Once upon a time there were to men who had a dream to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Unfortunately they did not have the freedom to pursue this in one year. Instead of one long dream the adventure turned in to a series of short dreams . . . like all things in life, moderation is good. The adventure started off with less than a week on the trail, two extremely heavy packs and many lessons learned. Some dreams were like nightmares like the dream of 2006 when over 80 percent of the dream included rain. Other years were so hot that the hikers learned the power of Desitin to soothe the heat rash that covered some of their 2000 parts. Mother Nature blessed the hikers with many beautiful days that instantly motivated them to stay the course and accomplish their goal.
This year the hikers were 13 days through their adventure when lessons learned were handy. Hikers, outdoor types that usually do not answer to the “rain delay” theory, trudged along until their goal was reached. (Less adventurous support crew members stayed at home, sent packages and blogged! ) In hiker land, a.k.a. just outside of Glencliff, NH, the rain poured all day, stopping about the time the hikers got to the shelter. Even after all that rain the hikers mulled over pushing on. Should they try to go further than the nine miles that they had on their schedule? (Commentary . . . this story was so idealistic until that word sprung up. . . “schedule” . . . like all good tales an oxymoron lies somewhere hidden beneath the surface. Hence forth we must make allowances for the hikers . . . since the time they spend as Clark Kent is permeated with planning for their next hike . . . all that planning leads to schedules, which means that underneath that woodsmen idealism outer shell they really are TYPE A PLANNERS!) Ahhhhh . . . back to the real story . . . upon arriving at the shelter they started their nightly chores, getting water purified for the next day, making dinner and such. The temperatures were a chilling 50+ degrees. At some point the hikers had an aha moment and realized that they were near hypothermia and should call it a day. They changed their clothes, snuggled in their sleeping bags and shivered for about an hour until they could warm up enough to fall asleep. (Commentary . . . exhaustion is a good thing. If nothing else it makes sleeping on a wooden plank bed in a three sided shelter seem like the Hampton Inn when you are shivering yourself to sleep.)
Today, day 14, the hikers, woke to a beautiful bright skies. The sun was shining, temperatures climbed to the 70s and the clouds dissipated. Mother Nature reminded the hikers of the glorious world they live in . . . well sort of. Turtle, a true scholar of the trail literature said, “You know how the Hikers Companion calls the Whites [mountains] challenging, their not challenging - these mountains are f_ _ _ _ _ _ demanding.” In exchange for the beautiful day, Mother Nature provided a series of rock faces and steep angles that challenged the hikers to be creative. The day started out with the trail leading up the mountain. Long legged Navigator challenged vertically challenged Turtle to step up or zig zag around to move on. Turtle responded with a mutter as his shorter legs were not able to stretch quite as far or a nimbly as Navigator coaxed. Unfortunately Turtle’s designated path forced him to leave a little skin behind. (Commentary . . . "leaving a little skin behind" is Turtle’s way of assuring the support staff that he didn’t get hurt when he fell, but he got a little skinned up.) The uphill climb was rewarded with a down hill climb over equally arduous terrain. The hikers seemed to think the downhill was easier than uphill. The hikers were in good form . . . looking forward to reaching Liberty Springs shelter by dinner time.
The day was punctuated by a “bird attack” of sorts. Navigator was strolling along, well maybe not strolling (see above), when a bird was standing dead ahead giving the old stink eye glare. Navigator slowed the pace, took a few steps forward. Stink Eye flapped her wings warding Navigator off. Hmmm thought Navigator,maybe old Stink Eye has some babies nearby. I will take my trusty trekking pole and tap it on the palm of my hand to scare this football size creature. Hmmmm thought the bird, that tall stinky creature with a lump on his back is not going to scare me with a little tap, tap. After all, I am woman and he will hear me roar. Stink Eye held her ground. Navigator decided that it might be better to make broad sweeping motions with the slightly thicker handle end of the pole just to see if the movement would frighten Stink Eye off the trail long enough, for what was now the dynamic duo, to pass. Stink Eye relented, either out of fear or frustration, so Navigator and Turtle were able to hike on.
Today had two happy endings . . . a beautiful day and a battle won.
Day 14
Miles Completed: 167.60
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