Ordinary News

4/21/2013

Ordinary News

I am at a hostel in Damascus, Virginia.  I don't usually do hostels.  They are a bit primitive (I know you are laughing)....even for me.  Most of the time when I hit town,  I rent a single motel room, which costs 3 to 5 times as much as a bunk or room at a hostel...... and is the better deal for me.   In town,  I like to toss my stuff everywhere, write, email, call, bathe and relax........ in private.  The AT runs right through the middle of Damascus,  as it did also, in Hot Springs, NC.  You do not have to arrange a shuttle to town.  You just hike the trail down.....into town....it is
always.....down into town hiking.  It's usually 2-3 hours down,  into town.
So I am at a hostel, in my own private unheated bedroom...... lying on a board that is shaped like a bed.....and sharing (thank goodness-see below) 2 bathrooms and a shower..... with about 10 or 12 kids.  It is not all bad.  There are many leftover bottles and tubes of shampoo to choose from.
Hey!  Where are the other old codgers?  They musta had more energy than me and found a motel. That is what I was leading up to stating...again, that there is no AT&T phone service,  even in town.  So the only way to get a room is to walk all over the place checking options in person.  Or to eat at the first place you walk past, and stay at the first place that will take you....Dave's.  And to promise yourself that you will never do another hostel again.  And will only sleep on boards at shelters...... on the trail.  And only then when it is pouring rain.....you are totally soaked,  and too cold to put up your tent in the rain.....like the day before yesterday.  And that even then..... you will still never sleep on a board in a shelter again...... no matter how hard it is raining....... if everyone in the shelter ......all seven of them.....( you are number 8 with three kids on one side of you and four lying on the board on the other side of you)  are 24 years old or less.  "Wanderlust", "Foxtrot", "Sooty", "Hoops", "Pearl", "Punkinhead", and someone that I forget.
No you promise yourself, you simply won't do that again!  Twenty five year olds, yes.....ok....you can do it...... if the rain is falling hard and the wind is howling.  But no way.....absolutely no way..... if everyone but you is 18 to 24 years old!
It would be great to read their journals.  They would be saying that if "Bioterrorist",  or "B-Rocket" had done their 25 miles just a little faster...... he or she could have arrived in time to beat that old guy to the shelter,  in the rain....... and they all coulda hung out and partied all night.

[ Note that I have added these names a year after the fact. When I first wrote this entry, I did not know these hikers very well.  Now,  while proofreading,  I am adding some names of friends, here and there.  Yes. Yes.  I was not going to spell it out to those of you who did not get it, but I can not resist.  We all did become friends, and we saw each other frequently along the trail.  Because we all spent a rainy night together, stuffed into a shelter, in Virginia, early in our thru-hike.  And no, we did not understand at that time, that being almost 500 miles up the trail, was early in our hike.  We all shared a bond that sealed the gaps of age, occupation, race, and gender.  We were all thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail!! ]

Hey look at the pictures.  I crossed from Tennessee into Virginia
today.  So The AT in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee is history.  Welcome to Virginia.   I will be in Virginia a long time.
The AT Itself has already gotten a bit easier.  There are some big climbs this coming week.  After that, the path will be easier for quite a while.....easier..... not easy.    I have dropped 20 pounds, from a plump 175 to 155.  Yes, 155.  The battle now....much sooner than I expected,  will be to hold 155 or gain a bit even.
A guy my age who was faster than me..... (Hey, I passed up a weekender, Kevin, today....maybe the first person I have passed.  I was hiking with him and his two buddies and we were gabbing.  I think they were from Charlotte, NC.  His friends were teasing him because he was in front and slow.....had a bad foot.  So I joined in and mentioned that I probably have never passed anyone.... but that I was thinking, I could probably pass him.  So his two pals and me too......promptly passed him up.  And we all had a good laugh.  He was laughing too).
 Ok..... back to the guy my Age ( Look at the title of this post.  That shoulda warned you that this entry would not be my typical literary masterpiece).  Anyhow the guy, "Trekker", suddenly got off the trail.  He was down to 132 pounds and ran out of gas.   I am shocked.  He and his brother, "Pilgrim" who is 66 and still on the AT, were very organized....disciplined....and strong hikers.  The three of us and another hiker, "Condor",  57,  hung out a few days, a week ago.  At that time he said he was reading on White Blaze ( an AT Website) that people were betting on us older hikers,  to go all the way.  He said that White Blaze said the bad weather was chasing the younger people off in big numbers,  this year.  Poof he is gone.  I personally have been surrounded by kids for four days.....here in this hostel too....and am wondering where all the old guys that I know are?
The truth is that at this exact moment,  I am also wondering whether I have gotten Girardia today....... or whether it is just that every time I come into town, and eat as much as I can, in order to keep my strength and weight up...... that my body objects to all of that rich food and makes me pay a price.   It is truly a lose....loose
situation.  I will be back shortly.

Had to step over three young drunk, and stoned, lads,  freeloading on the hostel floor,  to get to the can.  Yes.  Yes.  I know that woulda been me back in the day.  Perspectives change.  Lets move on.
I forgot where I was, and where this post was going even.
Hostels are great places to meet hikers and to socialize.... not to get some sleep. The post office opens at 8:30 AM.  Hopefully my resupply box is waiting.   Then I am going hiking.

Oh yeah......in order to play fair.... I am obligated to state that "Chin Music",  a grey beard,  but younger than me, and I hiked with an interesting....intelligent...and opinionated, 22 year old yesterday, and today.  The three of us shared a campfire last night (Met "Coolie McJetpack" 24, wandering through the middle of the woods in the dark, to our fire then too) and a resturant meal today..... and interesting conversation at both.  "B-Rocket"from Maine, held up her part of the discussion well.  So it is possible for the generation gap to be bridged.  That is the good news.

Ok.....so I will quit crying... sleep on this board....hope that it is not Girardia....and promise to write something intelligible next time.  And tomorrow I will go hiking,  in Virginia, on the Appalachian Trail!