Greetings fellow hikers!

Well the fact is that I’ve been rained in at Hurricane Lake Campgound for the past two days.  The rain has been non-stop with some heavy stuff, including tornado warnings busting down since yesterday morning and although I am amphibious, I’m not crazy about needlessly exposing my phalanx of comm. gear to the elements if I don’t have to.  I need that stuff to work.
I spent the day acquainting myself with my new laptop and helping the camp host assemble his new tree stand.  It is bow-hunting season up here and Jimmy has harvested two so far.  He’s a hunter’s hunter and owns the only pair of Treebark docksiders I’ve ever seen.  Now that’s serious camo!
It’s frustrating to look out of my quarters and see the trailhead just a few steps away.  I’m packed and ready to go, just need to get a weather break.  I’ll be joined this weekend by Clay and Chris Dutton, a couple of lads from Troop 4 in south Tampa that I Scoutmastered at the Boy Scout National Jamboree up in DC a few years ago.  They are the sons of Scott Dutton, a good buddy of mine and a fellow scout leader.  They are students at Auburn and have been sharpening their hiking edge on the Pinhoti Trail, a trans-Alabama trail that crosses Cheehaw Maountain, Alabama’s highest point.  If you ever get the chance to do Cheehaw, don’t miss it.  Great hiking and bouldering to be done there.
Although I thought for sure I’d be roughing it chow-wise, the past two days have been anything but.  Jimmy’s buddy Lyndon, a former Marine and ex-professional wrestler fried up some killer 30-count shrimp in a breading better than any I’ve ever tasted.  We gnawed on a mess of Bar-B-Q spare ribs after that. Duddin’ seem fair, does it? 
After that we hung out in Jimmy’s trailer and watched the original Walking Tall with Joe Don Baker last night.  Heck if I didn’t have to walk home, I might never leave.  I like these guys.
I also hung out with a couple of Park Rangers from the Division of Forestry yesterday, Brad Montfort and Kenny McCreless.  They gave me the skinny on Blackwater River S.F., it’s trails and the river for which the state forest is named.  Turned out this place was totally logged out when the state acquired it.  The logging company used the river – it was deep then – to float the logs to the sawmill. 
The erosion caused by the deforested land silted up the river and it’s been relatively shallow ever since.  Mother Nature, with man’s help, has recovered nicely.  It is a breathtakingly beautiful place.  Still, you have to wonder what this place would look like had it never been logged.
Probably the toughest thing has been that I’m out of touch with my family and friends. Alltel still has no towers here despite my pleas a couple of days ago.
I wonder how my wife, Claudia, and my son, Ben, are doing.  I miss Claudia’s sense of humor and her gentle ways. I fret about how her health is and constantly wonder how she’s feeling.  I miss my son, Ben, and hope he’s digging school and his new job.  I think of the kids in my Venture crew and miss all of their wide-open teenaged banter.  I miss my co-leader, Nancy Cline, my trusted and highly competent backpacking and climbing partner. 
I miss sharing a frosty beverage with Mike and Mike down at the Copper Top, and I miss Chris – the angel who brings them to us. 
The forecast calls for sunny days tomorrow, accompanied by the camaraderie of two hard-charging Eagle Scouts and a trail stretched before us like a magic green carpet.  OORAH!  Until we meet again.  I’ll write again when I find work.