If there is one overwhelming reason to keep doing this hiking thing, it is the feeling you get when you are walking across the ridgeline of a mountain. It's seems crazy when you are back in town, to look up and say "I was there, up at the top, only yesterday". And if there is a best sensation, it is walking the ridgeline in the dark, and seeing the stars above and the city lights below. It made it worth all of those uphill switchbacks that we groaned about. I can still remember Paul saying that we were almost at the top and then see the trail turn and see another mountain to climb. We would get our hopes up when we'd look ahead and see blue sky behind the trees instead of more mountain. Sometimes we would be walking on a narrow line with the sides of the mountain falling from us and on either side you could see the city below. I almost never had that experience but for a curious guy named Glenn, that taught us hiking in the dark is a peaceful thing. It sure doesn't sound like it at first, but for me, the guy that can't sleep on the trail, I was at least a moving target for bears and whatever other critters were waiting for me to lay down in that sleeping bag, with the world's thinnest material for a tent separating me from the nightlife.
The problem of sleeping at night is not a camping thing. I have no problem at all sleeping on a camping trip, and a whole lot of people have trouble sleeping while on backpacking trips. Strangely enough, Paul is not one of those people. He slept like the dead almost every night of our hike, and I'm here to testify of his ability to snore on command. I was mighty jealous, and am now much more sympathetic to my wife's troubles with sleeping. Paul was happiest in his bag out on the trail, but when we finally climbed down off the trail and hiked into Daleville for a shower and a chance to recharge our electronics, Paul found he couldn't just sleep anywhere.
One thing I did not really understand before Daleville, was that the through hikers didn't rough it for months on end, eating nothing but Ramen noodles and drinking from streams. Nope, they would go into town, chow down, sleep in a hotel, and get some more stuff for the trail. Sometimes, they were switching out packs, gear, clothing, and even just hanging out with other hikers. Daleville is the kind of town that welcomes hikers and even offered special hiker discounts. We took advantage of that at the Howard Johnson's right next to the trail. That place was full of hikers, and the management was really nice to us all, but I'd have to say, the hotel was probably appreciated most by hikers that hadn't seen a shower and a bed for a while...there was no way my wife would have set foot in that place. I do recall that Magic Mike told me his wife was keeping him restocked and he had to find her a nicer hotel down the road, like I say, hikers liked it the most.
I've seen some worse hotels out west for more money, but this one was in the running, for sure. None of that bothered me a bit. The shower had hot water, the bed had a pillow and I knew that real food was coming in the morning, and there was a Pizza Hut, and supposedly an awesome BBQ place down the road. In spite of my dislike of all things fast food, Paul talked me into lunch at Wendy's which was a half mile walk down the highway. For most of us, a half mile walk down the highway doesn't sound worth a trip to Wendy's, but take off my backpack and it was more like I was floating down the road. And...the food at Wendy's tasted awesome. The place was full of backpackers, and if you wonder how I knew, just think of a bunch of homeless looking guys, and you'll get the picture.
We had come into Daleville at this time, not just for fun, but because the weather was supposed to get bad again, and I was a little apprehensive after the episode at Dragon's Tooth. The weathermen were right this time and it rained hard while Paul lay sleepless in the hotel room, thinking about how much it was costing him to sit there and watch reruns of Gilligan's Island while I was snoring in the next bed....
No comments:
Post a Comment