We left most of our equipment in labeled garbage bags for Steve the shuttler to pick up. I had two breakfast sandwiches, half a “cookie sandwich” (two chocolate chip cookies with frosting in between), and a bottle of strawberry milk. I vibrated with energy. It’s a short shuttle drive to Sam’s Gap and then we were off into the cold. The younger folks went ahead to speed off, though we caught up to Jones, a 22-year-old who just graduated with a degree in sports management and went off hiking in shorts and a thin rain kilt (it’s a thing, Google it) in sub-freezing temperatures.
Our packs were light. Wedge decided to try my languid hiking pace to see if it’s easier on a sore leg. He kept saying, “I’m going slow today” and I pointed out, with some umbrage, that “I am hiking my normal pace, which is normal and not slow, thank you.” But the conversation was great—very real and personal and open. We caught up with L&F on Big Bald, which was windy. The ground was in the sun so the frozen mud had well and truly thawed and became slippery as hell. We saw Callie the collie up there. She looked tired.
After that Wedge, L&F and I hiked the rest of the day. I chattered away. I’ve come to like the joshing. Wedge constantly says something dry that I take at face value and then feel a fool. I do that to other people all the time so you’d think I’d catch on sooner. Nope.
There was a good amount of climbing but a lot of the day was easy walking. We called the shuttler from High Rock, a tall, proud, massive outcropping of stone which seems to perch on the gentle ridges that surround it.
I often find queer representation lacking on the AT. For example, there’s a term for when a guy starts hiking at the same pace as a girl because he fancies her. It’s “pink blazing” and it’s not really a very nice term. (A “blaze” is a painted marker to aid navigation.) Even though it’s a crummy term, Ben and I tried for a while to think of an equivalent for heterosexual/bi women and gay/bi men. There’s blue blazing (taking side trails), yellow blazing (taking road-based shortcuts), white blazing (following the standard trail—that term is rarely used), aqua blazing (taking a canoe on a river instead of hiking), platinum blazing (spending money to stay in nice places and avoid bad weather) and I don’t know what else. Oh, there’s brown blazing (hiking when you really have to poop). Today I told Wedge about Ben’s and my search for a new term. He said, without pause, “banana blazing,” which I like because it’s also a color. Kind of. So there you go: today we blazed a new frontier in queer trail representation.
Now, I must tell you that I have never done such a thing—banana blazing I mean. I have certainly never spent a day hiking above my pace and skipping breaks to keep up with a cute guy. And I have certainly never listened attentively to someone really boring because they’re cute. I would never. Not ever.
The shuttler met us on the trail—where I failed to recognize him and got offended that he took a photo without asking.
Uncle Johnny’s Hostel shows it’s age but it’s under new ownership and it’s headed in a real good direction. We ordered pizzas and L&F ate us under the table. He pointed out that in “real life” we might run screaming from a place like this. On a hike it’s just fine.
Project Eveningland 
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