Project Eveningland

4/25/2023 Tuesday

Ben cooked regular-colored eggs and ham for all of us for breakfast and we headed out for another signature slackpacking folly. This one is a tough because there’s no feasible exit point between the McAfee Knob trailhead and the spot where the trail enters Daleville, some 20 miles later. It’s 20 or nothing!

We took a lovely 90 minute ride through the countryside to reach the trailhead. I caught Ben up on some new musical discoveries.

I mentioned that my first-ever overnight backpacking trip was to Dragon’s Tooth, nearby. That was 2012. During that trip we also day-hiked McAfee’s Knob. So it’s still memory lane. Well, a two-lane divided memory highway, because there are also recollections from 2021 to contend with. Contend? What is the matter with me that I am contending with memories?

Nothing! I’m a person who remembers. In every sense. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. But being really run down physically, and making some dumb food decisions (not taking enough for 20 miles—I keep forgetting that 20 miles requires much more food) means that my brain doesn’t work as good. A memory with little emotional valence might become overwhelming when I’m worn down. Which is what kept happening. That and the novella I was listening to was way more depressing than I expected. I might as well have just bought the Beloved audiobook while I was at it!

But the first part of the day was just fine. We walked the gentle switchbacks up to McAfee, ate lunch and took lots of pictures. Wedge had me take about 100 shots, because “that’s what professional photographers do.” I think I said something real rude like, “pick the shots you want, because I don’t have a 45 minute shoot in me.” I had a 45 second shoot in me. Maybe 4.5 minutes.

For Wedge this is, to quote Joe Biden, “a big fucking deal.” It’s tradition to take lots of photos of yourself sitting on the ledge and so on, so family members can be alarmed at your apparent recklessness. People have fallen off and died. But people have had fatal car accidents at intersections you drive through every day without any particular worry. The part of my brain responsible for safety (but not safety meetings) told me, sit on your butt and scoot slowly to the edge. Which I did.

Wedge and I luxuriated in the blissful shade of the newly dressed trees. We are done with hiking under bare trees and hot sun. Whatever else happens, we are done with that. A Lady’s Slipper makes a cameo appearance along the trail every mile or so. Sometimes there are two or three of the stately orchids. I watched a tiny bird with a yellow belly wash himself in a little puddle. We had a close encounter with some cows, a bit of a stand-off with a bull, some ladies, and a couple of young-uns. I got tired and eventually walked through. Kick me, don’t kick me, but let’s get this show on the road.

We reached Lambert’s Meadow just after the absolute delights of Tinker Cliffs—so many stone outcroppings from which to take in the world! I still harbor a wish to camp up there someday. Bit of a long water carry though. Anyway we made it to Lambert’s Meadow, which I prefer to pronounce in the French style, “Lamb-BEAR.” It’s the halfway marker for our day, but it’s already 4:30, which is later than I would have liked with a whole ten miles remaining.

We separated by pace after that. I finished my depressing novella (The Sins of Our Fathers). The last miles are on a narrow rocky ridge with scrubby pine mixed in. It’s a rugged path with a full view of Daleville below. I reached the parking lot by the light of my cellphone. I’d been too lazy to dig out my headlamp.

We got Wendy’s then drove home on winding highways with giant trucks that ride your ass. And deer everywhere. Not a calming drive.

It’s time to make some more adjustments. I’m still having stomach problems which may stem from any of several factors. Or maybe all of them. I’ll start chewing on this problem just as soon as I can sleep and eat enough not to be a fucking monster to those poor souls in my vicinity.

Don’t forget, you can watch Wedge’s account of this and other days on his YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@Wedgehikestheat. To sync up the blog and the videos, just match up the day number