Monday October 26 - Day 1

10/26 10:31 Leaving the Mavell Rd Trailhead and am heading toward the Stateline westward. The weather is overcast and cloudy with a slight chilly myst in the air but it should make for good walking. I had stopped with my ride, Melody and we ate breakfast at the local IHOP. The caffeine from the coffee should help, even with not running a call the night before I was still up late with going over last minute preparations and waking up when ever the tones went off for the other trucks. I have my backpack, and it feels good setting all the weight on my hips and not on my shoulders. Melody took a couple of pictures of me at the trail head, even one with my camera phone, and then I was off for the next five days of walking. Melody is to pick me up on Friday with my calling her and letting her know how far I've gotten and where to pick me up at.
By 11:00 at the 1.6 mile marker the pack is starting to worry my shoulder a little and I know that I'll have to start making adjustments to it or my shoulders will be in trouble. Somewhere along the trail I'll have to make a small detour to get some pain relievers.
Made the Concord Rd. trailhead at just a little before 11:30, I stopped and rested a bit and took a picture of me on the trail using the delay function on my camera.
At 12:08 I came upon the Floyd Rd Trailhead where they got a bike shop and, restrooms and a convenience store handy. I stopped to void, get some information in the shop about rentals, rested, and then with the sun starting to show itself I switched from my glasses to my "Joe Cool" shades and was westward ho again.
I stopped at a little rest area at the 6.8 mile marker, this part of the trail runs along the Dogwood Golf Club and I got some nice pictures of it and the trail. While stopped I pulled off my sweatshirt and did a little redistributing of my pack, chase some sand grains, pebbles, out of my shoes, rehydrated and was off again. I had a brief talk with on runner on the trail who was asking me if I was in training for the Appalachian trail and I told him, "No, I'm going to the Stateline and back." He had done a few overnights on the Appalachians trail and was very encouraging about working my way up to that and then he wished me luck with my endeavor.
I made the Carter Rd. Trailhead at a quarter pass two pm. and notice that there was the Wild Horse Trail who's entrance started at the eastern end of the parking lot, although Horses aren't allowed on the trail. Need to research that one. Here I ate a little lunch and took on some water. Then I caught myself taking an ol' man's nap. Sitting on the park bench with my head nodding into my chest. The sun was feeling good then. Left Carter Rd at 2:35 pm and headed westward.
When I made Richard Sailors Pkwy, I left the trail in search of a drug store for some pain relievers. Here I stopped using my voice recorder so I'm not sure when the times were but I zigzagged over the trail a few times on the surface streets looking for a drugstore. When I found a Wal-Greens I was able to get my "drugs", but I got some peculiar looks while in the drugstore, I left my backpack outside but it's like they've never seen anyone in a t-shirt before. And this one had no holes in it either. From Wal-Greens I made my way to the Florence Rd. Trailhead and after resting and taking a couple of Tylenol, I started walking again. I make the MM 13 at Isley Stanford Rd and Rosendale Rd at 5:30 I was about 1:35 hr. behind schedule at this point.
I made the Hiram Trailhead and got my next big surprise, There were great big "Road Closed" signs across the trail heading westward. I walked to the fire station that was close to the trail and asked the firemen there what they knew about it. Seems from all that hard rain we had received recently there was a mud slide that covered the trail. I remember walking through a section where there were two raw banks on either side of the train and I figure that those must have slid down and covered it. Later I heard that a section of the trail had collapsed and I was thinking that maybe that sewage treatment plant that I would have had to walk by the leech fields may have flooded and washed over onto the trail. Anyway, it meant that I was going to have to find a new way to go, so I headed towards the main highway, got a meal at Chick-Fil-A and then went to the Holiday Inn Express and got a king size suite with a Jacuzzi.
But by then my shoulders SCREAMED every time I lifted them to remove the pack. So I got that water in the Jacuzzi as hot as I could stand it and laid in it so that the jets pounded my shoulders, legs and feet. I alternated that for a 30 minutes in the tub and 30 minutes out of the tub. The next day my feet, shoulders and legs felt wonderful. I tell ya, roughing it can be hard at time.