Kent, CT

‘ve been racing through the last section, but the terrain has suddenly shifted from easy 25+ mile days to difficult 25+ mile days, so I might be slowing down a bit. After a less-than-24-hour reunion, the TN Studs were split up again thanks to a miscommunication…I accidentally went too far one day, I suppose…but I’m thoroughly enjoying my time alone, as well as setting my own pace, etc.

Check the web album on the right for pics from Duncannon, PA, where my dad’s cousin Suzie came to visit Crazylegs and me and provide some crazy good Trail Magic. I also might add some more pics from the Trail today after I post this–not sure yet, though.

Mom’s been telling me of lots’o'people who’re dropping out…it’s sad but true. Just yesterday I read a shelter register entry of some lady who says she misses her Christian community and the only thing keeping her out here is her pride. To say that after hiking 2/3rds the way of a 2100+ mile trail seems a bit odd to me, but this is no easy feat. Although I (still) have moments where I’m extremely frustrated, I’m in it to win it. ‘Cause if you’re not in it to win it, you’re not in it for a minute. Haha…

But seriously, the goal from the beginning is Katahdin. Anything less = mission failed.

Still lovin’ it, including the miseries! Speaking of which, I think I’m about to head out into a nasty thunderstorm. Blah.

Also, Bigfoot is apparently now semi-updating his bloggy-blog, so check it out! I think CrazyLegs is using it, too…

Trail Letter 10: 5/16

20.6 saturated miles today. The Playhouse was hard to leave this morning, thanks to the steady waterworks outside. We finally rolled out at about 9:45 and decided to find some dry and coffee, so we pulled over at JC’s Country Diner, which was a coffeeshop more than a diner.

The lady running the show there was also being a mommy of her 22 month old girl, and she was very eager to share the changes (pros and cons) brought on with a child of your own. After a cup of coffee, a veggie wrap, conversation, and playing with the kid, CrazyLegs and I braved the rain for our trek through farmlands — about 12-13 miles today were through PA fields. I crossed the interstate a couple of times, stopping each time to coerce a trucker into honking at me, as well as getting some waves from passers-by.

CrazyLegs was battling shin splints today, so I hiked alone most of the day. My shoes are mostly for show anymore, but I’m getting new ones tomorrow in Duncannon — my feet were aquatic creatures today.

At the shelter are four older (40s-50s) people — 2 couples who shared some wine and taught us how to play “Back Alley Bridge”. I had a stroke of beginner’s luck and won — it’s an alright game. They have a dog named Bogey who’s been nice to pet… I’m not gonna write an entry for the 4.1 miles we’re doing into Duncannon tomorrow — it will be cold and wet though! Yay!

Trail Letter 10: 5/15

23.1 halfway! miles today. After about 2 miles, we hit the actual halfway point for the entire Trail — at 1,088 miles. Shortly after this, we encountered the Pine Grove Furnace State Park’s general store, where hikers participate in the “1/2 Gallon Challenge” — a feat that involves eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. It just so happened that the General Store is only open on weekends (until Memorial Day) but our destination for the day was a town… in which a grocery store resides.

War Paint hiked with us a good portion of the day — including a section where I disregarded a detour sign so we had to ford a fairly deep river — my deepest ford yet. Clouds threatened rain all day but ended up only providing us shade and cooler temps. War Paint finished his 1/2 Gallon Challenge at a General Store about halfway through the day — on one hour, ten minutes with mint chocolate chip.

In town there is a bulletin board with hiker information, and one posting offers free camping or use of a small playhouse in the back yard. CrazyLegs and I tromped to the house and met the owners, then unpacked in this shed-thing that is probably from Tiny Town… it’s pretty funny actually.

But then we walked to the grocer where I nervously purchased my 1/2 gallon of “Homemade Vanilla” — a 2300+ calorie, 46 grams protein, 200% cholesterol dairy explosion.. after 42 minutes in the alley beside the store, I emerged victorious — and not sick! CrazyLegs ate his in 32 minutes, but Trill from AUontheAT ate a WHOLE GALLON in 43 minutes, and the record is like 4 minutes and some seconds. either way, many hikers couldn’t finish, so we were proud of our achievement. Time to sleep this numb tongue off…

Trail Letter 10: 5/12, 5/13, and 5/14

23.6 wet and rusty miles today. After 4 (!) zero days in a row, I had nearly forgotten how to live out here — and I’m only partially kidding. It rained during most of my visit to D.C., so I was quite content lounging around Hoy’s enjoying a roof over my head while thinking about all these poor suckers hiking the A.T.

So I arrived back in Harper’s Ferry on 5/11 at about 5 p.m. to a torrential downpour (more like a steady, firm rain) and was determined to hit the Trail anyway. So i trekked to where I had exited and began walking. The Trail passes through part of “downtown” Harper’s Ferry, and I was hungry so I stopped under a porch to stay dry while I dug around the pack, but while I was searching for food, a taxi-van drove up with Fester, Five Bags, and Rat Sandwich, all of whom offered to split a hotel room with me. It was gloomy and pouring so I did.

This morning I dropped by the ATC to see the hiker picks, and the Feezel had passed through yesterday — but he’s got a new name — “CrazyLegs”. I hung around town until 12:30 waiting on Fester to buy new shoes and ship the old ones home — I could have gone on alone, but I wanted company today for some reason…

When we arrived at the first shelter, I saw that CrazyLegs had been there less than an hour ago — figured I’d see him at the end of the day, but I think he’s attempting the Maryland challenge — where you do 40+ miles of MA in less than a 24 hour period. So I’ll probably catch him soon. Bigfoot still hadn’t made it to HF.

The Trail today was quite literally a stream — in some places it was 18″ deep. I had a wonderful time splashing through puddles with my saturated boots, and Fester and I shared some good conversation. It looks like the miles are getting easier, as we pumped out more than 3 miles per hour today. I’m looking forward to some BIG mile days int he near future. And some sunshine…

5/13

26.3 “I-found-the-Feezel” miles today! It was very exciting to crest the mountain and see the short, darker skinned, longer haired, bandana wearing body resting on a rock, because I instantly knew it was the Feeze. I started singing his theme song, “Hi-Li-Looo! I’m a Melungeon, ooo!”

We caught up on our goings-on over the past month or so… It’s pretty amazing to realize it had been roundabout a month since we’d last seen each other. The familiarity and comfort that comes from deeper friendship has been nice today. Feezel changed his name to CrazyLegs because Feezel was too obscure, and CrazyLegs is easy (to understand and remember). He said Bigfoot’s not too far behind, so we’re hoping for a full reunion soon…

I forgot to mention that I saw about 10 or more deer playing in a field yesterday! I couldn’t figure out the rules to their game, but they certainly looked very happy. Today I saw a scarlet something — a vibrantly red bird. It looked like a flying glowstick, almost!

Today’s weather is the polar opposite of yesterday’s — bright and sunny without a single cloud in the sky. The Trail is still quite swampy, and my hamburger-feet will attest to that.

We exited Maryland today — Hello Pennsylvania! Just before the Mason-Dixon line, we encountered a playground at a state park. I merry-go-rounded, swung on the swing, slid down the slide and bobbled on those animal-spring-seat-things. War Paint has been hiking with us for most of the day — he’s 17, from Boston, and knows how to read.

My left knee has been blessing me with excruciating pain on steep grades — I think it jumped into “healing mode” during my hiatus and hasn’t realized yet that I’m not kidding about finishing the Trail. Hopefully it will disappear soon…

5/14

25.8 flat miles today. After a short 5 miles, CrazyLegs and I walked into “town” so I could pick up a maildrop. The only other life in South Mtn, PA besides a post office was a hotel/bar type establishment, so CrazyLegs and I scouted it out. After two games of pool in the empty bar, we ordered some food and downed it quickly.

Not too far down the Trail, a Trail Angel had left a styrofoam cooler filled with genuine Coca-Cola products — I had a cherry coke and took a root beer for the road. It was very refreshing.

My left knee is starting to feel better, but my right heel and left pinky toe are acting up. You’d think that by now, the body would be a machine — an unfallable rock-solid mile-crunching organism… but such is not the case. I’m still not halfway done, though.

This shelter is a regular zoo — in addition to the usual spiders, mice, and moths — tonight we have some special guests — two bats, a bird who built his/her nest here, and a family or two of wasps.

It’s been really nice hiking with CrazyLegs the last two days…

Trail Letter 9: 5/4, 5/5, 5/6, and 5/7

23.6 peopley miles today. Between yesterday and toady, I must’ve seen 200+ people. That’s a ton for not being in a town. But like in the Smokies, weekends with beautiful weather produce a boatload of tourism.

I stopped at a Wayside — a series of greasy food joints scattered throughout the Shenandoahs — and had two egg muffins and some hash browns. While I was eating at a picnic table outside, two ladies approached me and asked some standard Trail questions — “How many miles do you hike a day?” “When do you start?” “How do you get food?” etc. They informed me they were from New Hampshire and went back to their car. A minute later they returned with 4 homemade delicious muffins and a pack of peanut M&Ms — “I baked way too many muffins for our trip; perhaps you’d like them…?” So I had my daily dose of Trail Magic.

After returning to the Trail, I encountered Larry, who was lost. He needed to go where I was heading, so I steered him on the right path and we hiked about two miles together. The people I’ve met and conversations I’ve had have been priceless in helping me see my options and understand the “grown-up world.” Larry used to be a medical doctor, but has since become a consultant, and his openness about his life, family, and career was quite enlightening.

I passed a couple at the Park Boundary that I thought I recognized, but figured there was no way until they informed me that hey worked a hostel/outfitter @ Neel’s Gap — which I passed 30 miles after starting the Trail. They’re finishing up a thru-hike from last year, when he was bitten by a brown recluse (spider).

At the shelter I met Romany, a girl who recently graduated from college and decided since she had never been backpacking that she would give it a shot for 2 weeks. We had some nice conversation around a campfire, but now it’s time to rest my weary feetsies…

5/5

18.0 long miles today. I’m sitting here in Front Royal at the L Dee’s Diner, and I gotta say this is the most hiker friendly town I’ve passed through as of yet. The Post Office lady let me use the phone, then a girl in a coffeeshop let me use her iBook or whatever they’re called so I could look up a tracking number, then my waitress let me use her pre-pay phone to call UPS — tracking down this digital camera is proving to be quite a hassle! It’s only 11 a.m., so hopefully I can get it and get going soon… more later!

So I got back to the Trail at about 1 o’clock — just in time for some hot heat. I decided to hike without a shirt today, although I used it to cover up my shoulders. I don’t want to think about what taking off and putting on my pack with sunburned arms and shoulders feels like. But the late start made today seem VERY long. Another factor is that I put in (easily) 3+ good miles walking around the asphalt and pavement of Front Royal.

The Trail crossed the interstate today, and the noise made me sick. It was extremely aggravating to be able to hear it from 2 miles away on either side.

So now I have a digital camera — it’s an 8 megapixel Olympus with 5x zoom, and it cost around $115. I’ve been toying around with it some, but I’ll really explore its features at the hostel tomorrow. They make cameras now so that even apes can take good pictures.

I finally met Shepherd today in Front Royal — he’s been staying there due to shin/bone problems. The technologically armed medicine men (doctors) tell him to stay off it for 6-8 weeks, so between that and missing his wife and friends, he’s decided to call it a trip. It truly saddens me to see people quit — like the lady in our first week. I feel that with enough willpower and determination, you can finish no matter what, but maybe my time to step up to the plate (be tested) is yet to come…

I saw a gazillion squirrels today, and now these gigantic junebugs keep divebombing my face because of my headlamp, so I’m signing off.

5/6

18.3 roller-coastery miles today. I was in a funk for the first 8-9 miles, but I knew the problem — I needed more calories! So I stopped and ate half a block of cheese, some naan (Indian bread), and a variety of other foods, and after 30 minutes or so I felt much better…

And it was a good thing, too, because two minutes down the Trail after lunch I encountered a sign — “Attention Hikers, you are about the enter the Roller Coaster — a stretch of Trail Maintained by the Trail Boss and his minions. We’ll see you at the Blacklam Visitor Center… if you make it. Enjoy the ride!” Essentially, the Trail becomes 8 500-600′ sharp climbs and descents for about 15 miles. I throughly enjoyed the “roller coaster” and referred to it as a “kiddie coaster” in one of the shelter registers. I still have 3 peaks to hit tomorrow, but they should be cake…

I stopped at Bear’s Den Hostel today — a very nice and castle-looking hostel with laundry, shower, internet, free long-distance phone, and Ben and Jerry’s. It’s owned by the ATC and leased by the PATC… Here with me are two section hikers Jigsaw and Jaybird. Jaybird’s an audio engineer at a TV station in Nashville. Also here are the Southside and Squire, two thru-hikers who are getting off the Trail in Harper’s Fairy.

I too am getting off the Trail in Harper’s Ferry… but only for a little bit. Hoy lives in D.C., and trains leave HF to D.C. so I’m gonna visit for a few days.

I’ll have some pictures up in a few days — I may sport my beard around the Capitol City for a while.

5/7

19.9 rocky miles today (yesterday actually). Over half of the miles were rock-covered — personally I enjoy the challenge of rocks — if you move fast, every step there’s a .2 second period of time you have to determine the placement of your foot — and often times the choices are far-between and/or sharp/pointy. Anyway even though I enjoy it, the rocks definitely take a tool on the feet and boots. These two zero days will be quite nice…

Passed my first rattlesnake on the Trail today — it was about 3.5′ long, and its center was fat, as if it had either just eaten or was preggers. I talked to one of the caretakers at the Blackburn Center, and he said a snake guy frequents the area to count snake populations, and the mountains there are FULL of snake dens. Anyway, I left a note on the Trail to warn other hikers, and let Mr. Rattler be.

The Trail eventually led me to Harper’s Ferry, the “psychological halfway point” of the Trail. I completed 1,000 miles of AT today, but the actual halfway point is still some 60 miles or so further. In Harper’s Ferry is the ATC Headquarters, where you have your picture taken and put in an album. I am the 47th thru-hiker this season. It was really cool to see the faces of all the people whose shelter log entries I’d been reading. And I realize, now, that I am making very good time.

On my way up the side trail to the ATC HQ, I hit a trail crew (The Blue and White Crew of the Potomac ATC) building stone steps, and heard one guy call another “Boss” so I asked, “Are you Trail Boss?” “Yeah,” he says. “Oh, well I wanted to ask you where the big-boy roller coaster was… I mean, I found the kiddie coaster right after the sign you put up…” All the guys laughed, and I continued on.

I was headed back to the Trail to find a place to camp, because my train to D.C. left at 6 a.m.-ish. On my way, I passed the trail crew — which was leaving. I walk down some stairs and heard, “Hey! don Juan!” Trail Boss stopped me and invited me to stay with them at a really old (but nice) ATC house in Harper’s Ferry — and it was less than a 5 minute walk to the train station! I gladly accepted, and had a great time with the old guys — my abs hurt from laughing so hard at one point. We went to Ruby Tuesday, and all the guys pitched in and paid for my supper — another giant dose of Trail Magic. Trail Boss told me I had better volunteer some time working on a trail crew as payment for my Trail Magic — no problem.

I’m writing this on a train to D.C. where I’ll visit my college friend Hoy for a couple of days. Trains are awesome.

Duncannon, PA

Not to spoil the surprise, but I’ve found the Feezel (who has a new Trail Name, but I’ll make you wait to find out what it is), and we’ve hit the halfway-by-miles-point! Mom’s Internet scouting has reported that Bigfoot is at least two days behind us, meaning there is a good possibility we will not see him until it’s over.

The Feeze is considering making July 8th his target finish date, but that’s bookin’ it! I’m not sure if I want to try to keep up with him the rest of the way–whereas I’ve thoroughly enjoyed racing down the Trail, I’ve also learned to enjoy the time off as it comes naturally. We’ll see what happens.

I picked up new shoes in my mail drop today–I’ll soon post some pictures of the holey old ones. I put a hurtin’ on ‘em.

I met my dad’s cousin Suzie for breakfast today. It was yummy and the company was pleasant. We’re gonna meet them again for supper in about 20 minutes.

GrDi, I’m sad to learn the price of ramps after they’re no longer around! 50 bucks a pound translates to my entire trip could’ve been payed for with about two or three days of harvesting. They were very plentiful in certain mountainous areas. I’m glad you got some for free!

Williamses, I’m very excited to meet this bear. If you have extra space (and maybe you can be working on this now?), I’d like to bunk with him for a couple of weeks. I’ll pull my weight around the house by uncorking all the wine you’d like me to, along with eating food you don’t want and keeping your unruly daughter in line (only kidding, Jess). And I’ll put all the Scrabble pieces back. You guys keep on truckin’, and I’ll be by sometime to share the experience of walking with you. Because you don’t know how to walk.

John McGrath, I haven’t seen/met your son, because I’m pretty sure he’s a few days ahead. I saw he completed a Gallon Challenge, which is quite remarkable. They leave “AUontheAT – Follow us to Maine!” in most of the shelter logbooks, so I’ve been obediently following them to Maine. I’ve referenced their location map a few times from my site. From their pictures in the ATC picturebook, looks like they’ll be fun to encounter…

Thanks for the dehydrating work, Ma! Feezel thinks we should market and sell the dehydrated strawberry jam as hiker food…he says we can make millions. Dehydrated potato salad doesn’t work too well, but good effort. In a week or so I’ll prolly need another drop. The shoes are heaven.

Trail Letter 8: 5/2 and 5/3

28.3 hotter than yesterday miles today. I woke up early to use as much morning coolness as I could, but the sun soon warmed the Earth around me as well as my body. I think I have a fairly dark farmer’s tan, but it could be the dirt. My goal today was to break my miles record, but the heat is a new obstacle to me. The terrain was steeper today, but still easier than the 850 miles before it.

I’ve been seeing more signs that Spring is here — some parts of the Shenandoah forest floor are completely green — you can’t see signs of Winter (dead leaves). Speaking of, the forest here has been a real treat — it’s very patchy in that sometimes it’s deciduous, sometimes it’s evergreen, and often it’s a mixture of both. Makes the hiking more interesting. I also saw a tree — I don’t know the type — that had bright white flowers blooming, and as I approached it I noticed it was emanating a constant hum. When I got closer, I saw the dozens of bees harvesting from the blossoms. I’ve seen a boatload of butterflies today, too.

Last night, while I was sleeping, I was woken by the sounds of leaves crunching. My adrenaline flowed as I prepared to see my first bear. I found my headlamp and turned it on the forest where I saw a huge… deer. It was 10-15′ feet away, just looking through the foliage. Maybe tonight… I saw a 5′ black snake at a shelter; I poked him with my trekking pole, but he didn’t appreciate my playing with him.

Hiked some with Hit and Miss this morning — they’re getting off the Trail for 3 days.

Oh yeah another sign of Spring was the weird insect mating I witnessed while eating supper…

5/3

32.3 record smashing miles today. I started earlier than yesterday so I had more morning cool. The secret to big miles is food — lots of it. So I kept snacking all day, and for lunch I stopped at an expensive restaurant. And I downed 3 liters of Gatorade. My left foot is sore, but not in pain, and I can’t detect anything resembling shin splints. It feels great to push myself…

Last night, after I had gone to sleep, I had a dream that someone was shining his headlamp in my face… oh wait, that wasn’t a dream! Some kid was night hiking, and I had set my tarp up so when you looked at the sign (for mileages) you were facing me. But the kid didn’t see me, because he was looking at the sign, so when I said, “What’s up man?” he was scared silly. He eventually continued on…

I passed an army of about 25 Asians near one of the Park campgrounds — for some reason it was terrifically hilarious to see them all donning expensive hiking gear — name brand everything for a 2 mile hike. But this is America — we can afford everything, no? Speaking of America, I saw this guy in a “Leisure-Series” van pull up to an overlook and without leaving his van take a picture of the view, and then drive away. I was in a state of shock.

In this shelter tonight, there is a Swiss named Mich. He and I discussed the differences in lifestyle and ways of thinking in Europe vs. here. It’s amazing to him the size of Skyline Drive, and I added to his amazement by explaining the road is solely for leisure, not transportation. Anyway, he gave me his email address, so if I want to hike the Alps I have a place to stay…

And finally, I was walking down the Trail, minding my own business, when I look up and see a ferocious, man-eating black bear. He charged me, and I fought it with my trekking poles, but it was resilient and eventually clawed my right shoulder, so I stabbed it in the eye thereby disorienting it before I used my 1.5″ knife to finish it off. Or I made all that up except one part: I saw a bear today! It was about the size of a large raccoon. In fact, the cub was so small that I would bet I’m the first human it ever saw — what a lucky cub ! It ran away, then after about 10-15′ it turned to look at me for a split second, then showed me its butt and scurried off.

Trail Letter 9: 4/29 and 5/1

20.8 easy miles today. The hardest part of the day was leaving my warm sleeping bag and entering the cold wide world. I hiked 10 miles with California Joe, and we had some good conversation. Talking to older, experienced people has been indispensable in furthering my understanding of what so many refer to as “the real world”. I no longer feel pressured, at all, to pursue a career ,wealth, or family — not to say they are not viable options, but you are absolutely right, Josh, when you wrote about the confidence an endeavor like this bestows on the endeavor-er… I have no immediate plans after the end of this journey, but I am not worried nor do I feel pressed to decide. Life has provided my path in perfect time thus far.

We made it to the Quality Inn, and I picked up my mail drop — new battery, water filter, and wool base layer — thanks Ma! Since then, we went to a Chinese buffet, so I am now stuffed. Sitting here in the laundromat, I’m tempted to comment on America’s obesity, but after teh bounty I just consumed, I’m just as guilty.

Tomorrow (or the next day if I take a zero) I’ll enter the Shenandoah National Park. It’s apparently MUCH easier hiking, so perhaps I’ll be putting in bigger miles. I’m hoping that I rendezvous with Feezel and Bigfoot tomorrow, but by now I’m sure they’ve learned to live without me, as I have without them…

5/1

20.0 hot hot miles today. Thankfully a gentle breeze kept blowing me kisses all day, but the heat really took it out of me. I’m in the Shenandoah National Park now — the terrain appears to be much easier here. The Trail follows the same ridge as the Blue Ridge Parkway for over 100 miles, so I always have a lovely road and roaring tires accompanying me along the way. I caught some very unique views today — they’re impossible to describe, but I really felt the Spirit of the mountains.

A guy just rolled into the shelter saying he saw 3 bears today! I’m pretty sure I saw some bear scat, but I’m still eagerly awaiting my first bear encounter — it’ll be superscary because I’ll be all by myself… I can’t wait!

When I was at the Quality Inn in Waynesboro, I put some extra dried pineapples in the hiker box — hiker boxes are full of items that are free for the taking (or leaving). Lobstah Bait, an older “gentleman” just sat down and said, “Anybody want any pineapples?” I said, “fresh or dried?” “Dried.” I looked at the bag he was holding and instantly recognized it. “Did you get those from the hiker box?” “Yup. Too bad you didn’t see them; they could’ve been yours!” I was cracking up inside, but I just said, “Yeah, too bad!” As I was digging out some snacks I heard him say, “What a find!” So Lobstah Bait thanks you for the pineapples, Mom!

Hit and Miss showed up at the YMCA campground last night — they said Feezel was 2-3 days behind — apparently he stopped to visit someone — and Bigfoot was going to arrive in Waynesboro this morning, the morning I’m leaving. He’s gonna spend 2-3 days with his girl Amanda who drove up after finals week was over. So it looks like I won’t see either of them for quite some time, but I’ve been meeting a lot of other folks thanks to their absence, and I’m sure they have been too — thanks to mine.

PSA

Added a few pictures…when Ben uploads the ones from my disposable (hopefully soon) there will be more. Click the link at the right that says Pictures from the Trail.

Trail Letter 9: 4/26, 4/27, and 4/28

20.0 refreshed and sweaty miles today. Yesterday I stayed with Karen and James all day. IN the morning James and I kayaked the James River, then we poked around at a spring on their land — we got our feet wet and I skipped rocks. We came home and James showed me around the garden — we picked lettuce and spinach for a lunch salad. In the evening, James (who plays violin in addition to piano) was performing with a local orchestra, so I had some cultural experience — they played 4 pieces, two of which were Mission Impossible and March the Droids(?) — the Star Wars March I think. They fed me incredible meals — homemade pizza with from-scratch dough, sauce from homegrown tomatoes, spinach from the garden, morels from the mountain… mmmm! James made waffles one morning and pancakes the next — and the lunch salad was the best I’ve ever had. This morning Karen made killer omelets. They have an African ?some kind of bird? that knows over 200 words and mimicks noises like sneezes, creaking doors, farts, etc. It uses its vocabulary at the appropriate time, too! His name is Yogi. After a soak in the hot tub — and a couple more homemade that-day chocolate chip cookies, I had my choice of 3 guitars to strum before hitting the hay.

So you can see why I said to James before I hit the trail, “I feel like a new man.” They were both so kind, hospitable, and conversational I felt like family.

But the climb outta town today was super-sweaty. After a while, some thunderstorms rolled in, but they were mostly thunder and lightning and just enough rain to replace my sweatiness. I’ve got a maildrop in Montebello — 17 miles away — and today is Saturday, so I’ll take tomorrow to arrive and pick up the drop Monday morning. There’s a big group of weekenders at this shelter, so I set up my ponchotarp, even though it’s raining. I need to start using it more… It’s leaking on me as I write, so I’m gonna try to fix what I can… adios!

4/27

18.1 overcast miles today. I must’ve woken up early, because by 2:30 I had traveled 17 miles — and I took my time. So I’ve read a lot today, tinkered with the poncho shelter setup, and ate all my food (except 2 days of oatmeal).

I have a mail drop in Montebello from Sylvia — it was sent to Pearisburg but I had already resupplied so I forwarded it here. Anyway, I was going to hitch a ride at the road crossing, but the “road” is an old beat up dirt/gravel path, so I walked down and found a flat spot across from a fish hatchery to set up the tarp. Tomorrow morning I’ll head to town and pick up the mail drop, eat, and resupply.

Looks like it’s gonna rain, so I tried to make the tarp more taut so the rain rolls off it quickly. Also, I picked up some $.99 foam insoles at Wal-Mart in Lynchburg and today (two days in a row now!) I was shine splint free!

I don’t think Feezel and Bigfoot passed me, even with my zero day. In 5 consecutive shelters they had written nothing in the registers. Perhaps my short day today will close the gap, or even put me in the rear…

4/28

18.2 guess-what-kind-of-miles-you-walk-after-a-night-of-super-leaky-poncho-tarp miles today. I need to seam seal the hood better, and the velcro, but more importantly I need to figure out an effective method for shedding water… because I was a sponge.

I woke up at around 6:30 and forcibly dragged myself out of my sleeping sponge. I didn’t know what time it was, but I figured the Post Office’s porch would be drier than my bathtub. So I trekked the mile or so into town, and when I arrived at the PO, I noticed a sign for the Dutch Haas Bed and Breakfast — 1/2 mile up the road. Well I was hungry, and the Dutch Haas feeds free lunches to thru-hikers, so I figured they’d be friendly.

They were. I surprised Leprechaun, Fester, Dropkick, and Jake — I mean, here I show up at the door, dripping wet, at 7 in the morning. They had all stayed there the night before. Anyway, the couple in charge fed me coffee, grapefruit juice, 5 pancakes, and eggs with cheese. They told me it could be my free breakfast instead of lunch. I offered to vacuum or wash windows or something, but they said they didn’t need any of that, but they did need someone to hike The Priest’s Shelter’s journal to the shelter. So I packed it up and was on my wet merry way.

After depositing the journal, I summited The Priest, and there I met a 76 year old(!) section hiker, who was very talkative. The Priest is the last 4,000′ mountain until New Hampshire, I think. Anyway, at around 1-ish, the rain ceased and Mr. Sun tried to come out and play. The constant rain had saturated the mountains, and the Trail was being used as an emergency spillway in many places. The existing creeks were roaring with the added volume — the entire water surfaces where whitewatered.

But the forest and mountains are loving these spring showers. I smell newness, freshness, and a host of nector-ish smells after the rain. The greenery is ever-steadily moving up the mountains — making a unique blend of Fallish (brown, orange, amber) colors and Springish (vibrant and dull greens, colored blossoms) colors. It’s hard not to feel like it’s becoming Spring inside me — changing with the woods.

Finally caught up with California Joe — tomorrow he, Fester, and I are gonna split a room. The General is also at this shelter — I saw him last at Damascus before he flip-flopped north to hike into Trial Days at Damascus. Alright, time for leyendo y durmiendo.