Wednesday, August 5 9:09 pm 14.0 mi
AT 1426.8 Canopus Lake Beach → AT 1440.8 Morgan Stewart Shelter
Weather: Hot and sunny
Trail Conditions: The trail was in bad shape from the hurricane, especially in the morning. Spent the day cleaning up all I could (“hefting” according to Puddles’s trail crew lingo)
My Condition: Refreshed from time in town – I needed that!
Uprooted trees, fallen limbs, tangled branches, and leaves everywhere welcomed us back to the trail after breakfast at Cracker Barrel and resupply at Walmart. I bought a pretty hideous pair of lounge pants at Walmart to wear while doing my laundry, and returned them this morning. They cost $13.35 but they had no change, so I was refunded $14. In essence, they paid me to wear them! We sat around and watched movies/TV all day yesterday – 2 Will Ferrell movies (one new one with Rachel McAdams, one older one with Mark Wahlberg), the Penguins of Madagascar, the Office, a great cooking show on Netflix called Crazy Delicious, a great Youtube cooking show called Binging with Babish. The power flicked off and right back on once, but otherwise we were fine, just lots of wind and rain for a few hours in the afternoon. Very culty ceremony where Puddles, Blue, and I kicked Hummingbird and Jinx out of the room, only for them to return moments later to dramatic music, candles on the TV and Puddles and Blue with lighters, where we inducted them into the trail family’s group text. Lots of ado and ceremony for such a simple thing! Jinx is an incredible cook – steak tacos last night, hot dogs for us tonight at camp. Tomorrow is his birthday! Puddles also has one in a few days. Exciting times for all of us! Got stung by another wasp, which somehow managed to not go after anyone else but me. Hiked on Benedryl and felt like a zombie today.
Post Trail Analysis
In 2020, the ATC did not allow trail crews to work on the trail for much of the year out of an abundance of caution for its dedicated members, many of whom are older and considered more “at risk” for COVID. The class of 2020 did our part to help keep the trail in great shape, and on days like today definitely pitched in heavily to help clean up after the hurricane. I became quite proficient at using my trekking poles to throw small-to-medium stuff from the trail, and I dragged, rolled, and pushed anything bigger that I was able to manage on my own. Not able to do much about the larger, tree-sized blowdowns, we had to do some pathfinding when we couldn’t clear the obstructions ourselves. While Fish Kill did not feel the heavy effects of the hurricane, many of the towns further up the trail did which you will hear about later.
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