A Marathon Day

Mar. 22
At 6:50 am it was still completely dark when I was met in the lobby of the Microtel in Franklin, NC by a member of the local hiking club who had kindly offered to shuttle me up to the trailhead at Winding Stair Gap.  I came out expecting to see a sturdy hiking type but was surprised to find that my driver was a spry, white-haired 86 year old woman.  She said we had to hurry as she had to be back in town for 8:30 to be at school where she volunteers in the kindergarten.  She had actually been a kindergarten teaching assistant and then teacher for years before she retired.  Just like my mother!  At the trailhead pull off she swung her car around to illuminate the AT sign as a background for the photo she takes of everyone that she shuttles.  As she was leaving I thought I heard voices next to the road.  As my eyes adjusted I saw that Snail and Blue were there cowboy camping next to the road, cuddled up in their sleeping bags, waiting for the shuttle down into town for resupply.
It seems that the big meals the previous day gave lots of pep to my step as I simply motored along all day.  As I was making the two mile climb up to Cold Spring Shelter I passed 4 people that I assumed were day hikers as they were walking without packs.  I stopped at the shelter to cool my feet and have a little snack.  After a few minutes the four appeared and simultaneously asked: "Are you some kind of marathon man?"  It turns out that they were thru-hikers who were taking advantage of a slack pack opportunity.  Slack packing is when someone offers to drive your pack further up the trail while you hike along un-encumbered by all the stuff you need to survive.  I'm all for slack packing but haven't had much chance in my career.
"How", they asked, "can you be beating us up this mountain carrying your pack when we're struggling just carrying a water bottle?  We were going to name you 'The Energizer' if you didn't already have a trail name."
"I guess it must have been because I knew I was planning to have a snack at the top.  That's all."
"Ha, like we believe that", said Sam and Tyler, two young hikers who were already in the shelter for a rest when I arrived.  "Each day on the trail our goal is to try to keep up with you and we haven't succeeded yet.  We're 25 years younger than you and yet you beat us up every hill.  It's not fair."
"It's not that I'm that fast", I said, "it's just that when I see a hill I feel driven to go up as fast as I can to get it over with.  I'll blame that on my friend John who says to attack every hill."
"You're full of it.  We can't catch you going uphill, downhill, or on the level.  It doesn't make any difference."
"Actually, the reason I go so fast is because I'm lazy.  I just want to get the day's walk over with so I can sit around and goof off."
That logic seemed to satisfy them so we all set off to finish the day's hiking.  At around 3:00 I rolled into the Rufus Morgan Shelter near Wesser, having completed my longest day to date, a distance of 26.5 miles. 
Turns out I actually was a marathon man on this day.

Trail miles to date : 134.2