Caminar: 5-15 and 5-16-2009 Fri & Sat

Well lemme just say Trail Days is great. You should come even if you aren't hiking the AT, although it would help if you like hikers and hiking. So much happened I don't think I can give a good enough description, but I'll try to give some highlights. Friday my main objective was to get up in time to sign up for Hardcore, the trail maintenance crew that Bob Peoples sets up. It is supposed to be a great experience and a great way to give back to the trail. Got there before 9am and a line was already forming, but I made it and got signed up. I'll be working Sun and Mon doing that. They had free medical screenings throughout the weekend so thats where I went next. Had them look at the cut on my toe, they said just what I expected, keep it clean and make sure you don't get an infection. Got my feet clean though, and they gave me a free pair of merino wool socks, so that was cool. Next headed over to hear a guy talk and show slides of his thru-hike of the Florida Trail. It starts near Miami, goes up to Jacksonville, and then west over to Pensacola. The talk was pretty interesting, don't know for sure if I would be up for hiking on that much flat land though. Next was a dvd screening for a documentary that Lion King made about his 14 month 6000+ mile thru hike of the America Discovery Trail which streches from coast to coast. That was definitely worth watching. I ended up buying copies of his dvd's that he

made of his PCT and AT thru hikes, so I'm anxious to see those. Found Mello Yellow and Brave Friend (Mello Yellow has the tie on) and hung out with them for awhile, then just kinda bounced around hanging out with friends and meeting new folks. Sat I got my Leki poles, they fixed the one I snapped. Met some hashers last night and we were supposed to have a hash at noon but no one showed up (LAME!) so it didn't happen. Probably was a good thing, shouldn't be jogging with a huge cut on my toe. Took my pack to the Gregory tent and talked to them. Got to meet Wayne Gregory, the man who started the company. My pack was starting to tear apart where the shoulder strap met the body of the backpack. They said stitching it probably wouldn't do so they just gave me a brand new pack! I couldn't believe it. This one is the same one I had (Z55) but its this years model and has some sturdier buckles, plus its grey and looks way cooler than my old one.. ;)

(Mr. Gregory is on the right in blue)

Me and Dragonbreath were talking about how many people were getting hooked up and taken care of during this thing. At least handful of folks I know got new packs and tons of people got different free stuff. The hiker parade was up next, everyone lines up with their class they hiked with (I'm class of 2009 of course), and the parade is basically a huge water balloon and water gun fight, mostly the hikers vs the townies. Its hilarious and quite a sight to see. They had a hiker talent show and I signed up for that and did some spoken word. I was nervous about how well it was gonna go over, but I got a good round of applause and lots of people told me afterward that they really liked it. I had never perfomed my material before that many people and immediately after i finished it was quite a rush, very exhilarating. I was getting some intense anxiety beforehand. Hung out more with Dragonbreath after I got back and we went down to the laudromat, while there met some really awesome thru-hikers from 2000, Flying Porkchop and D-Con. Back in tent city I stayed up waaay too late considering I'd need to be up a 8am to get packed in time for trail work at 9am with Hardcore. Trail Days was a blast, and the anticipation up to it was almost just as fun too. Oh yea, got my new shoes sent to me and picked those up Sat, thought the ones I started with would last me to PA but I'm pretty certain that 400+ miles killed em. So I'm headed back out (well after 2 days of Hardcore) with a new pack, new shoes, and my trekking poles are now like new, its a great feeling!