January 12, 2008

Today's miles: 20.1
Rodanthe to Avon

A multifarious day filled with a dog, the wind at my back, an afternoon of rain, good people met, brownies eaten, and ending with cheesy fries, coffee, and not so stealthy stealth-camping in the backyard of some houses. I am here with hopes that noone has to take their dog out tonight, and if so, they won’t call the cops to come fine me or cart my ass into jail for trespassing or wrecking the dunes.

This morning I woke up at the same time (6 am) in bed in the dry (!!) room at Lynn’s house, down on Laughing Gull Lane. I packed up, made some instant coffee in the microwave, and trotted on down to the beach to walk backwards to the pier, where I would make up for last night’s ride from the pub to the house. I dropped my pack on the sand, walked north for about a mile, meanwhile accidentally makin friends with a golden retriever pup on the beach. We walked together for 3.5 miles, by which point I was growing attached to the Rascal. He was a really sweet pup, although he made me feel badly about walking so slowly, chasing gulls and snipers in circles, then racing back to me to side-swipe me with his wet fur. I gave him some water and left him with a couple of fishermen.

The wind was at my back all day, and it was good walking until it started to rain in the early afternoon. Cold drops of rain. I put on the Dollar Tree poncho, and kept on down the beach. I took a break to slip my feet out of my sandals, eat a cheese sandwich (picking mold off of the bread…) while sitting behind a dune away from the wind. The great thing about backpacking is that its like a marathon picnic. A couple from near Raleigh stopped and gave me homemade brownies! They were out on the beach looking for washed-up fishing lures and picking up old fishing nets that could entangle birds on the beach. I believe in the trail gods. I really do. I am remembering, however, that there are negative things too! Like this afternoon and the rain & wind.

As I walked in the rainy wind with aching feet, I sang the entire 99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall song to motivated myself to reach the Avon fishing Pier in the distance. I went to a shopping plaza in Avon to get some bagels and dry off/warm up in Topper’s Pizza Café. And also eat cheesy fries. I love town stops. It totally saved my cold butt today. I talked to a couple in the restaurant from Ohio. They too saw me on Hwy 12 yesterday.