Day 27: Stupid Stinkin’ Everything

Sometimes A Locked Gate is a Locked Gate

Yesterday, while perusing the FarOut app during my last break of the day, I discovered that Wolf Laurel was a private gated community. I’d hoped to meet Northstar (Mrs. I) at the Bald Head Trailhead above Wolf Laurel. Nope. Not unless we bought a luxury vacation home in the next 16 hours. For the record, we did not buy a luxury home. This story does not end that way.

Discovering that fact late yesterday afternoon was a pain. But not as much as it would have been finding out this afternoon, and realizing I needed to hike another seven miles to the nearest road crossing. My choices were to either shorten today’s hike to 8.6 miles (to Sam’s Gap) or do 22 miles to Spivey Gap.

Going Short

I just wasn’t feeling the 22. My hips and feet hurt from yesterday’s mileage. Plus, I woke up grumpy. So, I took the shorter option, knowing that meant I’d probably fall behind most everyone I know. That didn’t improve my mood.

Good Boy

On the positive side, a shorter day meant Gus could come along. He could harder contain himself when I called him out of the van, he was so happy. And he’s such a good trail dog. He sticks right behind me, stays right on the trail, doesn’t pester other hikers or chase chipmunks.

His one vice is that he’s a fetch-aholic. At one point, I kicked a loose rock off the trail, rolling it down the steep side-slope. Gus was on it in a second, chasing the rock 90 yards down the slope, giving up only when he realized it was too big to carry.

Captain Grumpy Pants

Gus may have been happy, but I was not. For me, today sucked. I woke up grumpy. I walked grumpy. And I grumped at every flower and view I saw. I crabbed about the trail, the (many, many) stairs, forgetting to camel up at the last water, and just about everything else that crossed my mind. And yes, I crabbed about the climbs that just yesterday I had achieved a perfect Zen state about. Fortunately, I saw no one else on the trail, so I didn’t kill anyone.

As a side note, I hate stairs, especially the logs-across-the-trail kind. Yeah, they protect the trail, prevent erosion, preserve stream quality, provide a more stable walking surface…blah, blah, blah. We hates them, we do.

Trail Magic to the Rescue

And just when I’d worked myself into a hateful lather about everything and nothing, I walked into Sam’s Gap where three, count ‘em, three separate groups had set up trail magic. It’s amazing what some free pancakes, eggs, soda, cookies, muffins, hot dogs, and chips can do for one’s mood. Especially, when there’s enough to share with your dog.

Daily Stats:

• Start: Devil’s Fork Gap (Mile 311.1)
• End: Sam’s Gap (Mile 319.7)
• Weather: Overcast, cool then warm
• Earworm: Hosanna (from JC Superstar, not my favorite)
• Meditation: Js 3:10-12
• Plant of the Day: Dwarf Larkspur. Also Broadleaf Waterleaf.
• Best Thing: I didn’t kill anymore. Also, trail magic x3 at Sam’s Gap.
• Worst Thing: Suffering, such suffering…oh, woe is me