May 13, 1999

Hello Folks,

Greetings from Marian Virginia.

This is mile 527 out of 2160

If you are getting this secondhand, drop me a line and I hope to
add you to the list.  I hope that I have added everyone who contacted
me.

If you received a blank message last week, it was my wife Jan
experimenting with the email system, and something got astray.

I came out on I-81 late yesterday (Atkins, Va) , and took a day off
to see the doctor. My right ankle was bothering me. The Doctor (She )
said that it looked like the tendon was sprained, and gave me
Some heel lifts, a ace bandage, a set of leg warmers ( :-) ) and
enough medium strength Ibuprofen (800 mg ? ) to last a while.

Of course my Health Plus was of no use, they wouldn't even answer the
phone, so the REI Mastercard came to the rescue.

Tomorrow I will start out again with an overnight ( Helen calls it
a one night stand ) in Bland in 3 days and Pearisburg in 6 days, where
I will have another day off.Pearisburg is 615 miles into the hike.


A few terms:

AYCE   -        "All you can eat " A favorite place for hikers to eat.

Blazes -        painted 2 inch by 6 inch vertical stripes painted on
                trees rocks sidewalks to mark the trail.

White Blazes -  Mark the official route of the trail.

Blue Blazes   - Side trails are marked by blue blazes. they are
                used to indicate trails to shelters, water sources
                old abandoned AT routes, and alternate bad weather
                routes for the AT.

Yellow Blazer - A person who resorts to "hitch hiking" to cover
                part of the trail.

Purist       -  A thru hiker or section hiker who makes it a point to
                 hike past every blaze of the white-blazed ( official   
                 trail )

Yogi-ing        A good natured art of letting food be offered
                cheerfully by strangers without asking them directly
                ( if you ask its begging )

Yo-yo-ing       The act of completing one thru-hike and turning
                around to begin another hike in the opposite
                direction.


Flip-flopper    A person who begins at one end of the trail and
                and then jumps ahead to the other end to hike back
                to where they started the flip flop.


Other news:

My camera died in  the Grayson Highlands. This is supposedly the
most scenic part of the southern trail. Wild herds of ponies roam
the park and essentially pose for pictures. I picked up a disposal
camera until Pearisburg, when my backup should be there.

I had my blood pressure checked. It seemed to go down. I hope so
since I haven't been taking my blood pressure medicine.

I weighed myself in Damascus. This was done on a scale with a remote
calibration point of a single person taken at the local clinic. It
looks like I have lost about 14 pounds so far.

What am I eating ?
mostly cold foods. I haven't had the time or inclination to use the
stove. most of the cooked foods don't have enough calories to make it
worthwhile.

I am mostly eating cold foods:

   Sausage
   Cheese
   pop tarts
   hard candies
   breakfast nutrition bars
   Fried fruit pies ( the kind you ate when you were a kid )

   In town
      Pizza
      Cheeseburgers
      Chips and pop.

   Hikers are a reliant lot. The other day we crossed a major road
   which had a Forest service information center. There were three
   places on the wall which delivered. One didn't answer the phone
   one didn't deliver until 4 pm ( it was 10:30 ) and one that
   came up within a half hour with the food. She received a big tip.


There are 540 miles or so of trail in Virginia, then comes West
Virginia, and then Pennsylvania.

The most I paid for a nights lodging was $80 and the least about
21 dollars.

My photonII light that I carried in my pocket has failed. I think it
was the humidity and the sweat. If you saw what my pocket knife looks
like, you can imagine what the battery contacts must look like. Of
course I have a backup ( white ) and a Petzel microlight.

I finally remembered the code to make the camera rewind, when an
error code was present, and today I sent the film off Fugi for
developing. The pictures you see on the web page go from myself to
Fugi to my wife in Everett and then keithb scans them and glenne
puts them on the web page. I appreciate the support that these folks
are giving me.

So long for now.

"Mike on the AT"
"No Rain No Pain No Maine"

http://www.engel.org/ihwm  (Courtesy of my friend Glenn Engel)

"I hike alone sometimes.Its during these            Mike Aken
solo hikes that the number of  arrogant             N7OUJ
and ignorant people I have  to deal
with is reduced to one."
                         Jack Hampson

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