Trail entry #1
March 25, 2003
Today's miles: 6.3
Trip miles: 6.3
Destination: Ohiopyle shelter area

I rarely nap at home, but when I'm backpacking it's a different story. On a beautiful day, I can lie down just about anywhere and fall asleep. This afternoon, I put my Z-rest on the leaves, put myself on the Z-rest, covered my face with a bandana, and two hours passed me by in a blink. Aaaah, that felt good. I just woke up a few minutes ago, at five o'clock.

Mike and I are at the Ohiopyle Shelter area, 6.3 miles from where we began trudging at noon. That's what it was for me, anyway -- a slow trudge. I felt like a slug. Just isn't natural to go from sitting on one's butt for the better part of two years, straight to hiking in the mountains, carrying roughly forty pounds. Probably closer to forty-five in this case, with that bulky sleeping bag, warm clothes, and six days of food. And I disregarded my old A.T. rule: Don't hike on an empty stomach. I had exactly two cookies and one diet Coke this morning. Great breakfast, huh?

So, anyway, it's interesting meeting someone you've never seen or spoken to, then, ten minutes later, setting off on a 70-mile hike together. But, as always, I've found that the shared experience of walking a trail makes that part easy. And Mike is a very nice person. Soft-spoken, easy-going. He's sleeping in one of the shelters at the moment. Little shelters, they are. They'd be pretty crowded with the maximum occupancy of five. But it looks like Mike and I will be the only ones here tonight. In fact, I'll be surprised if we have much company on the trail at all, being that it's so early in the year and most of our hiking will be on weekdays. We saw only one other hiker today, heading in the opposite direction and carrying a day-pack. Oh, and a couple on a 4-wheeler who were riding on a trail that intersects the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (LHHT). They and I happened to reach the intersection at the same moment. I yielded. They didn't slow down.

Buuuut anyhoo. I'd say today was and is as near to perfect as a day can get. Comfortable temperature and lots of sunshine, pretty views, the sounds of the Youghiogheny River and its tributaries, a light breeze. So I felt like I had lead weights on my legs? And what's a little chafing on the inner thighs and beneath the chest topography? (Told you'd I'd complain about my sports bra.) And the blisters are no big deal, either. I'm lucky to be out here.

I'm not sure what all I was thinking about while I was hiking today. Well, on the uphills (and today was mostly uphill), I did wonder several times if a human heart is supposed to beat that fast. And every time I stopped to take in a view and catch my breath, I thought about the fact that I'm out here enjoying a peaceful walk in the woods while hundreds of thousands of men and women are risking their lives in the Iraqi desert. How ... strange that felt. For the past five days, I've had CNN on almost continuously during the day, even getting up now and then during the night to see what's going on. It's weird to watch a war from my living room, but it seems even weirder to me now that I'm suddenly so completely removed from all that and most everything else going on in the world. Most of the day, I found myself thinking no further than a few feet ahead of me or about nothing much at all. Then I'd think about what I've been seeing on TV lately and feel ... well, weird.

Oh, Mike is up. (I know, because I just heard him belch.) Guess I'll put my pen and paper away and go be sociable while I cook my dinner. Back to Liptons and mac-n-cheese. Yay, I'm hikin'!

--Ramkitten