Daylight Savings

I haven't had a cell signal for a couple of days. I'm getting a weak signal now, perched in my hammock at about 3200 feet, between the full moon and a small town's nightlights, The signal isn't strong enough to get any photos uploaded, but I wanted to post something so you'd know I was doing fine. The moonlight is bright enough to hike tonight without a headlamp, but I'm getting up early and going into Pearisburg for a much needed resupply.

I'm seeing fewer and fewer people on the trail these past few days, except on Saturdays, even though it is warm enough for shorts and t-shirts. I met a section hiker today going northbound and several hunters with rifles looking for Thanksgiving turkeys. Another section hiker passed me going north into town for a soda and cigarettes,even though it was 7 miles out of his way. He reminded me of daylight savings time.

"Don't forget to set your watch back an hour," he said.
"Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder," I said. "Doesn't matter that much out here though. I don't even have a watch."

I get up when I see some sunlight in the sky. I hike until it gets dark, sometimes hours after. The distance between the sun and horizon is my clock now. That or the length of my shadow. I rarely even know what day of the week it is. I received a text from a friend after I had been on the trail a while. "Man, I wish it was Saturday," he said. "It's not Saturday?" I replied with sarcasm. "Funny, it feels like Saturday."