Hog Pen Gap, Georgia, April 10
Fox and I reached Hog Pen Gap. Tesnatee Gap was one TOUGH mile ago. Although my feet were really beginning to hurt, we so wanted to make the next shelter while the rain held off. We were determined to make our highest mileage day yet. Those four miles never felt so far.
Fox was in his sixties from Michigan. Retiree, eagle scout and forestry buff -- we shared a lot of similar interests. A healthy skepticism of philosophies, sciences and the as-yet unexplainable (how can I dowse?), why do topo maps lie? Talking as we hiked helped keep our minds off my feet and his knees while we pushed on to Low Gap.
'You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge. And if you project forward from that pattern, then sometimes you can come up with something.'
-Robert M. Pirsig, zen/motorcycle maintenance.