from the trail passing close to my tent. He had a shirt that did not cover his excessively bulging belly and his hair was long and greasy. He wore an odd hat and a very strange assortment of clothing. He was uniquely unforgettable.
“What’s your trail name?” I asked him.
“I already told you my trail name!” he said.
“If you had told me your trail name, I would definitely remember it,” I promptly replied.
Nothing.
I think he slept in the shelter and there was no further contact until morning.
Day #72 Hill past Helveys Mill > Jenny Knob Shelter 9.5 miles