June 11
Today started kind of slow. Most of the other people were gone by eight. I took forever for me to pack up my gear. We made several more comments about how Willie should try dudes, and somehow he told us a story about how he wore ladies' underwear to high school one day.
Scarred for life, I headed out around 9:30.
Willie said he was going to spend the morning swimming naked. Matt made the comment that if Willie kissed a dude, it would be the first natural thing he'd have seen on the trail.
Ten minutes after I left camp, I fell face first into a puddle of mud. It was awesome. I walked a little ways to a stream, and tried to wring out my shirt.
The rest of the morning was uneventful. We climbed a smallish mountain. I told Matt that I'd meet him ahead at the spring. I attempted to get cell service, and when that didn't happen, I enjoyed the view. I walked off on some rocks and found a hat with a mosquito net. I was afraid of finding a dead camper, but I didn't.
I met Matt down the road at the spring. We were both dying of thirst. Since his pace is much faster, I told him to hike on to the second lean-to and that if I didn't make the first lean-to by six, I would just stay the night there.
I made a quick footwear change, putting on my Croc flipflops. I happily wore them until the next lean-to. To get there I had to cross a swift moving stream. The guide book says you're supposed to ford it, but I used my amazing balancing skills and made it across on two fallen logs.
When I got there, there was a dude who was about to go down to the steam to bathe and do laundry. After spying on him for several hours, I headed on. Ten minutes after I left, I had another mud episode. My flipflops were sucked in. They made it out safely, but I had to make another footwear change.
Life was good for the next hour. Then it started to rain.
I had no desire to head back, which would mean another night with Willie, so I soldiered forth. I crossed a road a mile and a half before the lean-to. The car I had been praying about was not there to meet me. There was a spring there to quench my thirst, which was good because I was almost out of water. It took me almost two hours to climb to the lean-to. Some idiot had the great idea to put it on the side of a mountain.
I finally made it to my resting spot at 8. Matt's eyes popped out of his head. He thought I wouldn't have made it and stayed at the previous lean-to. He said I had heart.
Our pals from the previous night are not here. We think they went to a camp site after the mountains. We're sharing the shelter with Adam from outside of Birmingham. I didn't ask if he knew my brother. Today's total mileage was 11.5.
Tomorrow is an easy day (only 7ish), but it's all mountains.
But mountains mean cell service. Hooray!
Scarred for life, I headed out around 9:30.
Willie said he was going to spend the morning swimming naked. Matt made the comment that if Willie kissed a dude, it would be the first natural thing he'd have seen on the trail.
Ten minutes after I left camp, I fell face first into a puddle of mud. It was awesome. I walked a little ways to a stream, and tried to wring out my shirt.
The rest of the morning was uneventful. We climbed a smallish mountain. I told Matt that I'd meet him ahead at the spring. I attempted to get cell service, and when that didn't happen, I enjoyed the view. I walked off on some rocks and found a hat with a mosquito net. I was afraid of finding a dead camper, but I didn't.
I met Matt down the road at the spring. We were both dying of thirst. Since his pace is much faster, I told him to hike on to the second lean-to and that if I didn't make the first lean-to by six, I would just stay the night there.
I made a quick footwear change, putting on my Croc flipflops. I happily wore them until the next lean-to. To get there I had to cross a swift moving stream. The guide book says you're supposed to ford it, but I used my amazing balancing skills and made it across on two fallen logs.
When I got there, there was a dude who was about to go down to the steam to bathe and do laundry. After spying on him for several hours, I headed on. Ten minutes after I left, I had another mud episode. My flipflops were sucked in. They made it out safely, but I had to make another footwear change.
Life was good for the next hour. Then it started to rain.
I had no desire to head back, which would mean another night with Willie, so I soldiered forth. I crossed a road a mile and a half before the lean-to. The car I had been praying about was not there to meet me. There was a spring there to quench my thirst, which was good because I was almost out of water. It took me almost two hours to climb to the lean-to. Some idiot had the great idea to put it on the side of a mountain.
I finally made it to my resting spot at 8. Matt's eyes popped out of his head. He thought I wouldn't have made it and stayed at the previous lean-to. He said I had heart.
Our pals from the previous night are not here. We think they went to a camp site after the mountains. We're sharing the shelter with Adam from outside of Birmingham. I didn't ask if he knew my brother. Today's total mileage was 11.5.
Tomorrow is an easy day (only 7ish), but it's all mountains.
But mountains mean cell service. Hooray!
I see a commercial or at least a cartoon in this.
A climber makes the long and arduous journey to the peak of the mountain. For the wise man to tell him the meaning of life? Nope. For good cell service.
I just found this through Sam's site. My best to you.
Mike
Posted by
chez bez |
June 13, 2007 at 1:16 AM