Stephanie's Trail Journal

Wednesday, May 19th

Day 27 - Zero-mile day so no stats

It is so nice to have a day off. I was really surprised at how sore the bottoms of my feet were when I got out of bed this morning - I've always worn my camp shoes when I take my boots off. They were very tender - My massage session helped with that.

Speaking of massages, I really enjoyed my first massage. Marie was great. I told her about the problems I've been having with my numb big toes... She noticed a callus to the side of the ball of my foot directly in line with the second toe on both feet. She called it Morton's Foot Structure and its a hereditary thing (Mom? Dad? Which one of you is responsible for this??). She told me that the callus is throwing off my balance and I was compensating by shifting my weight to the big toe region of my foot which was pinching my nerves and causing the numbness.

She said a little strip of foam underneath the ball of my foot to counterbalance would do the trick.

Breakfast was awesome! Elmer and his staff prepared a pancake breakfast with some sugared strawberries and maple syrup, granola, cantaloupe, and coffee... mmmmmmm, so yummy. I think we'll have breakfast here again. Elmer keeps a chalkboard on the kitchen door that he uses to keep track of who is planning to show up for breakfast or dinner. Unfortunately he wasn't preparing dinners when we are in town, but the breakfast is great. Everyone sits down at the same table to eat family style; it's fun.

After that Stephan and I did some laundry, sorted through our maildrop food supply... we both had a lot of meals from our parents. Mom sent me some fun foods to share with my hiker friends so I'm planning to do that at the next shelter - she sent a wheel of gouda, some carr's biscuits, and some pepperoni. That will be very yummy! Thanks Mom! And my friend Ed sent a huge bar of dark chocolate - thanks Ed! Chocolate definitely hits the spot at the end of the day!

We are "bouncing" about half of our food to the town of Erwin about 70 miles from here, which will be about 4 days away. We'll probably have to wait until the post office opens on Monday morning. Its nice to carry a few days worth of food - food weighs a lot! My next food drop is in Roan Mountain NC, about 112 miles from here.

One last item of news... Stephan is a veritable model of a modern Scottish highlander fashion... yes, he is sporting a kilt (like his forefathers many years ago!). Unlike his forefathers, Stephan's kilt is made from technical fabric by Mountain Hardware in a pleasant shade of khaki. It has a crotch snap for discreetness when sitting or climbing, and several pockets. He plans to change into shorts upon arrival to
camp so as to not disturb others...haha. Now I can truly say that I wear the pants in this relationship. I'll be saying that a lot! We were walking around town this morning picking up some last minute supplies and he received quite a few stares of disbelief... However, we've met others who hiked in kilts and they claimed that the kilt was very comfortable for hiking, especially during the sweaty summer months. Who knows, maybe all the boys will sport the kilt when they see Stephan wearing it day after day.

Okay, time to hike! Cheers,
Steph

www.hikingat.com

Posted by steph at May 21, 2004 03:09 AM