day five (march 26)

smurf called this morning.  good to hear his voice.  he sounded well-rested and still excited.  he told me many stories about many people. in a nutshell, there is a crazy wide spectrum of types of people who do the AT.... from super athletic who run up and down the mountains to ones that are inching along.  i should have taken notes because details are now lacking.  i do remember his saying they stayed in a cabin last night with two other big guys!  they slept on a cot, had a shower, and washed their stinky clothes.  he said the southern couple of states and northern couple of states are, by far, the most challenging.  you are either going up or you are going down.  greg's struggle is the uphill because he gets winded.  toby's struggle are his knees on the downhill.  haven't received any pictures today, but i hope to get some.  will post if i do.  i will ask him to give me some more people details again because there are some interesting people hiking the AT.  i thank God for safety thus far.....