Day 7 - 4/10/09 (Friday)
last night was again a bit of a struggle. the man of the couple sharing the shelter with us was a snorer. not as bad as stealth was, but sam was outside of the shelter when it started and when he reached back from the picnic table where he was sitting and put his hand on the side wall of the structure…it was vibrating. i also had my first encounter with the shelter mice as one scurried across my forehead and woke me from a short bit of sleep at some point in the middle of the night. we woke today to rain.
- “hiking today i kept thinking of what jesus/the disciples were going through on “good friday”…trial, beating, cross, death, denial, abandonment…i try to imagine that i am in their shoes but it is hard…it is hard for me to be anywhere but here in the rain that i am hiking in.”
- my earlier notions of us mounting some sort of conquering assault on the mountain have been replaced with a new theme, one that i am glad to have learned quickly:
“hiking slow - trying to begin moving with the mtn. instead of against… no more conquering, just moving with it.”
- reached a full shelter and began my new blister cleaning ritual: remove shoes and socks. remove tape and band-aids. clean open wound with water and soap. rinse off. dry with whatever is on hand to dry it with, usually the “clean” night socks. apply neosporin in wound. apply band-aid and tape. cover with night socks. walk gingerly to cook dinner and get in sleeping bag. (this will be the routine for a while)
- the shelter is full when i arrive, and as some hike out others come in and fill the spaces. we have 9 in a 6 person shelter and more may come. we are crammed in as it is fog and raining out, with an occasional dose of hail. one guys is down at the other end reading lord of the rings. his buddy next to him claims that this is heavy reading. he only carries the little engine that could (which he reads daily for inspiration). here we are packed in like sardines and sharing this moment on the trail we are all amused. sam captures the moment with, “…9 complete strangers in a wooden shelter on a mountain…sleeping side by side…real world - AT.” (to be read in mtv commercial voice)
