January 11, 2008

Today’s miles: 19.7

What a long, long day. I woke up at sunrise (a gorgeous gorgeous sunrise). Left my dune to see that someone was camped practically right on top of me down the beach. Exited the beach, crossed the highway and entered the road towards Bodie Lighthouse. I skipped onto a little pine-lined path to walk to the lighthouse. Saw a couple of deer. Arrived at the lighthouse at 8:15 am. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone around (it opens at 9) but a woman was standing on the porch smoking a cigarette. I got some water from the pump, chit-chatted with her really briefly, then headed down the trail through some marshland, flushing great blue herons and white ibises from the adjacent streams.

Next, I walked on rt 12 to the Herbert C Bonner bridge with a “pedestrian walkspace” : yeah right. I hopped down to the catwalk, unaware that it would be ending in 200 yards. When it dead-ended, I hoisted first my pack then me up to the bridge. I think that was when I lost my peanut butter (RIP). I began the windy, harrowing bridge walk, which involved me clutching the railing for dear life and hoping that everyone would see me when they drove past at 55 mph. Scary, I almost fell to the sand on the end of the 2.5 miles walk to kiss its semi-permanent surface. I wandered around the dunes for a little while before continuing walking down the road, hoping I could find cover before it started to rain. I luckily found a little “interpretive sign” with a cover just as it began to rain and ducked underneath. I balled up in a poncho until the rain (and some thunder, lightening) stopped. Counting the seconds between the lightening and thunder, hearing it the storm leave.

Once it stopped, I put my pack on top of my layers and walked down the road to the Pea Island Sanctuary bird walk, a 2.5 mile dike-top jaunt through spongy grass past salt water and freshwater marshes, teeming full of ducks and ibises and and swans and geese… In the bush, I saw lots of birds that I couldn’t identify and a red winged blackbird, male cardinal, snowbirds, etc.

Stopped at the visitors center to talk to the two volunteers. They pointed out some of the birds that they knew and I listened. I left for the beach. I passed by lots of unidentified objects on the beach today – it was mesmerizing to see something bulky or colorful in the distance, and get closer and closer, to see that it wasn’t a mirage, but I still had no idea what it was. I didn’t see (or rather, pass) anyone on the beach today. Just me and the birds and the waves. My feet started to ache after a while, so I cut back to the road for the last 2 miles or so into Rodanthe. I thought it would never come. Got to this establishment (the Pub n’ Grub) at dusk (now 5:09 pm!! Can you believe it?).

No wonder I am having so much trouble getting all of my hiking done – 20 miles in less than 10 hours is damn impressive, when you take into consideration breaks and meals. Here I was served a delicious pizza and beer by Lynn the bartender and George the cook. In addition, after finding out that no campgrounds are open tonight, Lynn offered to let me sleep in the spare bedroom in her house! Golly. It is supposed to rain all tonight and tomorrow (60% chance of some type of rain…). The trail gods are being good to me today.

As Lynn drove me to her house, she described how at her gym in Avon two men were talking with amazement about some girl who had been crossing the bridge earlier that day. I am apparently notorious already in the OBX.