Look at me! I'm on the internet again!  I am so excited this time because it is unlimited time.  We are back at Carrie's house in Asheville, NC.  Just a break.  So I can give you one long lengthy bonafide e-mail.  It was so great staying up till 3 in the morning last night and reading all my e-mails.  It was so neat to hear from everyone.  Anyways.  I left you at the library in Hiawassee, somewhere in Georgia, since then we have walked across the border into North Carolina and now we are along the trail that borders Tennessee and North Carolina.  Literally, you walk along narrow mountain ridges and on one side it's TN and on the other NC.  There is one shelter we stayed at called Double Springs Shelter, it has a spring in TN and one in NC.  Nifty.  So, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm not sure how interesting it is to talk about hiking day in and day out but there has been a few things thrown in.  Like weather.  We've climbed some hefty mountains and it seems that it likes to get dramatically cold at the top.  Carrie and I are talking about the bragging rights we are racking up, "It was soooo cold . . . ." From the town with the library and free internet we walked right into sleet.  It was during a big climb and the forest was completely foggy and looked just like something from Lord of the Rings.  Then the sleet began and we were all excited because we were hot so we let it fall on us, we got soaked and it felt good, then we got higher, the sleet turned to big fluffy flakes and then the hill ended and suddenly we realized that we were both just about soaking wet in a real live snowstorm.  Oops, it's scary how quickly you can become one of those stories about people getting themselves into stupid situations.  Interesting to mention because the same campsite we had camped out had a message about some missing hiker that hadn't been seen for 4 days.  This was Bly Gap campground and another trail went off to the left.  We figured he had gone that way, gotten himself lost and didn't bother to turn around.  Smart.  Anyways, no big suspense, they finally sent out a search party and he was found within 2 hrs of officially starting the search.  He was walking along some forest service road a couple miles from a town nowhere near the AT.

My participation in the stupid-city-slicker ideas was that I had sent home a windbreaker that the Melears loaned me.  My theory was that I had a poncho, 2 wool sweaters and 2 longjohn shirts.  When worst came to worse I could pile it all on and be fine.  Except I lost one of the wool sweaters.  Anyways, I looked like a hunchback when I tried to have the poncho be my pack cover and raincoat.  So much for being a savvy looking hiker.  Oh it was soooo cold.  Our fingers hurt to try to do anything and I thought about how it is to freeze to death and how those moments before the hypothermia must be so painful.  By this time we were huddled in a shelter with a bunch of other moaning hikers.  Hot water was being boiled on every little stove you could see.  Vagrant made a whole Nalgene bottle of tea and then kept it as a water bottle.  Soon everyone was doing that and that's how Carrie and I got our sleep that night.  'Scuze me, Carrie has a trail name that she has accepted (for now), it's Trip n' Slide.  Like Slip n' Slide, you can figure out how she got it.  Anyways, the cold got old because from that shelter we spent 3 days in that cold.  It would sleet or snow and the wind was terrible.  It was alright as we climbed Albert Mountain but when it came to the descent we no longer had the struggle that had produced so much heat before.  Suddenly everyone was thinking about Franklin, the next town stop.  It worked perfect for me because it was Friday and I take Saturday off anyways.  It was great, everyone poured in and stayed put.  Pretty much everyone that had been in the shelter we met up with at the road crossing and somehow 6 of us got a hitch in a tiny little pick-up and drove down to a campground with a convenience store.  Oh, it was so wonderful.  The room steamed and the cashier welcomed all the loiters.  Some people bought themselves hot chocolates and we waited for a shuttle to town.  It's great, the hotels here really cater to hikers, they post their numbers at road crossings and . . .

You guys!  All right, I took a break, got distracted, you know, sleep and all that.  Anyways, I went to look up a picture on my website and here Charity has updated it!  It is sooo cool!  All right, I shouldn't be the one bragging about my own website but I really like it.  But Charity, did you keep the picture of the world on there that you painted?  I liked that.  Whatever.  There isn't too much new stuff I don't think.  I think she is still waiting for the CDs to show up in the mail.  That sea mail is slow.  I think they should be arriving any day though.  We'll see.  If you want you can check it out, it has a new look at least.  www.roadsparrow.com .  There's stuff on there that I've forgotten about.  Well, I think I have to go.  Carrie and her mom have company I think the polite thing to do is to visit even though they're strangers to me.  I will be writing this e-mail in sections for sure.  I should have just about all day tomorrow though.  And by the way, I notice that I really leave things at midsentance like that.  I have to come back and remember what I was going to say.

Continuing:  . . . advertise about their laundry facilities or how close the post office and outfitters store is.  So we shared a room with some other people, gorged ourselves at the all you can eat buffet, and got a different room the next day, one that resembled the hiker ambiance a little less.  Then I found out that this is the time for a series of Spring Holy Days!  Sunday would be a Holy Day and that would mean no hiking for me!  Not only that but it was Unleavened Bread.  That's a bit difficult to explain.  It's hard enough trying to explain clean and unclean meats and then suddenly eating yeast, baking soda, and baking powder is "against my religion,"  I felt like an idiot.  Especially as a hiker.  What else do people offer but sandwiches and such?  I had been craving French toast so I passed that up the next morning.  On Mon. we finally headed out again but we were dead.  I had absolutely no energy.  I didn't go to bed till about 3 in the morning so that might have had something to do with it.  Good ol' Comedy Central.  Then we came to our first bald.  It was a perfect grassy spot on a slope.  It was just like the sledding hill back home except it was at the top of a mountain.  Ahem, balds are grassy spots that no trees grow, only the softest grass and beautiful wildflowers- those come later. The sun was shining on it though, and it simply melted away any hiking vigor we had.  We flopped in that grass and didn't move.  I handed my camera to more energetic hikers and had them take pictures.  There is one of Carrie and I where we didn't even budge from our grassy spots and then a hiker took my camera to the top of the bald and got some nice pictures of the view.  Nifty.  We met new hikers, more hikers to pass us.  So annoying.

The thing is though, that we have really been struggling with Carrie's feet.  Well, she has probably been struggling with them more than I have.  Torn tendons and then we had half a day of downhills which did something to the balls of her feet so that she could hardly walk on those.  In the meantime she also had two complete wipe outs.  Neither of them caused any injury except to pride maybe.  That second one she tucked her feet up behind her, her arms were up and she just slid down like on a slip n' slide so Trip N' Slide became the trail name that she liked.  She's threatening to change it again though.  Me, I am officially Roadster in case you are wondering.  Well, Trip n' Slide got to Nanthahala Outdoor Center around Wed. and could hardly walk so we decided to split and meet up in the next town.  She would skip the next 28 miles of trail and I would hike it.  She's close enough to make it up anytime she wants.  So she went to the doctor and I went solo.  I figured that if I was ambitious and really worked at it I could do those 28 miles in 2 days.  I hiked out of NOC and did 2 miles the day I left Carrie and then I was on my own and moody to say the least.  I don't know if I would have made it on my own.  I hiked 2 miles and it took me nearly 3 hrs on that first lonely morning.  Then I met up with Coyote and Snail, 2 girls my age and similar fitness level.  Well, I didn't want them to be more fit than me.  I suddenly had to save face and not look totally out of shape.  I huffed and puffed up those hills and thought my head was going to burst from the lack of air.  Snail is grossly misnamed.  I had to nearly run to keep up with her.  I was going straight up the steepest longest hill I have come across and she was chatting away like we were on a stroll.  She was right at my heels, pausing and waiting for me to continue and I was drilling my legs into the ground, trying stay ahead of her, determined not to slow down or stop.  So much for me trying to sound casual.  You know when you are out of breath but you hold it so someone near you doesn't hear you heaving?  Well, if I would have even tried holding my breath I would have passed out.  There was no shame there.  I wheezed out every syllable and wracked in any air that might be in the vicinity.  But once we got to the top and that bald and I was still alive it was different.  I had survived and I had actually really really pushed myself.  See, I am a patient person, ok, so that might be debatable but when there is a hill I don't want to really know how far I have to walk I just concentrate on the ground in front of me and one step at a time.  I repeat that over and over, you know, " A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step, a single step, a single step,. . . " and eventually I will glance up so I don't run into a tree limb or step off a switch back or something and I hope that the hill is about over.  Usually it is and I stare back at my toes and keep plodding.  On this hill I did that, stared at my feet, willing them to keep moving and when I couldn't stand it, when I thought that the hill HAD to be almost over I would glance up only to see it continuing on, absolutely straight up, out of view, and not even slightly slacking for a slight reprieve.  Four times I couldn't stand it and had to look up and four times I had that same view.  It started to be one of those nightmares, on that fourth glance I whimpered.  But it did end and it was a little grassy bald.  I stood there absolutely fried, all rubbery.  I just stared ahead, happy that the downhill was next, ready to find a spot to sit and relax for maybe ten minutes, sip some water, slow my heart rate.  Snail paused too.  "Whew!" she said.  Gave a bit of a sigh, not one huff.  Then slowly strolled across the bald, stretching a bit, sipping out of her catheter tube.  Have you seen those camel bags?  It stays in your pack and has a tube running alongside a shoulder strap and you have a drink of water always at hand.  I was still in a daze, you know, that lack of oxygen thing, a nice lightheaded high when you don't need to be moving, and then I saw her drop down into the downhill and with that she was nearly gone and I was nearly leaping across the bald and continuing down the trail.  That was a break? Enjoying the view?  Regaining limb control?  At that point I didn't really care and just sort of threw myself down the hill.  There was no way my legs would have withheld any sort of misstep or stumble, they were trembling and it was more like a slinky action with one leg sort of falling downwards and my foot catching on the trail just as the leg behind leaves the ground to fall farther in front of the leading foot.  I never did catch Snail but I was too intense at trying to feel tired and sorry for myself.  We did 3 hills like that.  That steep, that high, that killer.  THREE.  14 miles.  It was the hardest day ever but it was so invigorating because even though we didn't stop for a break you would recover on the downhills, it WAS possible for the average layman hiker to accomplish.  The next day we did 13 miles and I was calling Carrie around 5 in the evening.  Those 2 days "on my own" were real encouraging and eye opening.  I found out later that Snail and Coyote were both carrying packs that weighed at least 10 lbs less than mine. I felt really good then.  And when I went to straighten out my long johns I suddenly realized that my calves had lost a lot of their size.  I was ecstatic.

Coyote and Snail were crazy, so much fun and just wild.  What's the word?  Insinuating?  We hitch hiked to a town and back, did laundry and talked to a guy around our age that is a park ranger.  He had all the inside scoops on major injuries and crimes.  I guess there was some meth dealers that were selling to hikers.  I laughed.  Carrie and I always joke that we need to take diet pills so we can run through the hills.  And I guess some guy fell off the trail and was unconscious about 40 ft below the trail or something.  The only way that people found him is that he was hiking with a dog and the dog stayed at the trail, they had to helicopter the man out.  There isn't too many hikers with dogs so I was grilling Digit ( the park ranger) about what the dog looked like.  It was yellow.  There was a hiker Carrie and I met, we refer to him as pot head.  I don't know if I mentioned him or not but he was a character with a yellow dog.  Digit said the guy looked like he was around 30 though.  Pothead was younger.  Anyways, as I waited for Carrie to show up I got to watch everyone eat all the food I was forbidden.  "Want a hotdog?"  With pork. "No thanks, it's against my religion," Marshmallows? Cake? Cookie? Pretzel?  Ham and Turkey Sub sandwich?  Nope, aaallll against my religion.  Sheesh.  Ask me when it's dark and don't ask me about that.

It was slow getting going again.  But we walked into this week.  This week is the week of all the griping stories.  It was so great.  I had been so nervous about the Smokies.  Smokies is where they have all the stories.  That's the bears, the terrible weather, the impossible climbs, it's all piled into the same section of trail.  This is where you were driven to quit.  Well, then I found out that the trail between NOC and Fontana were the toughest 28 miles of the trail.  I hadn't realized that and that was where I had done my highest miles of the trail.  Well, that changed it.  I no longer even put a glimmer of faith in what people say about the trail.  No more, "Oh, it's all downhill from here," "You've only got about half a mile."  Don't believe a thing they say!  And I don't.  Anymore. So we started hiking into the infamous Smokies and right into a drizzly fog that turned to sleet the following day.  It's beautiful though because the wet was like nature's varnish.  Everything shined and glowed and looked so mysterious.  There was the thick rolling fog and you expected to smell the smoke tickling your nostrils.  You really do see why they are the Smokies.  The Smokies also have more rangers and more rules than any other part of the trail.  You HAD to stay at a shelter but only 3 places in the shelter were reserved for thru hikers so if any other sort of hiker came through and overfilled the shelters then thru hikers were allowed and HAD to pitch their tents but still within site of the shelter.  Everyone griped about the idea of it that night as there were maybe 12 people in the shelter and it began to really rain.  If a group of overnighters came wandering in around 10:00 looking to have some thru hikers move out and sleep somewhere else, was anyone actually going to follow the rules?  "I'll tell them go get some authority to come up here and make me move, and then I'll comply," said a few people as they cuddled up on their dry platforms.  Lucky for us, says Carrie, that is was the middle of the week and the weather was so bad that no other normal hikers  would bother to come into the Smokies.  As it got dark it began to really storm.  Then I was informed that at the next shelter, about 7 miles away, 2 hikers were struck and killed by lightening IN a shelter.  I hope they weren't just lying there sleeping.  People theorized that they were probably next to the chain link fence.  See, the shelters in the Smokies are a bit different.  It's sort of like a stage or the backdrop for a nativity set with a raised wood floor and a second level above that.  The roof is extended to make a big overhang.  Sometimes there are windows at the ceiling or part of the ceiling is made from that more see-through sort of plastic instead of tin.  But the entrance instead of being wide open, is a heavy duty chain link fence with a narrow doorway.  This is to prevent the bears from coming in and sniffing around.  I still haven't seen a bear but those fences go floor to ceiling and would make a great conductor.  The storm had all the thunder and lightening to be the background of really creepy ghost stories, or better yet, really grisly bear attack stories.  It was absolutely pitch dark, no moon, no silhouettes and then a flash of lightening would make everything glow and thunder and wind would shake the protective plastic.  You expected to see the silhouette of a bear clawing and growling at the fence.  It was  just supposed to be there.

Tues, I don't want to talk about.  It was rainy, cold, windy, sleet, and SLOW.  I was also in about the foulest mood.  I guess it was a natural THING but I don't want to go in that direction either.  But it was miserable.  I was mad at everyone and everything and didn't want to stay at the next shelter and didn't want to be walking.  I wrote it all down in my journal the next day, after I felt better.  It was a real self-pity sort of day.  The trail was my only comfort.  I just wanted to do it.  As we came to the next shelter it began to snow and by morning we had 10 inches and drifts of more.  That was a much more fun day.  I took a ton of pictures to show the people back home what sort of "misery" we had to endure.  It was absolutely beautiful.  And so sudden.  Snow!  This was Carrie's day of misery and I felt sorry for her.  It may be just a phase to go through but it sure is worse when someone else gets to witness your whole breakdown, and I was her witness.  At least for me, I could run ahead of Carrie and have my own breakdowns.  The day did end though and we appreciated the beauty and we knew that we could be in town the following day.  One thing that brightened both of our time was a guy.  Sigh.  Well, not like THAT.  But I was all depressed about being left behind and slow and here Ice Break came in.  We didn't recognize the trail name because we had met him on about our 3rd day of hiking.  We had known him before he had a trail name!  We aren't soooo totally behind, maybe.  I did feel a little better, that and he reminds me of Matthew Mcaughnehay (tell me how to spell THAT).  He was sweet and helpful to both Carrie and I when we were at our girly worst.

So Thurs we came off the mountain, it took 11 miles though.  Usually there isn't much to say about hiking- I keep saying that don't I?  Well, I could go all deep and descriptive about every tree and flower.  Actually, I had no idea how filled the woods are with intricate beauty.  I just thought of trees.  They also say that the Smokies are the most condensed area with the widest variety of plant and tree life in the world.  I don't know if I said that right but there's some spectacular fact like that. I didn't realize the different ways trees can be so warped either AND a really neat little note about nature, since I'm on the subject.  Have any of you in America ever seen trees that looked like they started growing in one spot, all normal, then the trunk turns sideways for a bit, like they start growing horizontal and then it grows up again?  Like a scarred step.  We have one just outside our pasture.  We thought that there had once been a big rock under the tree and it had begun to grow around it and then the rock  was removed.  Well, there is another hiker, Welsh Nomad, and she had a book saying that these trees were cut and bent and trained by Indians to grow this way and to mark and leave messages on trails.  At one spring Welsh Nomad told us about this and pointed out a tree like this and how it pointed out the spring down the hill.  We have seen these tress all along the trail.  So cool.  Most of their code is lost, though.

Anyways, On Thurs was a 3 mile hike up to Clingman's Dome, the highest peak so far, or something like that.  It was funny to arrive.  Here we are, there were 4 of us, and we were all dressed for bitter cold.  This was the first time since the previous Friday that the sun had come out.  It was shining bright and all the snow was melting on us.  We still had on windbreakers, the same clothes we had worn for 4 days, our packs, hiking sticks, water and wise eyes, I can pretend.  We were rough, we were rugged and then we walked out of the woods onto a little paved road with tourists shivering in their shorts walking up the same hill from a parking lot from a quarter mile below.  On top of Clingman's Dome is a big ugly concrete tower with a ramp up to it.  Looks like it's from the Jetsons' cartoon.  We got our pictures taken by the tourists.  "You're hiking all the way to Maine?" 'Click'.   Then we headed downhill in a trail that was only recognizable by the white blazes on the trees, otherwise the trail looked like a creek.  We waded our way through muck, slush and water.  It was really fun.  Completely soaking.  It was easy to enjoy knowing that we would soon be in a warm house.

And here I am.  Coming in to a town all raunchy smelling, making me feel all wild, feeling strong with my 40 lbs backpack, and crazy for having this insane idea in the first place.  Everyone has a 9 to 5 job or college to attend, wondering what career or meaningful thing to do with their lives, or at least, what club to go to this weekend.  I'm all excited about a shower and food that isn't cooked with boiled water.  How simple can life get?  I love coming into town.  I'm so detached from the world.  Last week I was wondering in a dollar store.  I was just seeing what sort of stuff is being sold and I caught a glimpse of myself in some decorative mirror.  I looked insane.  I just about laughed out loud then I went back to the grocery store to meet up with Snail and Coyote and picked up a large paperclip off the ground, just in front of the automatic doors.  Hey, I need a large paperclip, I'm that much closer to having a reflector for my alcohol stove. I wanted to look around mischievously and cackle with glee at my good fortune.  Speaking of alcohol stove, that's another thing I might have forgotten to mention.  That's one of my needs that I just can't get from a hiker box and here there was a camper out with some boys and he just gave Carrie and I an alcohol stove because he wants to start marketing them.  They are the kind made out of a Pepsi can.   They can be free if you have the materials to make them but at the outfitter stores they will sell them for about $20.

So, I am off the trail for a couple days.  We will go back on Sun or Mon. I really want to get a move on but unfortunately with the timing I have a letter from my grandmother sitting at the post office.  We arrived in town too late to get it and if we head back out on Sun I will miss it again.  We'll see.  Off the trail I have been about as antisocial as can be.  I surprised myself.  All I wanted to do was read or work on this e-mail.  And sleep, but I haven't done much of that.  I can't believe it, I found myself sitting outside on lawn furniture sipping ice tea and listening to the southern ladies talk.  Imagine that.  We went to a dinner party on Friday night and I sat in the screened porch and listened to the talk.  It was a total Gone With the Wind sort of moment.  I was just sort of stunned in my own little daydream.  I could hardly converse either, everyone was talking about their dogs and their dogs' health problems like they were their children, I  had a difficult time relating.  Dad's idea of vet care is a bullet if they start acting strange.  Then this lady asked me about my religion and beliefs and I just about had a panic attack.  "Ah!  I'm normal!  Don't ask me that!" She looked like I was going to say something really profound and intense and that was the last thing on my mind.  I have been having a difficult time with religion.  I can hardly explain myself to myself.  It makes Carrie totally crack up.  Luckily I had brought along my journal with all the cartoon sketches in it as a diversion.  I threw it at the dinner guests and ran and hid with the cat.  Nice kitty.

The main similarities about fantasy worlds on the trail are of Lord of the Rings, Bev Doolittle, and Jack London. Bev Doolittle is the woman that paints all those forest scenes with the pinto ponies and some illusions.  She also has Indians and mountain men in her works.  I see myself becoming some mountainman.  I want the buckskin pants and the shirt. I like my wool carpis, I think people have a hard time believing that I absolutely love my pants. I feel so cool, I guess that's a naive benefit when there is a lack of full length mirrors.  I got to take my capris in 2 inches at the waist.  Also, I sent the addresses a while ago and I've been thinking that if anyone does actually send me something to please send an e-mail so I have a heads up.  I am finding that getting to the post office when it is open is a real inconvenience and so far the way that I have seen the packages handled in other places is there is just a massive pile and you pick through and find yours. Not worth it if there is 40 boxes and you don't know IF you have one there for you or not.  Whatever, just some hopeful instructions.  So, tomorrow I will go through my pack, dump a few things (cold cream, tiger balm, and toothpaste are the first on the list) and we will be on our way back to Gatlinburg.  Carrie got lucky and she will have her orthodic insoles tomorrow.  I HOPE that works.  Otherwise I threatened to pray for her feet OUT LOUD every time she complains about them.  Hey, we've done over 200 miles now.  That means we have LESS than 2,000 to go!  Woo-hoo! Talk to you later, have fun.

Love,

Rachael- I mean, Roadster

May 1 - No Really, I'm Hiking!

So, what was it again that I was saying?  That you would probably never hear from me again?  So much for that I guess.  It has hardly been a week since my last e-mail.  Well, don't expect this much more.  Guess where I am, again.  Asheville.  Yep, back at Carrie's BUT, her trail name is differant.  No longer Granny Pants, or Trip n' Slide and for a bit I was going to call her the The Giving Tree but now it is officially and it had better be permanently, HALF FULL!  As "the glass is half full"  and that she never finishes a beer that she opens.  Good enough, I say.

See, all these home stops are because Half Full is so close to home.  After Hot Springs the distance will be too far.  No more visits like this and I will have to be more creative and more ambitious to find the e-mail access.  Before I forget though, Mother, do you think there is enough room on my e-mail to save messages that I write?  Sometimes I help people catch up or forward them to new people.  Example: Aunti Linda lost the previous e-mail, not the last one but the one before and she doesn't have the mail drop list.  Can you get that to her?  Or, Aunti Linda, I think those lost entries are on my website.  Go to www.roadsparrow.com and under USA journals.  Anyways, Hello everybody else.  Guess what I am doing, I am putting myself on Trailjournals.  If anyone is curious it is a neat website where hikers write journal entries and post them to keep friends, family and curious strangers updated.  If the AT sounds interesting to you this is a way to get another view of the trail.  A lot of the hikers on there I know.  You look up actual entries by trail name.  You'll find me under "Roadster," of course.  Vagrant and Lonesome Dove are both hikers that I have traveled with.  I believe that Welsh Nomad is also on there, can't remember.  Meanderthall is a real cool and an official journalist.  I want to read his entries.  It's www.trailjournals.com.

I should get into Trail Life instead of all this little business stuff. . . So.  Gatlinburg, extra time, hotel, restaraunt food, late start.  The story is always the same when you take a zero day- or a few.  We were really slow at getting going and then we really didn't care.  We did a hefty 3.5 miles to the first shelter, back into the Smokies.  We had left a snow storm that was just being broken up by the sun and when we returned it was like a summer day in the Smokie Mountains.  The shelter had a wonderful view and a big grassy hill.  Lovely.  I planted myself and went to furiously writing a letter to my long lost friend Charity.  Oh, she's still out there and she's my backbone, like my link in the real world and the art world but we don't really talk as friends any more but she sent an e-mail asking if I had recieved a package but she hadn't said where she had sent it.  When we went back to Gatlinburg I checked the post office for a package and there it was along with a long anticiapated letter from Grandma!  She sent the most wonderful letter too.  Thankyou Charity, the reply will be on it's way SOON.

The thing to do at the shelter is to page through the register to see how far ahead your friends have gotten after being off the trail for 3 days.  Suprisingly we didn't see Ice Break or Banana, the two that had hiked 3 miles and then hitch hiked into Gatlinburg from Clingman's Dome while Half Full and I hiked the 8 extra miles before hitch hiking into Gatlinburg.  No big deal I guess, people can skip registers but the next morning there were 2 people sleeping just outside the shelter. People said they came hiking in around 1 in the morning.  It was our good friend Ice Break and political-science-guy.  Political-science-guy doesn't have a trail name but I can never quite remember his real name.  I think it's Cory.  Not sure.

Hiking the Smokies was completely differant than before.  I didn't even realize they were the same.  We did much bigger miles.  Had a better time and Half Full's feet didn't hurt so much.  We could see the valleys below as well and there were some highly rewarding side trails.  Absolutely breathtaking. Yep, you just stood out on jagged colored rocks looking at the world layed out before you thinking, "I'm gonna die, I am going to slip of the edge, bounce off that rock and impale myself on the dead trees below me. Ok!ok! I gotta look cool for the camera, I should really try standing up."  Before we knew it we were spending our last night in the Smokies.  After all the bear cages and bear cables for hanging your food and anything else that smells, we finally had a full-on animal experiance/attack.  One mouse.  What a nut.  It ran over Half Full's face and repeatedly tried to crawl into her sleeping bag.  The weather was finally nice enough so that we were actually hot in our zero degree sleeping bags but she cinched herself up like a glow worm for fear of sharing with a litte mouse.  I even felt it nuzzle at my sleep sack.  Is he crazy?  I was woken at one point by a nip on my finger.  Little rat.  The 3 guys in the shelter were never bothered.  Oh well, they did start a nice fire in the fireplace though.

After the Smokies was a resupply spot called Mountain Moma's.  I decided that it was time to start earning my keep.  People have really liked the art work that I have been doing and it has really given me a boost in confidence.  Half Full would assure you that that is the last thing that I need.  Well, I asked Half Full if she would mind hanging around Mountain Moma's while I did a small painting of the place and tried to sell/trade it.  What a most beautiful gorgeous day.  I painted away praying that my head wouldn't swell with pride.  Pride of my artwork is my biggest downfall.  I always start thinking about what a great artist I am and then I get distracted and absolutely ruin the picture.  Serves me right too but I don't like those harsh reminders.  Well, the moment came and I walked into the store, found the owner, handed over the finished painting and asked if she was up for a trade.  "What do you charge for something like this?" She asked.  Everyone had told me how unfreindly they were at Mountain Moma's and Half Full told me the painting was too small, "I would like 2 cheeseburgers, 2 fries, and 2 cokes," I said, holding my  breath.  She wrote down the order and took that painting as if it were a $20 bill.  Not a word.  It was so awesome to walk out of that store with Carrie waiting on the steps and wave the empty mat frame.  We had food!  After lunch Carrie still had a split seam in her pants to sew.  I jumped at the chance to practice my hand sewing.  I thought it would be easier to practice that instead of my patience.  I have the worst time waiting I have found.  I need to make myself think that I planned the pause.  I wish I could describe perfectly to you how wonderful it was at Mountain Moma's.  There was a bubbling rocky river behind the building and the sun was like one giant sun beam.  I sat barefoot on the rocky shore and stitched at some funky smelling pants.  It was so peaceful but so alive at the same time.  I was sitting still and quiet but I was busy at work and that river was a gentle rumble.  This is what hiking is all about, I thought to myself.  It didn't make any sense though because we were a mile and a half off the trail and not taking a single step.  Ice Break pulled in and the 3 of us ended up finding a ride back up the 1.5 mile road to the trail.  Half Full and I had walked the distance and never saw a car on the road but when it came time to get back to the trail there were 2 cars headed that way.  Cool.

Ice Break left us in the dust and Half Full and I made our way farther North.  Always North.  We all 3 were first treated to a motivational speech by a motivational speaker and it was just another boost to an already great day.  I was so excited about the picture deal that I wanted to stop in at the hostel farther down the road.  Maybe we could make another trade.  Half Full had no qualms about stopping.  It was that or a campsite 2 m. farther.  Hostel means people and socializing.  We were excited to do that.  When I turned the corner into the yard I was slack-jawed and bug-eyed.  It was my perfect drawing place.  So rustic and well made.  It was just inspiring.  Little shacks, dark wood, bright trim, I hardly said a word to anyone.  I just dropped my bag by a step, took out my journal and stood in the middle of the driveway drawing.  I was unapproachable till it got dark, wandering, painting, sitting along the ditch to nearly get run over, cramped on banks so that I could barely unbend my knees or hobble back up the road.  It really is important to strech before and after hiking.  I really will get into that habit sometime.  Well, we heard "beer run"  and our hiking momentum stopped dead.  3.3 miles for the day.  Well, the previous day was 15.  You win some, you lose some.  Ice Break came in after us.  We couldn't figure out how that happened but he had waited for us at the Pigeon River because we had said we would be going swimming.  We dipped our hair in a creek instead and then he got pulled aside by a mysterious old man that was panning for gold and had a big van that said "knife sharpening" on it.  "Some things should just be left unsaid," the guy said.  Or something else that really creeped out Ice Break.  It sounded like this character might camp out on the trail.  That's what convinced Ice Bread to stay at the hostel.  We all sat around a bonfire.  Wildman, Half Moon, A-Dawg, Key Tone- who was trying to decide if his trail name would be Type A, he's a diabetic.

By Friday it was time to plan our destination for Sabbath.  We had discussed it on Thurs and were planning on Max Patch, supposedly one of the most beautiful parts of the trail.  Max Patch is near Half Moon's home and she loves the bald.  This was a nice little 13 mile hike, then we heard that there was no water up there or shelter and that it could be cold and windy.  Not the best place to spend 2 nights.  Not only that but someone came down and informed us hikers that starting Friday evening was going to be a weekend of trail magic.  Cheeseburgers, pop, anything you might want would be there.  We could hardly believe it.  We have had no trial magic like this.  Always missed it.  You can figure out the logic of thought on your own and what sort of decision we immediately came to.  In the meantime I will tell you about the awesome awesome weekend we had, courtesy of the Rat Patrol.  They weren't kidding when they said everything would be there.  There was cheeseburgers, hotdogs, burritos, 10 oz T-bone steak, pork chops, venison, BBQ chicken, pecan pie, strawberries, oranges, bananas, s'mores, baked potatoes, pancakes, scrambled eggs, pop, juice, BEER, Hey, this is an important list, bars, chocolate chip cookies, other cookies, suckers, kit kats, other candies and candybars, chips, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad. . . All right, I'll stop but can you grasp what this means to hikers?  To be on the trail, living on Lipton jalepino noodles as an exciting meal.  Drinking only water, not affording anything else.  To walk all day and then come down a hill into a gap to see canopies set up and massive grills going and people hiding behind piles of food and previous hikers immobalized in big camp chairs, the hiker's recliner.  It's stunning.  And to watch the hikers come in was so much fun.  We had the inside scoop and some shelters advertised in the registers but some people literally stumbled upon the place.  Half Full and I arrived Friday and I didn't leave till my regular departure on Sunday.  It was one big huge picnic.  We saw hikers that we thought were days ahead of us. To reunite with old friends and make new ones.  A big social scene in the middle of nowhere.  Rat played music and laughed wickedly at ruining our wilderness experiance.  There was a bonfire with moonshine on the side.  Sat. I got up and ate till I couldn't move.  Then I sat in the chairs and greeted and chatted with other hikers.  By the time I could finally stand and think about food again it was lunchtime.  We were jumped by a thunderstorm and everyone got real close under the canopies.  For those that avoided most of the rain, a trail dog came in and shook water on them.  No one was spared from mud and guck.  I drew a cartoon of the scene as a thankyou.  The Rat Patrol will be at Trail Days so I hope to see them again.

On Sat. Afternoon Half Full left with Little Engine.  From Brown Gap to Hot Springs it was 20 miles and supposedly the easiest part of the trail we have seen yet.  This is where most people do thier first 20 m day and I was determined to have it be mine as well.  Carrie didn't want to push it so she broke up the miles by leaving on Sat.  I would meet her at Deer Creek Shelter on Sun.  Despite 3 am bed times, moondshine and nearly 2 days of wildly flung fun.  Late on Sat.  a whole troop of Hikers from Damascus came down by van to hang out.  I met a bunch that had passed Half Full and I on our numerous zero days.  It's neat to read entries in a register and then to meet the author.  Kickstand, Ludicris, Yurtle and Van Gogh were among them.  Yeah, I can hardly remember them.  All the guys on the trail end up looking the same.  Even when Ice Break had walked in to Mountain Moma's we hadn't been sure it was him.  No, I like mentioning people because I just love trail names.  There was also the Beats Working Brigade (a couple), Little Munchkin, Gordy, Legs, D-Bone, One Day at a time, Now or Never, Poppins, and that's about all I can recall.  Little Engine might become Priscilla because the guy at Standing Bear Hostel thought she looked like Priscilla Presley and called her so.  Anyways, about midnight Sat. night, before my big hike, I found out that most of the Rat Patrol would be heading to Hot Springs on Sunday.  And the offered to slack pack my bag!  Slack packing is almost like cheating.  It's like hitchiking for your backpack.  Find someone reliable to take all supplies that you don't need for the day to a destination that you probably wouldn't get to if you had to carry all that.  It's wonderful if you can work it out and it's not like the rules say that you must load yourself down with at least 15 lbs to be qualified as a thru hiker.  It was graet and there is no way I would have made the trip with my bag.  I didn't get up till 10:30.  I hadn't gone to bed till 3:00.  Well, you figure it out.  Endless food, candies, cakes, pop, and beer, thrown in with a little moonshine and great entertainment (bluegrass, country and songs about ugly women) and social activity.  It was like a hick wedding reception or a cool graduation party for 2 nights. You try hiking 20 miles with a 40 lb pack after that.  I finally left with Blue and had some motivation from her.  Max Patch was beautiful but at that point I had only gone 3 miles and was so dead tired that I just couldn't stop or I would sleep the rest of the day on that soft grassy bald.  The bizarre coincedance was that I met another guy slackpacking 20 m. as well.  It was perfect timing and I kept up with his long stride for a good 10 miles but then there was a long uphill and another shelter to sign in at and he was gone but it got me over my morning slump.  In the meantime I began scheming about seriously trying to make some money with my sketches.  There's a big Trail Days festival coming up in a couple weeks.  It's my chance to make up some T-shirts and try to sell them.  I don't have much money to invest but Half Full would be willing to split the costs and it would just be a small test run anyways.  If it works I'd make some extra money fast and get early advertisement for the cartoons that I hope to publish into more shirts and postcards.  Hmm, hmm,hmm and I finally made my 20 miles at about 8:00.  Just over 9 hrs?  Pretty cool but I was totally brain dead and my feet hurt.  I was glad to be so tired because I was really roughing it that night.  No sleeping bag, no pad, for the night on a hard wood floor.  I wrapped up in the foot print for Half Full's tent, used her clothes bag for a pillow, slept in my rain jacket and my lungi (that sarong thing).  Not my best night of sleep but I probably got more sleep than the last 2 nights.  It poured rain.

Today we walked the last 3 miles in the pouring rain.  I found my pack at a hostel before I even made it to the outfitter's which was the agreed drop-off point.  A hiker fan bought us lunch, I got some good advice about printing my T-shirts, picked up my much anticipated package and then we hitch hiked here to Asheville.  It took foerever! 45 min to flag the the first ride and nearly 20 min for the second.  Guess what, there's a Marshall and a Mars Hill both about 15 miles from Hot Springs.  Isn't that confusing.  At Marshall Half Full made a call to a friend and we waited for our last ride at the Ingles parking lot.  That's when I realized I never left the post office with my package. NARF!  Luckily I didn't open it so hopefully it could still be there.  Hopefully.  I was so looking forward to all the treats.  Tomorrow I will try this T-shirt deal and I WILL buy my ticket to Alaska.  I should check prices before bed.  Talk to you all later.

Love,

Roadster

or, like I sign in at the registers:Roadsterw/ Half Full

May 4 - REALLY hiking

Good morning,

Brook, hi yes, still having fun.  Thanks about the website.

May 24 - I would walk 500 miles

It has been so long since I've written to all you people.  I miss it so much!  I started to write a bunch of snail mails.  There's something about sitting down to compose and think about passing events.  It just seems to help me collect and move on.  Now that it has been so long between e-mails and so much has happened I am getting all wired. 

PS.  I'm sorry I've been too lazy to do highlighting.  I figure none of it is too important, I'm hiking

Hey Carrie,  Ha ha, no I really will write you a note.  You forgot something here!

PS. Everyone, I have T-shirts to sell.  $15.  Art I did.  It was a venture that Half Full and I tried out for Trail Days but we just didn't have enough exposure.

hihihihi!  Guess what.  I am on one of my all nighters again.  Woo-hoo.  I haven't sent anything since May 24.  I was able to go and sort of catch up on some personal e-mails between that time.  Still.  Last I talked to you I was in Damascus about to head out on my own.  With a lightened load.  Well, the lighter load thing completely backfired because I spent so much time in Damascus that I quickly collected tons of food.  Well, 19 lbs to be more precise.  Phooey, I left Damascus at 43 lbs.  Same as when I first started the trail at Springer but now I was minus a sleeping bag.  I hitched out to Grayson Highlands which until that exact day I thought they were the Graceland Highlands.  Oops. 
 
Now, the Grayson Highlands are the rave of the trail.  Beautiful, easy, ponies.  It's everybody's favorite spot.  I planned to take days and days to walk through, maybe paint.  I was also prepared to be let down.  My expectations get way too high when people start saying how great something is.  The ponies were absolutely enchanting though.   They had the long flowy manes and everthing.  And they were tiny.  The weather was foggy and a bit threatening, like it wanted to rain.  I kept my pace up, even decided to pass the first shelter and try to make it to the next.  The whole experiance in the Grayson Highlands was to test my theory about "ignorance is bliss".  I didn't know how far it was exactly to the next shelter, what the weather was turning into, how I would fare without a sleeping bag, how big the Grayson Highlands were, etc.  Well, it started to rain and then really rain and I just kept plodding along and humming to myself.  I came to another bald.  I thought I was done with balds.  It was only rain and some wind.  I have heard about scary experiances trapped on balds with storms but I took a few steps to test out the weather conditions for myself.  I almost fell over from the gales that were coming over the hill and then the skies flashed and the thunder crashed right above  my head so I decided to wait out the storm near a rock cluster that also provided a nice wind break.  I decided to do the whole "safety-conscious-hiker thing.  In bad lightening storms I heard that you are supposed to take out your sleeping pad and kneel on it with your hands behind your head.  I also heard that you are supposed to simply sit on top of your pack.  I was too lazy for the first safey tip so I put my pack on a flat rock and sat on it.  I pulled out my tent footprint and used that like a poncho or a tent.  When the thunder boomed closer I pulled my feet up on my pack.  Welsh Nomad now tells me that rocks can carry conducting metals and mineral veins and that you shouldn't take refuge on them.  So don't do what I did. 
 
Well, I was trapped on that rock, curled up under this footprint for maybe half an hour.  I think I will blame this delay for my following night.  See, it got dark before I could make it to the shelter.  I was suddenly learning that I was going to get to field test my plastic bag experament in just about the worst weather conditions.  I had already learned what it is like to hike without a headlamp and I was not about to do that again, so I stopped somewhere in the woods where I had enough remaining daylight to prepare for what I knew was going to be a long miserable night. 
 
With my bearbag hung and my pack packed tight to be as waterproof as possible I crawled between my gigantic yellow bags.  Now, another important hiking tip (besides DON'T try to hike without some sort of protective shelter!!) is in order to to stay warm at night you need to be out of your wet clothes.  Well, these bags would not keep water from getting me wet, they more or less channeled it in a more efficient manner.  I wasn't going to get all my clothes wet.  What did I do?  Well, I'll tell you one thing, I had plastic stuck to every part of my body.  I laid curled up beneath a towering pine tree, rain trickling down, and all I could think about is how I felt exactly like how a shrink-wrapped Golden Plump thigh feels.  How many people ever get to know how that feels?  Now I know.  I huddled all night and believe it or not, I wasn't terribly cold, sometimes wind would filter in and I would start to shiver but once my body had shivered a couple of times I was fine again.  I even managed to sleep a little.  Then it began to thunder and lightening again and I thought about the huge pine tree I was under and I began to get real nervous.  "Please don't let me be struck dead by lightening,"  I prayed,"this would be ultimately the most embarassing way to die."  I am a Darwin Award, I kept thinking.  People would never believe I purposely chose to strip in the middle of the woods and shrinkwrap myself at the base of a tree.  Who can be so retarded?  The failure of this stupid idea kept me in good humor all night.  As soon as dawn began to arrive I was up and packing.  I've never been out of camp so early.  I was quite giddy at my survival.  Technically, the plastic bags had worked.  I had made it through a rainstorm.  I had told myself that this would be one of those embarassing secrets that I would keep to myself but I couldn't help putting a few hints in the next register.  I arrived at the shelter around 7:00 to find it empty.  I would have had the place to myself!  Narf! 
 
The next shelter, Trimpi Shelter had a bunch of treats.  A dry place to sleep, a hiker gourmet meal, Spice Twin brought out a cigar and a radio, I got  a bunch of music suggestions.  At the sheter I read about Partnership shelter and began to realize that I would only be hiking 10 miles on Friday.  I also realized that the Grayson Highlands were already over. Partnership has showers and the highlight is that there is a phone on which to order pizzas and they deliver to the shelter.  How cool is that? 
 
Friday was a great day.  I was at the shelter by 2:45.  I had the whole day!  Drawing, visiting, I began to scheme about how I could get free pizza.  Draw?  Massage?  Moose was there and I got to know him a bit.  He's really fun and outgoing.  He also caught us up on the events of Thurs.  I guess on Thurs a troubled teens' group camped at Partnership, all except one kid who snuck off in to town, stole some food, stole a car and was zooming down the freeway at 100 mph when the cops pulled him over.  How exciting is that?  And it all started at the Appalachian Trail.  Mountain Squid's parents came to meet him and brought wonderful trail magic.  Pop, Little Debbies, but the best was the homemade cookies and brownies.  Hikers pitched money in to share pizzas, bribed the delivery boy to pick up beer and they shared pizza and beer with me even though I contributed a measely dollar. 
 
Sat. I slept and worked on my scrapbook.  It was great to see all my friends come in.  There were also plenty of magazines snip up at the shelter for my scrapbook.  Sat. night more hikers came, ordered pizzas and bribed the delivery boy to pick up beer.  I got hooked up for free this time.  I gave back massages all around.  Sun.  It was 11 m. to Atkins.  Another fast day.  There was a Dairy Queen at the road and it creates a strong magnetic field that drags the hikers out of the woods at tremendous speeds.  I arrived by 1:45.  I left a note for Welsh Nomad.  She had stopped by on Sat at Partnership.  She was on a slackpack. She had also told me about more adventures at Partnership, a hiker got drunk and ornery and finally arrested.  Dramas of the trail.  Everyone that I had hung out with and given thai massages the night before got ice cream at the Dairy Queen.  I wanted icecream so bad.  I should have charged everyone for a massage the previous night.  Humph.  I was determined not to look begging and pitiful and I was determined not to be a penniless hiker/mooch.  I am meeting so many hikers out here like me.  People hike and can't pay for it.  I am surprised actually, I thought people planned and saved for trips, well, I'm glad to have so much in common with hikers.  We're all in the same boat.  I went to hang out outside while I thought about my role as a hiker.  That's when I saw the Barn Restaurant and was reminded about my whole occupation and my solution to hiking penniless.  I earn my way.  So I got busy and started painting.  I had a great time hanging out while I worked on my meal ticket.  I needed to trade the painting for a meal and $5 so that I could get DQ afterwards.  Well, Welsh Nomad stopped by and treated me to ice cream.  I couldn't believe it!  Her gesture was so appreciated.  I mean, SO much.  To be hiking and hungry and your very favorite food to be right there.  It made my day, I was so happy and it helped me to distract from my painting.  I figured I wouldn't be getting a whole lot for the barn scene, I couldn't make it look artistic enough.  I strolled into that restaurant with complete confidence though.  "You are going to give me a free meal and you don't even know it," I thought to myself.  Well, the owner wasn't there and the employees hmmd and hawed over my painting.  I couldn't believe it.  This is a watercolor and I am trading it for a cheeseburger, fries and a coke, that's less than $4 cost!  Of course they finally accepted the trade and I was elated.  People think my art is worth food!  Suckers.  Then a waitress asked if I did portraits.  Of course I can do portraits, they just don't always look like the person that I was trying to draw, I didn't mention that last part though.  I do get lucky sometimes and the drawing turns out to have a strong resemblance.  Then the other one was pulling out her wallet pictures and I spent my time drawing pictures!  I walked out of the restaurant with a full stomach and $9!  The only problem was that it was going to be dark in an hour and the next shelter was 2 hrs. away.  If  I only had a head lamp.  No one wanted to part with thiers, there wasn't much room at the hotel and I couldn't be paying any sort of money for a room.  That's when I met up with Little Fish, Nana K, and Mosey.  It turns out that they were sharing a room and had room for one more, not only that but they were happy to offer the spabe.  In the morning they told the owner the situation and he didn't charge any extra.  I painted a thankyou of for the hoter and I was on my way.
 
I left early, trying to get ahead of the Trout Hiking club and Ice Break.  If I could be fast I would see them again on Saturday when I zeroed again.  In the end I got to hike with Mr. T and Flint.  Mr. T is so cool.  She's so fun and easy going and to have a name like that to completely throw people off is hilarious.  We had the same pace and hiked together for 2 days.  Making each other laugh, talking about girl stuff and life plans, family history, experiances.  We talked all day long.  Trail magic was some nice bonuses.  We did 19 m. together.  Her biggest mile day yet.  I got to leave another register at a shelter, pack a full one out ( hope to be hearing from you soon Officer Taco) and there were about 16 creek crossings thrown in.  We parted ways when they arrived at Bland.  I sat down on a bench, Mr. T waved at the first truck that came by and they were gone just like that.  I sat for a moment, alone on the trail again.  I think I was getting a little better at being alone but I stiil had to sit and a mope a little.  That's about when Regular Brian came hiking up the hill.  And we hiked together to the next shelter. 
 
I was beginning to scheme about big miles again.  I found out that there was a donation hostel in Pearisburg.  That meant  a place I could probably trade a picture for staying.  Saturday was coming up and there were a couple long days required but the spacing of the shelters supported long hikes.  I began telling Regular Brian about these crazy notions to do a 24 mile day.  I find that if I vocalize what I want, I seem to commit to it better and it seems to come about easier.  To my surprise Regular Brian liked the idea of being in town by Friday.  So we took off.  That was Thursday.  We were a great team, Regular Brian had the watch and the schedule.  We flew.  We had a great time too.  This is when I feel strong and powerful, invincable!  I can pick a destination and go!  Bridge, waterfalls, and use of the trail network were the highlights of those 2 days.  The trail network is how we are all connected on the trail.  No technology is needed.  Things are passed hand to hand and everything works out.  Little Fish had lost a velcro strap.  I realized that it had been when she had talked to me at the DQ in Atkins.  She left in the morning before me and I found it later when I said good-bye to the guys.  They had found it and set it on thier windowsill at the hotel.  I attached it to my backpack knowing that eventually I would catch up with Little Fish.  Thursday morning I did.  It was so fun to surprise her with that dumb little strap that she thought she'd never see again.  Major highlight of the day.  That, and 3 of us in the shelter split a beer that I had been packing since my hitch to the Grayson Highlands.  You know, I have a hard time saying I like beer but that Budweiser was absolutely delicious. 
 
Friday, it began to rain at 7:00 in the morning.  That definately put a damper on an early start.  I found out that Wood's Hole is on the way to Pearisburg.  It's an old old cabin that's been turned into a hostel for years.  I was recommended to visit this little rustic place and really didn't want to miss it but I also wanted to make it to Pearisburg.  Reg. Brian had the bright idea to stop in on the way.  I was thrilled.  We would be able to stop, have a break, see a wonderful place, and still get to Pearisburg.  Well, hiking in the rain was miserable and to stop in and find out that I had walked into my dream cabin and sit around a fire knowing that I had to step back out into dreary drizzle was utterly depressing.  I don't know if it helped my spirits or not.  It rained ALL day long- except when we were holed up in the cabin and when we stopped in at a shelter.  A wrong turn, a long lunch and a long chat made for a long day and we stumbled out of the woods at 10:30, without my nalgene bottle, I forgot it at the last shelter when I was visiting with Little FIsh and Nana K.  Regular Brian and I had perfected the one headlamp trick.   Mr. T and I had found the technique but Regular Brian worked on it and I made descent time even though I didn't have a light.  I walked about 15 ft. in front of him and the light lit the path in front of me.  It's nearly an extra 2 m. to the hostel. Someone offered a ride and we were extremely grateful.  I was reunited with Gordy and People magazine.  I stayed up late getting reaquainted with both and then went to sleep on the wood floor.  That was the only space available.  Regular Brian and Bob had the same accomadation. 
 
I had a wonderful peaceful day until Reg. Brian, Gordy, and I walked the 1/4 mile through the fields to Walmart.  We had so much fun.  Gordy and I tried on all the latest fashions.  This is where I got to find out my real size.  8!  Easily.  I did some hopping, squirming, and writhing so I could zip up a pair of pants and say I was a 5/6 as well.  It was so nice to wear unpractiacal things and flashy clothes.  Neon green hipster micro mini skort with neglige.  I haven't had that since Alaska.  There was also spaghetti, a hitch to the hostel, and a long walk to the bar with a group of hikers.  We actually had an even ration, 3 guys, 3 girls.  We girls started joking that now we were going to get the guys drunk and take advantage of them.  "You don't have to get us drunk to do that,"  the guys insisted.  Banana had the best line though,"My pick-up line is: Do my breasts feel uneven to you?  Gets them every time."  It was a great day.
 
Sun.  It was time to leave.  I went to Catholic mass and was sorely disappointed.  It's scary what they get people to believe.  Gordy had to stay because of an injured foot but there were plans for a reunion on Wed for her 21st B-day party.  I talked Half Full into coming.  It would be so awesome to see her.  When we finally gathered enough motivation and enough stuff, we headed out.  It was a bigger group this time, Yurtle, Banana, Reg. Brian and me.  We made it all the way to the Dairy Queen, about a mile from the hostel.  Everyone agreed on an ice cream break and Banana traded a massage for a cone.  Awesome.  Reg. Brian and I were left on our own to start the trail in the proper spot- where we left off, and we came crawling and nearly cursing out of Pearisburg up some rude mountain.  4 whole miles.  But it was a campsite full of friendly and familiar faces.  Banana, Yurtle, Smokey T, Caveman, Lumpy, and Kickstand.  There was a cozy fire and I had shelter under Kickstand's tarp.  This was another highlight of trail life.  To meet up with old friends and just have that warm glow of a fire to illustrate that satisfied feeling of being in such a welcoming circle. 
 
So, there's more days in the week and I feel like I am getting redundant.  " And then we did this, and then we did this, blah, blah, blah, hiking, blah, blah. Hiking is a lot of fun. I like to hike very much.  Gordy's birthday party was fun.  We hitched in real easy.  At first it was going to be just me, the guys were too ambitious but then Kickstand got sore feet and Reg. Brian folded under the crowd.  HA!  At the Sports Cafe I traded massages for tequilla shots and never bought a drink.  It was still a bad idea though.  Remember when I said that I wouldn't drink unless I was with my parents or chaperoned?  Well, I had to think about that a bit, I've decided that Reg. Brian was my chaperone.  He is the nicest guy.  Hiking with him and Kickstand has been so nice, so easy and an absolute laugh riot.  I've nearly humilated myself twice!  Speaking of humiliation.  D-Bone was there and I talked him into carrying me.  I am SO excited about being light enough to be carried.  Ok, so maybe it takes a guy with some muscles still, but still.  Well, muscles or no, D-Bone's equilibrium had been undermined and he ended up not just dropping me but falling on his face and dropping me.  So much for me being light, I guess. 
 
It was a great night, we reminsced about it for hours.  No one got up early and only the strong and determing hiked out that day, that would be us 3.  We hitched back to the same spot we had left and headed on up the next 4 miles to the next shelter.  The highllights of Sarvor shelter were a cat, cabin ruins and a 1/2 mile of swithbasks.  Doc says he wants extra hiking credit for taking that trail down to the shelter and I agree. 
 
Suddenly it was Friday again and I realized that my ambitious hiking friends were about to leave me in the dust as I was going to be zeroing for Sabbath.  So maybe I haven't quite gotten over this "seperation anxiety" thing.  I did not want to sit in a shelter and watch my buddies hike away without me.  My only hope was to do extra miles on Friday, recooperate on Sat. and do a bit of rushing to catch up on Sun.  This time Reg. Brian had bought me a headlamp in Pearisburg.  How nice is that?!  I was ready for darkness.  I hiked with the guys and contemplated my insane plans.  29 miles.  It was 29 miles to the shelter after the one they were hoping to stay at.  I was feeling energized and powerful/crazy again.  It was a time to try crazy things, so at 7:30 when Kickstand decided to camp I stayed with him to cook my supper and make my decision.  Reg. Brian went on ahead to a shelter that was 1/2 of the trail.  It was 8:30 when I started walking.  I had my chance to bail out at the shelter which was a difficult mile from the campsite.  I arrived at the shelter and looked at the flat trail ahead of me.  I rehashed this crazy idea of mine but irrationalization and excitement took over and I stormed off.  Dragon's tooth was in 6 miles, there was a hostel at 7 m and with a 2 mph pace I could be at my destination by 3 in the morning.  It was like pulling a doulbe shift, I kept telling myself.  What.  A.  Night.  It went on FOREVER.  I hiked and walked and crawled over boulders and the rock climbing got crazier and crazier.  I only had 3ft to see in front of me, enough to tell me what new obstacle I needed to ascend or descend.  Spiders, millipedes and centipedes clamoured on the rocks to make things more interesting and I came across at least 4 big huge nasty spiders that were hanging eye level in the their webs that were strung across the path.  There was only 1 that I was able to avoid breaking. I had to take off my pack and slide it beneath the web to keep from tearing it down.  Why be so careful about a spider web?  Blame it on delirium.  "Just a little bit, just a little bit,"  I kept telling myself.  I finally made it to the road and I walked to the hostel.  I couldn't go any farther.  21 miles is what it would have to be.  I was still at least a little ahead of the guys and now I would have a place to relax.  This hostel was on donation as well.  It's the best kind.  Welsh Nomad was there.  She informed me that it was 3 am.  The last 7 miles had taken me 7 hrs!  In the morning I never heard the end of it.  Everyone told me how crazy I was to go over Dragon's tooth.  It was a wonderful compliment.  Hey, I only slipped once. 
 
I got to see Flint and Mr. T again and the most amazing thing happened as well.  I found my ride to PA.  See, I fly out of Philadelphia on Sun. June 20 to go fishing in Ak.  I had arranged this flight not really timing my hiking out very well and not quite realising just how far Philadelphia was.  I was telling people about my dilema because I only had a week to arrange travel.  That's when Welsh Nomad and I got to talking and it turns out that she had decided to leap frog a week early because of this crazy humid heat we have been having.  It's been terrible.  Sweat pours down your face, I got beads of sweat on my arms and when a person takes off thier pack thier shirt is soaked.  That is why Welsh is going north.  And she was going home on the following Friday from Daleville.  Home is 45 m. from Philadelphia.  She invited me to stay with her till my flight.  Daleville is 26 m from Four Pines Hostel.  Suddenly I had 6 days to hike 26 miles.  We hung out.
 
Sat. afternoon Reg. Brian came hiking into the hostel.  He had come to check up on me.  Made sure I hadn't fallen over some cliff.  They had both missed the note that I had left them.  It was written on a squashed Hardee's cup that I impaled on a stick that was on staked into the ground.  "That took waaay too long, I'm going to bed- in a hostel," it said.  It was great to be able to tell him and Kickstand the news about Phillie and to say good-bye to them for real.  Hopefully I will catch them NOBO when I am SOBO. 
 
I am finally on to this last week which was basically uneventful.  All my friends that were behind me came and passed me and I was able to say goodbye to them all.  Welsh and I did a bunch of slacking together and the extra time gave us the time to climb Dragon's Tooth in the Daylight.  Wow.  I was crazy.  There's rocks and boulders, huge drop-offs, walls to climb up and down, some even have rungs cemented into the sides.  I saw all this in the dark but I didn't see the depth of the drop off.  Dragon's Tooth itself was on a side trail and the view and the climb to that was stunning.  Gordy and Trail Dawg were up there too so it was even more fun.  I was so scared standing on top of that pointy rock.  I had about as much lee-way as if I were to stand on an end table.  You stand on an end table that is 200 ft high.  Well, it gets wider from the end table point- but still.  I got a bunch of pictures of me, hopefully I will come across looking aloaf and fearless.  I had to raise myself to a standing position in stages. It was like one slow yoga move.  And breathe.  
 
Welsh Nomad was so amazingly generous.  She treated me to ice cream and a meal at the Homeplace.  I couldn't believe it.  I was living out of the hiker box and on people's leftovers.  She would always give me extra snacks as well.  I was so grateful.  I hope I wasn't coming across as pitiful or something.  I am so indebted to her.  I'm glad I have all during fishing to try to work out some way to make it up to her. 
 
The Homeplace is a big old Virginian house.  All fancy with the white pillar porch.  They serve you a meal like at home.  Everyone pays a flat price and then it is all you can eat.  The food comes out heaped up in bowls and on paltters and you pass it around the old fashioned way.  It was like Thanksgiving.  There were about 12 of us around the table.  We came to the conclusion that they have a table reserved for the hikers.  It's been mentioned in the register at the hostel that the hikers are set up in the middle of the room and this way regular folks get watch the ravenous feed.  I took note to look around the restaurant and it was true.  Live entertainment. 
 
My Northbound trip ended with a 19 mile slack pack on Friday.  Welsh and I.  The weatherman threatened us with 90 degree weather but it was breezy and even a bit rainy.  Still humid though.  We were talking about perhaps doing less but I was glad to push it that last day.  Go out with a bang.  At Daleville I was treated to an icecream sandwich, beer, and a happy meal, courtesy of Welsh Nomad and her husband Andrew.  What a greeting to have after a day of hiking.  And when we finally arrived at the house I got to have a shower and a long sit in the hot tub.  Soooo nice.  Today I had a real Phillie sandwhich and Welsh stayed up with me till 3 in the morning editing pictures for trail journals.  I am just overwhelmed by how helpful she's been.  So happy.  I can hardly believe that I leave TODAY for Alaska.  ALASKA!  Another year of fishing.  I am so excited.  So excited to meet the new crew, see who is back, get back into the wild routine.  So excited.  That should mean that I'll be able to keep up on e-mails better, none of these crazy longwinded things.  My problem was that I began to read through my journal.  I lose the flow and get too caught up in details.  Hopefully by the time you get to this part I have edited a bit and actually made this interesting instead of a highschool report.  All right, talk to you guys later.  I'll be keeping in touch.  Hey, I like snail mail best, I can do that on the boat between sets.  If you would like to write me I would love to hear from you, the address is the same as last year:
c/o Heather Roth
PO BOX 1189
Homer, AK 99603
 
Talk to you later! 
 
Love,
Roadster 
 
GIGANTIC P.S.
 
All right, so I wrote that yesterday and now I have e-mail acess so I wanted to give you a quick update before I am cut off from contact again.  First, I will say I am in Alaska and ready to go out on the boats tomorrow but HOW I got here is so great!  I've had so much fun.  Let us begn:
 
First, Welsh Nomad took me out to Vietnamese which brought back the memories of Vietnam, the real differance though was to know what I was eating.  I was reading the menu going, "Ahh, now I know."  Airport was airport.  The line to security went to the other end of the moving sidewalks and I was being reprimanded for only being an hour and a half early instead of 2.  In the end the plane sat for a hour and a half.  Halfway through the flight I remembered that I still most likely had denatured alcohol in my bag.  For the rest of the flight I imagined my bag turning into a maulitof- mollitauv - (10 pts if you know how to spell that) cocktail.  Well, we landed without turning into a fireball.  My AK flight left late which gave me enough time to catch it.  I confessed to the people behind the desk about my potential bomb but I was assured I was fine.  Well, if denatured alcohol is not considered a dangerous flammable,then what is?  I was reading "Big Trouble"  a great spoof on our airport security.  It was great.  Another gift from Welsh.
 
At the baggage claim I told myself to get over my shyness and started scouting for rides to Homer.  Well, I left the baggage claim without a ride and without my bag.  Another flight from Denver was coming in 12 hrs, this would most likely have my bag I was told,  so I found the only empty bench and slept.  I had been traveling for 10 hrs.   When I finally got up I made phone calls and around 2:00 I went to check on my bag.  By then 2 flights had come from Denver but I found out that my bag never had.  I was back at the service counter and it was interesting because it was the same woman that had waited on me at 1 am and the same guy that had been in front of me before was in front of me again.  Turns out we had the exact same flight and exact same luggage problem.  The tentative update on his bag was that it was in Cancun, no word on mine.  I just thought about the angry guy that had checked in my bag.  I had walked away thinking that maybe he had wanted a tip or something.  Are you supposed to do that for curb side check-in?  Well, I was told that I was entitled to up to $50 for things I needed to immediately replace from my bag.  I told this lady how I was hoping to hitch hike to Homer but I didn't have anything warm to wear.  This $50 would cover a coat she told me.  I didn't tell her but I sure didn't want to buy some over priced cheap coat at an airport, and then this counter lady did something amazing.  She checked on shuttles for me.  There was one leaving SOON.  She got some overhead approval, called and asked the shuttle to wait for me, and then used that money-for-inconvenianve policy to pay for a taxi to the shuttle and for the shuttle itself.  Free!  It was so fun using coupons to pay for stuff.  Everyone on the shuttle was so patient and simpathetic.  They didn't buy me any food though.  I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, at the Vietnamese restaurant.  Quick gripe:  on US Airways they came by with airplane meals from Friday's, or something like that, at a cost of $10 a piece!!!  I was so annoyed, I wanted to drink everything from thier juice cart just to show them but they only came by once with beverages.  Cheapskates. 
 
It was so fun to call and ask for a ride from the Kwik-I-Mart in Homer.  I had called earlier from Anchorage.  Ha.  Heather said she would pick me up if she saw me on the road but once I started hitching I got a ride so fast that I was walking down the ramp and meeting her at the boat just as she was heading out.  Good thing too, because she took me to the house to get set up for fishing TOMORROW.   I got my package that I had sent to myself from Damascus and then I asked about rain gear.  Every year they have supplied me with rain gear and today Heather told me that it was all stolen sometime this winter.  So. . . I was about to go out fishing for the WEEK with one change of clothes and no rain gear.  Rain gear is not for the rain, it is for all the water that gets rung out of the nets over your head.  "What time is it?"  I asked.  We needed to make an emergency stop at the Gear Shed.  I have no money.  It was 9:00.  What time does the Gear Shed close?  9:00?  I called them up.  Yep, they closed at 9.  So I explained my story in short form.  "Help, I need rain gear tonight for fishing this week."  You know, that sort of thing.  And they did!  We were there in 5 min.  I got my $160 (!!!!) worth of gear, which they allowed Heather to put on Robert's account, and my fishing license.  Then we went back to the house where I waited for a ride from Alex.  That's when I asked for food.  Swallowed a cheese sandwhich and guess what I got to eat, Lipton Noodles.  The normal hiker's main meal.  I got to work on this e-mail a bit, Alex came, we left, got to the docks and out of the van when I realized I had forgotten my rain gear at the house.  My RAIN GEAR.  You know, every year I tell myself over and over not to look like a complete ditz in front of the guys and I miserably fail EVERY time.  Alex asked me what I had forgot, I told him and then I told him to shut up and started to hitch hike.  I did walk a ways but the van that picked me up drove me right to the house and offered to take me back to the boat.  I gratefully accepted and then Alex pulled up.  I didn't ask, I just waved thanks to the kind driver, got my rain gear, got a smelly sleeping bag, put them IN Alex's van and now I am still here finishing an e-mail.  Alex has already warned me to cancel all my Sundays because I will be working sun up to sun down on his mangled net.  It's so nice to be needed.  And with that I say good night.  I'm going fishing!!!  Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you what I have for this week.  I have: long johns, another shirt, another pair of socks, my toothbrush and my pick.  I'm so proud of myself, I pulled out my toothbrush and pick as ways to kill time at the airport.  Of course, I still have my most valuable possesions: camera, journal, passport, and visa.  I also had the foresight to take my cd of pictures.  It's the only copy I have of my latest pictures.  This is going to be an interesting week.  Well, tomorrow is already Tues.  As long as I get my bag back by the weekend.  Did I mention how excited I am to be back?  So excited.
 
Love,
Rachael