Shenandoah, Day 4

AM
Not my best sleep. First I was having this dream. I had a sister, and she needed some money from my brother. We went into his room and found it, but I convinced her not to take it. On the way out of his room though, somehow we messed up his phone. So during the night, some alarm went off and woke him up (I guess it was some kind of alarm clock/phone). At this point I woke up because I thought I was hearing a different alarm. Well it was some animal, I have no idea what. It sort of sounded like it was exhaling really hard through its nose, but with a more defined pitch. Maybe a whooooh, whooooh. So that eventually went away and I heard some hooves, so I know there were deer around too.

Now here's the freaky one. I could swear something crawled on me. I felt two of them, I think they were raccoons or something. One of them crawled over me, the other settled down in my lap. I didn't move for 10 minutes. When I finally did, there was nothing on me, so I guess I was dreaming.

It's quite early (a little after six), but I couldn't go back to sleep. So I guess I'll eat, pack & go.

PM
5:30 and I've already stopped. In fact, I stopped an hour ago. I could have gone further, but I was really tired. I only went about 13 today, but climbed about3000 ft (all put together). Besides that, I stopped for a good reason. I have two firsts tonight. I met up with some people: Matt & John, so I'll camp with them tonight. (Yea company!) When John reaches Rockfish (where I started), he will have done the whole AT. The other first, is that we are sleeping in a hut. I camped next to one, but never actually in one--sans tent.

Another thing I did do today was read a lot of shelter logs. I read the one at Pinefield Hut at lunch, and then the one here at Hightop Hut.

Saw a garter snake, a frog, & 5 deer today. No bears yet. I'll probably see some mice tonight, while I'm sleeping (according to the recent logs).

Had an apple and some more blackberries today too.

It's nice to hike with dry clothes. They were soaked by the end of the day, but they started off dry. Except for the socks. The socks and boots never really dried, so yes, I have a case of the soggy feet again today. And yes, my boots did that annoying scrunch up thing. I had to stop and fix them every time I got to the bottom of a hill.

Other things for future hikes: Those "duck bags" you can get for canoers. They stay dry & are easier to deal with than trash bags. (Probably cost $$ though). At least one for dry clothes and one for food, maybe another for wet clothes. Sport sandals--not camp shoes. They're lighter and can get wet.

My fuel consumption has been low, so I dumped my small canister for weight purposes. Still have the can, just not the fuel.

In the log many people are talking about 20+ days! I am inspired and going to try and make it to Big Meadows tomorrow (~17 miles). A hot dinner and a room for the night. That would put me back on track too. Speaking of though, seem I forgot a day. I actually have 9 [pic] days, and a 10th if I really need it--not 8. I think I'll still go for Big M. Tomorrow, just to prove I can. Then I can take it a bit slower. Between the missed meals on Monday (rain) and dinner tomorrow at Big M., I should be fine for food.

Oh yeah, even in those nifty squeeze tubes, PB & Jelly don't work. They both squeeze out the end, so it's a bit messy.

Lots of bugs here, but they seem to be well behaved.

Lots of singing to myself today. I have had this one Prince song stuck in my head since the beginning of the trail. (Money Don't Matter Tonight?--It's off of the "Diamonds a& Pearls" album.) Other than that, I find a song comes to your head based on the tempo you're walking. It actually helps to going up, because you don't want the song to slow down.

My feet are cold, but I don't have any socks. I guess I'll crawl in my sleeping bag for awhile and read. Then it's dinner time, food hanging time (although I still haven't seen any bears), and bed time.

Btw, I learned a new term today from the journals. "Pink Blazing" means hiking naked.

--At Dinner with 5 more deer.