Rabid is STILL in Manchester, VT

Due to some plantar fascitis (Don't know what it is? Me either but all
I know is it means extreme foot pain like someone has taken a hammer
to the soft tissue on the bottom of your foot.), I have decided to
stay the day here in this very cool little Vermont town. I bought TWO
new pair of hiking shoes...yes, two!! I returned one after trying to
hike out of town this morning.... Got to the top of Bromley mountain
and thought the torture. Must end. Soon. Now. The new boots almost
got thrown off the mountain. But alas I remembered the $150 and they
were saved from a brutal ending and will remain in tact to torture yet
another unsuspecting hiker. I was rescued from the top of the mountain
by the fortunate coincidence of there being a ski lift, shockingly in
operation in the middle of summer, going down to the road at the
bottom and Jeff, the owner of the Green Mountain House, the
absolutely best hostel on the Appalachian Trail. So under the advice
of Jeff and Boomer, another hiker with P.F., I went to the Mountain
Goat Outfitters back in the town I had just attempted to hike out of.
Those guys are terrific (thanks Ron and Matt!) and helped me with a
new pair of trail shoes (not boots) and arch support inserts. I think
they feel like slippers. Ok, slippers with a lot of support. Ok, maybe
thats a stretch...maybe running shoe slippers. I am going to try this
hiking thing again and see if I can make it further than three miles
tomorrow. Ha.

The good thing about staying the day here is that I get to hike with
Safari again. Safari, you can run...but you can't hide. I caught you!
Again! But Timber unfortunately got away. Due to a COMPLETELY
UNREALISTIC hiking schedule, that's right...There. I said it. Yeah, a
completely unrealistic hiking schedule, and the amount of pain my foot
has been in lately, I don't think I will be able to catch her again.
She is meeting her boyfriend who is going to hike the last month with
her, so she was having to do really large days to meet him on time.
Goodbye Timber! Have a great hike! I miss you already.

It is truly amazing how close friends you become with people on the
trail. Life on a trail is like a condensed lifetime. A week feels like
months and months feel like an eternity. You can spend a few days with
someone and feel like you truly have a friend for life.