Making the Most of "Down Time"

AT symbol in the sidewalks.

Woke up this morning to the sound of a nicely progressing rainstorm. Not exactly music to your ears when you're planning on being outside all day. Checked the weather forecast and it was not promising at all, predicting rainstorms all day. Since we'd just spent the past day and a half wet and miserable, we decided to give Mother Nature a little while to calm down, and we drove from Pigeon Forge to our next "trail town." It's a really remote little place, but definitely a "hiker's town." The official AT even passes right down the center of it. The weather didn't exactly seem to want to cooperate at all, so Daddy and I walked the mile or so of trail through town (no zero days yet!) and we got settled into our RV site for the night.

There's even cute things like a caboose.

Later in the afternoon, things still looked stormy but the worst of the weather stopped. I took the rest of the afternoon to work on medical school applications and have a little rest and relaxation. Every thru-hiker needs some of that from time to time. So we definitely made the most of our stormy, dreary day. For your amusement, the following is a picture depicting the incredibly strenuous afternoon I had.

Whitewater tubing?

Fun times. Lots of walking to do in the next few days, provided this little spell tones itself down just a bit. I wish I could just tube down the AT. Then at least I wouldn't mind being wet...

All Done with Old Smokey

Consulting my book of trail maps.

The past few days have gotten me through the rest of the Smokey Mountains and Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It's a good thing too, because it was starting to become rather troublesome territory. The park is very remote, especially in the later half of it, with very few overnight options and even less options for replenishing water. Not to mention the fact that horses are allowed on huge chunks of the AT in this area, and dodging manure every 50 yards is...less than fun. But it was definitely beautiful terrain, with some of the highest elevations and best views on the entire AT. And we got to see it in all kinds of weather. The first day of this stretch, when we headed out from Newfound Gap, was chilly and cloudy, but pleasant. We quickly realized how the Smokey Mountains got their name...

A eerie but beautiful, and very "Smokey" view.

Made it about 10 miles the first day after a late start and a huge pancake breakfast in town with the Trail Angel Mamma, so that was good progress. Highlight of that day was seeing a weasel pop up out of some tree roots and look right at us. Adorable, in a sneaky sort of way. The second day started out in a refreshing fog that transformed into a light but steady and drenching rain. Initially, I was fine with this, since a little rain keeps things cooled off. However, I quickly regretted my incredibly stupid decision to leave the fraying toe boxes on my hiking boots unrepaired for just a day too long. Rookie mistake. Needless to say, a frayed toe box pretty much ruins the "waterproof" aspect of the boots, and they were soon full of muddy water. There is probably nothing more miserable on the trail than boots full of muddy water. Rookie mistake. Luckily, I have another pair to wear while these are being repaired. Even though the muddy sludge in my shoes made me unhappy, it wasn't hard to see that the rain is what transforms the Smokies into the otherworldly paradise they are, and it was still beautiful, once I looked around long enough to notice something besides the mud.

Ankle deep in mud, surrounded by flowers.

And the sun always comes back out, eventually.

After 15 miles in the mud on day #2 and 7 miles on day #3, we got to the next rendezvous point and were, as always, so happy to see the Trail Angel Mamma. UJ and the Trail Sister, home from her first year of college, were there too, which was great. We all walked up the trail about 200 yards to enjoy the beautiful waterfall at Pigeon River, and then headed out for a lunch of broasted chicken, showers, rest and even a Magic Show in town complete with monkeys and tigers (oh my?). Getting through the Smokeys, especially on Memorial Day weekend, is a big milestone I'm proud to have behind me. Valuable lessons learned, more experience to be gained.

The whole family at Pigeon River.

Quote of the Day: "Bear-Horse!" -Daddy and I, every time we had to step over a pile of manure, which was about every 3 minutes, it seemed.

On top of Old Smokey

At the sign close to the 200 mile mark!

For the past few days, we've been hiking through the first two thirds or so of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It's a pretty remote area of the trail, but with some of the most beautiful scenery. The first day we were out, we made it about 13 miles up into the Smokeys (a climb that was way more difficult than we anticipated) and overnighted at Russell Field Shelter, since there in no tenting allowed in the park except for in the vicinity of a shelter. At first we were disappointed about this, since Daddy and I don't really like to hang around the often-crowded shelters, but the reasons the park management have for this rule soon became apparent...

They aren't kidding. We saw a BIG bear WAY up in a huge tree about 30 minutes before we came across this sign. There are tons of them out here.

Yes. The shelter has a fence in front of it. To keep the bears out. We stayed in our tent up the hill and survived the night just fine, though.

There were two Rangers staying at the shelter, who said they were waiting to tag a bear that had been frequenting the shelter. I really, really wanted to see this happen, but the evening passed uneventfully. The most exciting thing I witnessed at Russell Field was the three boys who were staying there as well getting progressively more obnoxious as the bottle of Jack Daniels they were passing around got progressively more empty.

Day #2 in the Smokies passed rather uneventfully. Didn't see too many other hikers, except for one older, local man who stopped and chatted with us for about 10 minutes about how he thru-hiked the trail in 1976 and got offered membership in the KKK, got caught in the mountains in a snowstorm in 1993 and came down to find the (entire?) U.S. Army sitting on his car, and did we know that a black bear's gallbladder sells for $5,000 on the black market in San Francisco? They guy was more than a few fries short of a Happy Meal. No more bear sightings, but we did see some deer and some wild turkeys.

Gobblers!

Day #3 was spectacular, because 1) the hiking became MUCH easier and followed a rather level ridge, rather than 1,000 foot up after 1,000 foot down after 1,000 foot up, etc., and 2) we got to hike Clingman's Dome, the highest elevation point on the entire AT. Which means the other 1,900 miles are all downhill, right?

Clingman's in the background...

...Clingman's Dome Tower...

...the view at the top...

...and two happy hikers.

We were at Clingman's on one of the 40 clear days of the year. Apparently, on all the other days, smoggy pollution prevents the spectacular views we got. What a blessing to be there on that day. We could see over a distance of about 80 miles, and it was truly breathtaking. You may notice in the pictures that the forest looks like it's dying. That's because it is. Throughout this part of the park, a parasitic European insect has devastated the old growth pine forests that once covered these mountains. Everywhere we looked, we found huge (8 feet or more in diameter), ancient trees dead, dying, uprooted and rotting in pieces. It absolutely broke my heart to see something that was once so splendid, so majestic, so unusual, destroyed by human carelessness. It is truly a tragedy, and I hope one day we can find a way to stop, if not reverse, this kind of loss. I'll never know what it feels like to walk through a truly healthy old-growth forest of Southern Pine, and if we aren't more careful, my grandchildren may not even know what a pine tree is.

One of the huge, uprooted old pines in the blighted forest.

Even so, it was an incredibly beautiful hike through the Smokies. We made it to our goal for today in enough time to make the drive over to Pigeon Forge to see Dolly's Dixie Stampede, a dining and entertainment experience unlike any other. I ate an entire chicken while I watched some of the most impressive show horseback riding I've ever seen. What a way to end a little jaunt through the mountains. We aren't quite finished with GSMNP, so there's the rest of that to look forward to over the next few days. I'm told it's some of the most beautiful hiking on the whole trail. If the past few miles have been any indication, that's the absolute truth.

Me and a new friend I made on the trail.

Quote of the Day: "If the bear comes tonight, I'll chase it off, I'm scary." - Me
"Women usually are..." - Ranger Rick

Slackpackers Unite!

Mamma and the Trusty Trail Dog join us for 2 miles of AT slackpacking!

We slackpacked another 16 miles (14 miles yesterday and 2 this morning) to Fontana Dam, a beautful little hidden gem in the North Carolina Mountains. The terrain was easier than the 13 miles from Nantahala, and we did the 14 miles yesterday in less time than the 13 miles Saturday. I could really get used to the tiny pack gig. I can move so much more efficiently when I don’t have 20 extra pounds to sling around (although as I am constantly reminded by other AT enthusiasts, 20 pounds is featherweight compared to the 40+ most thru-hikers carry...thank God for Mamma the Trail Angel to save our backs from the burdens of huge packs...), and I seem to be much more motivated to reach my final destination quickly when I don’t have overnight gear in my pack to fall back on.

We met some AT volunteers working on the trail yesterday. The entire trail is constructed and maintained by these hardworking volunteers, and they were very cheerful and happy to talk. I have no idea how they hiked into the middle of the NC wilderness with all that heavy construction equipment...

Beware of women in the woods with axes…unless they are fixing the trail for you...

Lots of ridge hiking this time, complete with more lush forests and babbling mountain streams. Daddy and I don’t stay in the AT shelters (wooden or stone lean-tos built by AT volunteers) when we overnight in the woods, since I’m not to fond of sleeping next to a smelly stranger or any of the mice that famously frequent the tiny buildings, but I thought I’d show one all the same. They are pretty cool things, even though every time I pass one I can’t help but feel like I’m walking past the set for “Deliverance"...

AT Shelter at Cable Gap.

Signing the hiker log at the shelter...

...wish I could’ve thought of something more profound...like the guy who signed right above us and told the story of the mouse who climbed into his sleeping bag and was now controlling him with small levers from inside his skull...

We actually got to hike directly on top of Fontana Dam this morning. It’s over half a mile long, and very impressive. We met Paul, a retired IBM computer engineer who had started the AT at Harper’s Ferry, WV last year, but had to stop because he developed a hernia 600 miles into his trip, and was then further delayed when his wife broke her neck in a car accident. They have both since recovered, and he was very enthusiastic about finishing his trip. He was hiking south and assured us that he had only seen two bears over the 50 miles of trail Daddy and I will hike over the next few days...oh boy...

Mamma and the Trail Dog hiked with us for a couple of miles to the dam! It was great to have more company. We got another “real meal” in a restaurant this afternoon since we were finished with our hiking goal early in the day, always a treat. Since I made the brilliant decision to partake in this adventure exactly when medical school applications are due, I took advantage of the free wifi at Fontana Dam to do a little work on my future life. Hopefully all of the logistics will work themselves out while I’m out here exploring the wilderness…

On top of Fontana Dam. I promise I don’t feel quite as rough as I look.

Quote of the Day: “Well, we come in, we flag the new trail. The biologists come in, they tell us to move it. We redo everything we did the week before, and then we start digging!” ~One of the AT volunteers when I asked him how exactly one goes about relocating a trail. And more proof why biologists just get in the way of good progress…(come on, have a sense of humor, my bio friends...)

Miles from Springer: 164, Miles from Katahdin: 2015

Hardest Day Yet

Daddy takes a picture at every trail sign we pass. Supposedly to prove that we're actually on the AT. I think he just likes an excuse to take a picture. This is the best "sign picture" from the day.

Yesterday, we covered 13 miles from the Nantahala Outdoor Center to Stecoah Gap. It was a pretty short trip as far as mileage goes, so short that we planned on doing the entire stretch in one day and "slackpacking" (just taking tiny day packs rather than overnight gear) our way to the next rendezvous. We started out from the NOC in the late morning, and less than an hour into the hike I was very grateful for my tiny pack. The 13 miles we hiked yesterday were the most difficult 13 miles we've walked so far. I'm not sure if it was the 8 mile climb (yes, 8 miles of uphill without a reprieve) up Cheoah Bald followed by a treacherously steep descent or the fact that my stomach was very angry with me for some reason and I'm useless when I don't feel well. Whatever it was, it was an extremely difficult day. The weather was nice, though and it wasn't too hot, so it was a pleasant enough day to be out.

At the top of Cheoah Bald.

Passed several people yesterday, but no one we'd met before, and a couple of dogs. This is a pretty popular section of the AT for day hikes, so it's not surprising that it's a bit more crowded. Saw two snakes (one brown with stripes and one black with a yellow ring around its neck - can anyone identify what kind they are? If you can, let me know and I will reward you with a big hug next time I see you) and a black salamander. Daddy and I always like days when we see interesting critters besides each other. The landscape was pretty interesting as well - mostly ridges and very rocky terrain through dense forests. I swear you'd think you were in a jungle if you didn't know you were in the middle-of-nowhere North Carolina. Very pretty.

The place where we stayed last night had zero access to internet, so apologies for a post that's a day late. We even got to stay in a little hotel last night, which was wonderful. A real bed, a real shower, and ice cream! Can't beat that kind of treat.

Weird tree growing into a rock. I thought it was cool.

Quote of the Day: "Sometimes you just step in it, so you might as well pick it up." - Mamma the Trail Angel. I'll let you figure out what she was talking about...

Progress

Just having a nice hot beverage by the campfire. Tough life.

The past three days have been fairly routine and uneventful, as far as good stories go. I hiked 28 miles from noon on Wednesday to about 10:00am Friday, which involved about 19 hours of actual hiking time. In general, the scenery was beautiful, as usual. Most of the hiking was in dense woods, climbing and descending pretty steep mountains with bare tops (called "balds," for all you forestry enthusiasts out there. The woods are incredibly green with all the rain that's been coming down lately, and all the little mountain streams are flowing freely.

This is where I get my drinking water from. If yours is from the kitchen sink you haven't really lived.

The scenery at the top of the balds made the long climbs and the dense woods completely worth it. There were two of note, because they had observation towers at the top of them for complete, unobstructed, 360 degree views. The first major bald we came to was Wayah Bald, which has apparently been a popular tourist destination for years. There is a very old stone tower there that was great fun to explore.

Wayah Bald Observation Tower...

...and an amazing view to go with it.

We camped right below Wayah Bald. It was a much colder night than previous nights out, but we had a nice fire and a hot beverage and all was well. The second major bald on the next day was Wesser Bald. It was an easier climb, but no less impressive at the top of the observation tower, which was a much more modern steel contraption rather than the rustic stone one on Wayah.Wesser Bald view.

As for me, I'm still sore, fat and slow. But I can feel myself getting a little bit stronger every day. It's officially been over a week since I started this adventure (not counting my spring break head start). They say it takes three weeks to get your "trail legs." I'm waiting for that to happen. We made it to our next rendezvous with the Trail Angel, Nantahala Outdoor Center (awesome place, Google it), on Friday morning, in a light rain, and were very happy to see the RV. And in my opinion, there is no better way to celebrate 28 miles well-hiked than with a huge, delicious burger...

Mamma and I enjoying some fantastic fine cuisine.

We spent the rest of the day resting up, repacking our backpacks and enjoying the very clean, but very cold pool at the RV park where we are staying right now. Since I have no interesting stories of other hikers or wildlife to report, I think I will take this opportunity to explain my trail name. The dictionary defines the term "nano" as "a prefix denoting the value of 1x10^-9." For those of you who, like me, are terrible at math, that's really small. So, at face value, I have chosen this name because, if you haven't noticed, I'm rather tiny. It's one of my defining features. Rather hard to miss. However, for me, there is much more too it than that. For my four years at college, I worked in a nanotechnology research laboratory in the chemistry department. It was probably the singlemost influential choice I made over my college career. I am fully convinced that nanotechnology, or microengineering, is the next big thing in science, and I am honored and proud to have been a part of it in some small way. It has proven to me, beyond a doubt, that the tiniest things, right down to nanoparticles the size of only a few atoms, can not only fascinate a budding scientist, but save lives and change the world. My research in that nanotechnology lab allowed me to grow not only as a scientist, but as a thinker, and the people I worked with, most importantly my supervising professor (who I'll just call Doc), touched my life forever. I'm carrying that experience and those people in my heart with me as I walk. In fact, in the pocket of my backpack, I'm carrying a small rock from a flowerpot in the science building of my college campus. When I get to the top of Katahdin in Maine at the end of this, I will leave it there. To Doc, and all the other budding "Nanos" out there - that one's for you.

Until next time, loyal friends of Nano. Many more adventures to come after this exciting first week.

Just a little Nano on a log in the woods.

Quote of the Day: "You've never heard of potted meat? You spoiled, rotten little brat." - Daddy
(during a diner of quick-cook rice one night when I was wishing for a steak and Daddy was talking about his childhood foods. My rice tasted pretty dadgum good after I figured out what it was...)

More Milestones

Signs of the more difficult times ahead...

The past three days have been full of even more milestones for me, in both quantity and quality. I just completed my longest continuous hike yet - just over 40 miles in the past three days, with a total of about 29 hours of hiking time and 2 nights camping. The terrain varied, from extremely tough climbs and descents to relatively easy hiking along ridgetops with little elevation change. The second two big milestones we achieved were:

1) Finishing the first of the 13 states the AT passes through - Georgia. There are about 70 AT miles in the state of GA. Now only 12 more states to go...

NC/GA border!

2) Finishing the first 100 miles of the hike. Now only just over 2,000 to go...

At the stream marking 100 miles!

Had some interesting weather experiences. It rained all day Sunday and most of the day Monday. A light drizzle, really and nothing too upsetting. Until 8pm Monday night, as we were setting up camp, after it had been beautiful for 4 hours, when it started pouring halfway through putting the tent up. Everything was soaked. It was the first time I actually felt miserable. My feet hurt, I was freezing, and all my stuff was wet. I had a bowl of Ramen and got over it. There's lots more of this to come. But for those of you who were waiting for my impossibly upbeat attitude to fail, there you go. A wet tent will do that to you. Tuesday was beautiful though, and we made good time to Winding Stair Gap to meet the RV. We got there in time for a shower, and snack before the Mel Tillis concert. There is no lack of fun and entertainment on this AT journey. Mel was playing in Franklin, NC, right down the road, and his show was hilarious and his music was great. Good, old-fashioned country music.

Met some interesting folks along the way over the past few days. We passed the "Korean Alpine Club of Georgia" on Sunday, out for a day hike. It is exactly what it sounds like, a group of Korean-Americans living in northern GA who share a passion for all things mountainous. They looked like they were enjoying themselves, although for all I know they could've been miserable, since none of them were speaking English. We passed a group of older hikers (there were about 30 of them) going up Standing Indian Mountain. One of them told me that I "looked like a thru-hiker if he'd ever seen one." I think he was just being nice but it was a good ego boost. We also met a man I will call "Scottie," a 72 year old gentleman from Scotland (hence the name) who reminded me very much of Sean Connery (so of course, I immediately fell in love with him). He's been traveling the world for the past 7 years, and is currently on the "American Odyssey" section of his journeys. He was also out for a day hike, with nothing but his little yellow umbrella, and gave me very inspiring words of encouragement while telling me a bit about his travels. He is a man who is living his life to its absolute fullest, and not taking a single day for granted. I will probably never see you again, Scottie, but you uplifted me, and I hope the rest of your travels are wonderful. I will be careful on my way to Maine, and I will do my best to savor every step, as you so clearly do. I wanted to leave you with these Gaelic lines before you left, ones I read somewhere years ago, but I could not remember the words. So, here they are now:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Feet still hurt. Still tired. Still learning. Hey, it's only the first week, right?

One of the more interesting sights thus far - an old fire tower on top of Albert Mountain.

Things always seem better from the top...

Quote of the Day: "I've been traveling the world for 7 years. I've only seen 2 of the United States so far. But you know what? There's no deadline. I'm on the "rest-of-my-life" schedule." -Scottie

Milestones

Mom spraying my down with tick repellent before I headed out from Tesnatee Gap. I haven't found one on me yet, so it much be working.

The past three days have been days of important milestones. On Thursday, we headed from Tesnatee Gap to Unicoi Gap, a 14 miles hike, and our goal was to do it all in one day. We hit the trail about 10:30am (that cozy RV is just so hard to leave in the mornings...) and hiked until 7:30pm, and we made our goal. It was my first real "trail day," i.e. spending the entire day hiking. We had wanted to make it an extra mile, to Hogpen Gap, the day before, but construction was blocking the road so the RV couldn't pick us up.

Really confused as to why there are asphalt trucks blocking the AT at Hogpen Gap...

I learned an important thing today as well...take what the guidebooks say with a grain of salt. The book I carry with me on the trail seemed to indicate that this section of the trail was one big climb at the beginning, lots of flat hiking along a ridge, then one big climb and a descent into Unicoi Gap at the end. Which was true...kind of. The flat ride hiking wasn't exactly "flat," more like a cruelly teasing series of small ups and downs. And the "big hikes" at the beginning and end were more like "huge." But this is trail life, and know I know a bit more about how to judge the terrain in my book. Another milestone - right before I got to Unicoi Gap to end the day, I saw my first bear!!! It was a small one, and I only saw it for a few seconds as it ran away, but it was such an exciting way to end my first big day of hiking.

Coming off the trail at Unicoi gap Thursday night, running from the bear, so happy to see my Trail Angel waiting for me across the road.

After a pretty strenuous day and a nice dinner of BBQ and a night in the RV, Daddy and I packed up to accomplish out next big milestone - our first camping overnight. On Friday and Saturday we covered a little over 17 miles, ending at Dick's Creek Gap on Saturday around noon. Overall, the 17 mile hike took us a little over 14 hours to complete.

This is what the majority of the 17 miles were like.

Another milestone was climbing Trey Mountain, the second highest mountain in Georgia. We stopped for lunch at the top...

I'm really excited about being barefoot with my turkey tetrazzini!

We camped at at another gap about 5 miles from our rendezvous point for the next day, after climbing 0.25 miles down the steepest hill yet to replenish our water at a spring. The campsite was nice, right next to the trail but secluded enough to feel private.

Camp Nano.

The next day marked two more milestones. For those of you who are squeamish, stop reading now. Every long distance hiker must eventually confront the issue of proper toilet etiquette in the woods. Some AT shelters have privies, most don't. We camp, so no privy at all. If any of you know me, you know I am somewhat of a germophobe. Until Saturday morning, I had successfully avoided this issue. There is an entire books dedicated to deficating in the woods, and for those interested, you can do your homework elsewhere. Suffice it to say, as every thru-hiker must, I have officially "broken in" the trail, and apparently, according to those who know more about this than I do, I'm a real hiker now. Three cheers for me. I also achieved the milestone of my first injury. Apparently I have a "minor contusion of the major nerves in my big toes." That's Dr. speak for "my feet aren't used to pounding down mountains and I've stubbed my toes really badly." It will heal very soon, and is completely minor. But every "real hiker" has to start the pain somewhere, right? We had two more climbs (one up Kelly Knob and one up Powell Mountain), and my feet sure were hurting at the end of it. But it was beautiful, and I was still happy by the time I got to the RV at noon, where my Trail Angel had ham sandwiches and fresh fruit waiting. Half a day of rest did me well. I'll need it, because tomorrow we start on our longest stretch yet - 3 days of hiking before our next rendezvous. It's real now!

Distance From Springer: 67.5 miles
Distance From Katahdin: 2111.6 miles
Quote of the Day: "Callie, what is the matter with you? Are you laughing at yourself again?" - Dad.

Yes, I was. For no reason at all. Sometimes that's all you can do to get through it...

Slow Starts

Neel's Gap, where our noble adventurers return to their quest.

Today was our first day of hiking on our "real" journey to Maine. We got off to a slow start this morning. We are still getting acclimated to our new surroundings in the RV and in a state park we've never been to, so things move a bit slower right now. We have some time to play with, so taking our time to make sure we are prepared is probably a good thing. My Uncle (who will henceforth be referred to as UJ) is here with us for a while, which is fantastic, especially for Mamma in the RV. We went about 6 miles today, from Neel's Gap to Tesnatee Gap, and it took us about 5 hours. What can I say, I'm squishy and slow.
As I stepped into the Raven Cliffs Wilderness, a few things were immediately apparent. The entire character of the forest has changed since March. Then, everything was a damp brown, bleak and dead-looking. Now, I am surrounded by green. Ferns and flowers completely coat the forest floor. It looks almost tropical. I was also treated to several critter encounters today, and in March I barely saw so much as a mosquito. I came across all manner of bugs in all shapes, sizes and colors, a tiny snake, hawks and buzzards, a bunny rabbit, and evidence of bears (see below).

Don't worry, we didn't actually see any. And we are being very careful. I'd love to see one of these famous black bears. From a distance though, please.

The day was beautiful. Almost too beautiful. Hiking in the 85 degree sun is great for the spirit and for photo ops, but pretty hard on the cardiovascular system. Usually, I have a hard time remembering to drink enough water to stay hydrated. Not today. It was a glorious day to be outdoors, and we got some fantastic views from the tops of the mountains.

Toldya so...

Mamma and UJ picked us up in the RV at Tesnatee Gap and we had a nice shower and hamburger dinner. It may be slow going right now while we get used to things, but sign me up for this any day. Since I'm officially in this for the long haul, I'm going to update my mileage and other statistics on a weekly, rather than daily basis. Wouldn't want my readers to get bored with the details. As a final note, the entire trail was lined with tiny purple and pink orchids, which are my favorite flowers. I'm taking that as a sign that I'm meant to be here. A promising start.

I could probably make better time if I didn't stop to fix the cairns. I think I'll do it all the same...