[at-l] My 1997 Trail Journal

[agaudet at TheWorld.com (agaudet@xxxxxxxxxxxx)]

I've had a quiet day today at work so I finally started to enter my stuff
at http://www.trailjournals.com. I'm up to day 106 of my 210 day trip.

Mine is the only AT journal for 1997, so it should be easy to find. I
don't know when I'll get to enter the rest of the trip, upload pictures,
etc. Or get to my 1998 & 2000 trips... It always seems like too much
keying.

As for the writing, I'll let this group be the judge. At the time my
readers commented that they like this journal since it's not the regular
"got up, hiked, ate, hiked some more, slept" stuff. Here's an excerpt I
was reminded of when reading Felix's entry about the icestorm near
Davenport Gap. This one is about summer-time sounds:


July 7, 1997 - Rod Hollow Shelter (Day 105 ~ milepoint 965.5)
Sounds
I've been discovering what it feels like to intentionally listen to what's
going on around me in these woods as I travel. It takes place once 2
things happen - first I need to stop my defensive listening, what we do in
heavy traffic to protect ourselves, and then second - pay attention to the
whole spectrum of sounds that present themselves.
Wind takes on many identities, depending on the type of trees nearby, the
wind velocity and the lay of the land. In the gaps the wind direction can
change wildly, especially with an approaching storm. I've noticed the
softer sounds of the wind through pines, and how different the same wind
sounds in beech, elm and birch trees. I've heard for the first time the
clacking of branches during high winds, and the roar of strong wind
breaching over us as we ascend exposed ridges.
Water also has many different moods, and I found I can predict the size of
a creek or a stream by the sound I hear as I approach it. We are so
dependent on water out here that even a slow dripping sound is easily
noticed and I'll go search out the source if my water bottles are empty.
Water dropping onto pools makes deeper sounds if the pool is deep. Fog
gathering on leaves will make the trees drip, but it doesn't quite sound
like rain, but very close to it. Rain sounds also can vary and I can tell
the difference when the rain intensifies or lightens up by the sound I
hear!
Birds have become trackable objects in 3-dimensional space with this new
awareness and it's done entirely with sound. Some birds will move along
the trail as I walk, calling and singing, sometimes staying with me for
hundreds of feet. Others are moving across my path, upwards and away, or
down and then quiet until I pass them. That's all info I can tap into as I
walk.
Add to this the different songs of the birds (warblers, veeries, thrushes,
etc.), frog noises, the sounds of insects in fields on a hot summer day
(buzzing of cicadas reminds me of home), the distant sounds of road
traffic. My heightened awareness of sound makes the day interesting to me
as it unfolds on the trail.
Passed today the area that was once Mosby's Confederacy, an area that gave
General Grant lots of problems in the Civil War. Also saw and photographed
a wall surveyed by the young George Washington.
Here tonight with Mr. Clean, Goose and others. A weird WV guy is here with
a cheap backpack, wearing jeans, obviously not a hiker. We've decided that
we'll take turns staying awake in order to watch this guy...

-RockDancer