Thursday, May 9th

We all rustled one another awake around 8, everybody feeling immediately inclined to tell me of the ridiculous things that I'd said in my sleep the previous night. Sure, I disturb people, but at least it's entertaining.

I went for the Power Breakfast with the oatmeal + kitchen sink meal plan. I left camp by 9:30 and had a fairly nice day of walking. The day progressed enjoyably, though in a manner that doesn't make for good reading. Eight hours of uninterrupted solitude and beauty -- you'd simply have to experience it. The sides of the trail were covered with Spring Beauties and the greenest grass that I've ever seen. I skipped over the next three shelters, Spence Field, Derrick Knob and Silers Bald, headed for Double Spring Shelter. As I got nearer to the shelter, the trail grew deep from erosion, a three foot deep and one foot wide rocky trench though the woods. The rain began to fall with great splats around me. Fortunately, most of the raindrops missed me. (If they'd all hit me, I'd've been in a lot of trouble.)

Blaze Blind, Purple Pirate, Gore-Tex Cowboy (Purple Pirate's brother, who is hiking with them for a bit) and Snail-No-More were there. I suppose I should explain that last name. Snail-No-More is Trail Snail's new trail name, for a couple of reasons. The first is that he met another Trail Snail hiking the AT. The second is that he's hiking at a pretty good speed now, making good milage in good time. Some have been calling him "The Hiker Formerly Known as Trail Snail". It's all the same to him.

The Brothers showed up soon afterwards, filling up the shelter just enough to be nice. I went for the double-Lipton dinner to make up for a solid day's hiking. Lisa, while hiking, discovered the Trail EpiLady. She tried to light her stove after letting out entirely too much fuel, and she lost most of her leg hair with a great poof.

We didn't stay up too late, but we had a good evening of laughs. This is a good bunch to hike with.

Today's Song: Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, Various Parts of "Juliet Letters"
Miles Today: 16