Pink Ladyslipper
M=7.7; C=226.9
More of Spring's delight showing up along Trail. Pink Ladyslipper in flower.
J: Lunch - Cosby Knob Shelter. Big puffy clouds, occasional thunder. In with Featherpack Matt, Nomad, Wrong Way Johnson - expecting some of the others to catch up, including Port and Starboard.
One's mind plays with all of the time available to it while hiking. To entertain myself, I spend the hours thinking up trail stuff. Perhaps compose a piece on A.T. anthropology - thru-hikers as a subspecies?
Later - have a fire going. Weather never cleared up, so stayed the afternoon curled up with a book. In with Port and Starboard (from Bath, NC), Yeti (CT), Tired Dogs, Babbles, Stomper, Permagrin, and Skip. Good crowd. Rain gently coming now -- was quite a storm as one strike came REAL close to the shelter. Will wander into Mt. Mamas tomorrow. Need to revamp the itin. Just figure out where I should be when. Need to mail cards to let folks know where I am. Get some grub.
Thru-hikers - territorial animals, found on a strip of North America 2 feet by 2000 miles. Migratory habits - usually beginning from March to May but known to range year-round.
Travel both alone and in packs with little or no discernable social order. Known to congregate at dens deemed 'shelters' governed by field mice, skunks, white-tail deer and occasional juncos.
Unlike dayhikers or weekenders, the food and hygiene habits of a typical thruhiker resembles that of traditional hunter/gatherers. For instance, thruhikers will willingly accept offers of food in a nearly tame or domesticated manner. If found near a picnic site or road crossing, thruhikers seem to take on a pitiful - sometimes pathetic stance, hunched over beneath the burdensome weight of their packs.
Don't be afraid to approach as they are not known to attack the hand that feeds them. Do be prepared to accept a certain natural aroma, as complete cleanliness isn't possible in their natural environment and bathing is an erractic (some would say traumatic) event for the hiker. Dayhikers and weekenders are far less accepting of food offerings, often acting with far more suspicion at acts of generosity. Dayhikers, and to a lesser extent weekenders, will rarely have that wild scent -- occasionally seen even in buttondown shirts and reeboks.