4/03/00
Day 12
Pinefield Hut
128.2 miles
It was a pretty easy day, though 8 miles, up and down, with a pack, still manages to catch your notice. But I arrived here early in the day, dipped my feet in the stream, aired out everything that was damp from the night before, and generally accomplished very little. The three Trail veterans, "Bucky" (a grizzled old guy that looks like he lives on the Trail, even on his first day back!), "Bear Charmer" (has completed the Trail once already in sections), and "Penguin" (from South Africa - back to finish what she started) all arrived a couple hours later, so they must have really been taking it slow. Looks like they're going to tent out again. They pitched their tents last night, but only after it became clear that the Hightop shelter was overrun with mice. I decided to tough it out in the shelter, and consequently didn't get much sleep, with the mice swarming around like the Viet Cong in "Platoon".
I was thinking of something earlier, but it would mean extra work for you, Don, so
it's entirely your choice. I'm hoping to use the internet terminal of the Waynesboro
Library when I get there, but I don't know how often I'll have the opportunity to
do that as I go along. Since I might be sending you these postal updates more frequently, I
wondered if you'd be willing to transcribe portions of them into an email update
for any of the "Rockdogs" who are interested. If, in all this mess, you could find
a pithy, interesting quote, you could include that along with my current location
and the distance covered. I kind of got the idea from what they're doing with the
hiker's journals on the Trailplace website, except that those people are having
every word transcribed and publishing it on the web for all the world to see. I've
been a little surprised by how some people have taken an interest in what I'm
doing. And yet I can understand if others could care less. Ultimately this hike
is something I have to be doing for myself. I can only concern myself with success
or failure on my own terms. I don't want to be driven by the expectations of
others, but I certainly don't mind trying to at least stay in touch.