"Town day"

The day a hiker goes to town can be equated to a 9-5er's Friday.
Unlike the dreaded day you leave town, which means always among other
things, your pack is heavy. Very heavy. In fact, the heaviest it will
weigh until the next town day....fully loaded with probably too much
food, possibly even leftover pizza from last nights' delivery...and
lately, as much water as you could possibly carry.

Regardless of how many days it has been since the last "town day", it
brings great joy to know that town food awaits you, as well as a
shower (possibly); and that clean clothes may be in your future as
well (cleaner anyway). Of course food is always the main
motivator...exciting food basically consists of anything someone else
makes, that is not in your food bag. But resupplying your food is what
MAKES you have to go to town in the first place. Of course there are
the hardcore people that go in, get what they need done and hike back
out the same day. Uh, yeah...that usually doesn't happen here. The
promise of clean sheets and a pillow typically lure us into a "nero"
here and there. A nero means nearly zero. Although, a lot of the time
we do big days to get into town. My personal definition is anything
less than 10 miles. We hiked a fairly strenuous 13 into Great
Barrington yesterday, and spent the night in town. It was a cool
little city with a great market and a nice little hotel. We are now
camped 18 miles away with Great Barrington being only a distant memory.

Also, today was by far, the closest thing to a perfect day on the
trail as I have seen. Especially the weather. Today was cooler, like
maybe 75 or 80, breezy, and low humidity. It was absolutely
spectacular! We also had a scenic day here on the trail in MA, with
some rocky outcroppings, a walk by a river, and the pond. The pond was
the highlight...a gorgeous breezy lake, nestled in between two
mountains, surrounded by ferns and white birches, with some smooth
rocks perfect for stretching out on and taking a relaxing break. Today
was an amazing day on the Appalachian trail, at least for Rabid,
shared with good friends.

Mile 1498.2

Yep that's right ladies and gents...we actually stopped short today of
rolling over the ol' 1500 mile mark. However, we did cross the
Massachusetts border shortly before throwing down the packs for the
day. It was a great day...some climbs, some rivers, a few short
breezes, a couple of milestones, a nice waterfall this morning...
Yes. Imagine that. A waterfall leaving the town of Falls Village. None
of us even thought to look for a waterfall and there it was.

I have to say, Connecticut was a beautiful section of trail.
Absolutely one of my favorite, although one of the shortest. I am
looking forward to seeing what Mass has to throw at us in the upcoming
week. We will be hiking into the town of Great Barrington tommorow
afternoon. It certainly sounds majestic, doesn't it? I will be
thrilled if it has a shower somewhere and a grocery store. Ok, and a
laundromat.

Falls Village, CT

Some days you just never know where you will end up. Right now, I am
waiting for the inevitable rain to accompany the heavy thundering
going on over my head. Believe it or not, I am camped in the yard of a
toymaker in the tiny town of Falls Village, CT. He allows hikers to
tent on the property, order pizza from the local delivery restaurant,
and use his spigot for water. Thank you so very much Greg! However, I
am still waiting for my lesson in toymaking. I did, however, have a
most excellent spinach, tomato, and (REAL, NOT CANNED...for the first
time on the trail) mushroom calzone. Mmmmm.

In fact, this post is dedicated to all the trail angels on this
incredible journey. There have been countless gallon jugs of water
left by road crossings in areas where streams and springs have run
dry. Thank you very much bringers of magical water! And then there is
Gene. The trail angel from Bear Mountain. He not only picked us up a
while back, from 15 miles away, but brought us back to the trail the
next morning. He would not accept a single penny for gas money. Thank
you Gene, a true trail "magician".

Of course today had it's own unique set of challenges. We keep looking
at the profile in our books each day and the trail "appears" tame...on
paper. In reality with the heat, the humidity, the incessant bug
activity, and the constant elevation loss and gain of 200-1000', we
are all completely zonked every day. We keep asking ourselves what
it's going to be like in only a couple of weeks, when the elevation
loss and gain is more like 3,000-4,000'? Is it fall yet? When is
annoying no-seeum, mosquito, horse and deer fly season over????Huh???
When? When?
And then there was "the bridge". Ok. So the trail had a "recommended
reroute" on a few busy roads and highways that added a mile to the
day. They are rebuilding the bridge over the Housatonic river.
(Doesn't that sound like a mixed drink?) Anyway, it's only a one lane
bridge with zero shoulder that the cars take turns via traffic light
to cross. So yes, I will admit we were being lazy and did not want to
take the fancy new... turn here on this road, and turn there on this
road...reroute. We thought we were being "old school" by taking the
original white blazed A.T. Well, we couldn't get across the bridge.
So while traffic going our way was stopped at the red light, I asked
this guy in a pickup if he would take us across the bridge in the back
of his truck. He said no problem (he had Maine tags of
course...Connecticans don't seem to like us smelly hobos all that
much..but that is another whole can of worms...) and he dropped us off
at the other end. So a long story, even longer, we are officially
"yellow-blazers"! This of course being a much dreaded term, an insult
if you will, meaning that you "skipped" a section of trail by hitch-
hiking north. Even though it was only 100', we joke around and call
eachother "yellowblazer" and "section- hiker" now. Ha.

Connecticut!

State number ten! So far, Connecticut has been lovely. Today was a
good day despite the high 90 degree temps. There were some scenic
rocky overlooks and a nice big river. The river was extremely low but
very wide and still deep enough to get in and cool off. We took a
side road to a market....a mile long side road. Yep. We were
motivated by extreme hiker hunger and thirst, alright!?! Dont mock
me! You would have done the same thing. Although they were a DOLLAR
each, I feasted on bananas and blueberry muffins. And chips. And
orange juice...ok so I had a Gatorade and a Mountain Dew as well. Oh,
and a nutty buddy ice cream bar. Ok? So there. Then we had a 1,000'
climb and I almost threw up.

Tomorrow we will be hiking into Kent, CT to resupply. We are not
staying there, just passing through. We are trying to maintain our
average of 18-20 miles per day. We have been talking all day about how
close we are to the Whites. Apparently, the average mileage plummets
when you hit New Hampshire for all the huge steep mountains...even
Vermont, too. We are trying to take advantage of the moderate terrain
here in CT and MA and step up our miles... or just see how well we can
torture ourselves. I don't really know what I'm talking about...we
barely made it 18 today. Town got us.

"The day that will no longer be mentioned"

I am sitting in my tent listening to a thunderstorm. It's just one if
those pop up types...probably will not rain long enough to say...fill
all the dry creeks we keep hiking past. Today was sweltering. Between
the high heat and humidity, I felt like I was ready to pass out. It's
amazing how it can zap your energy. On the positive side, we found a
lake in the middle of the day. Of course it was called "Nuclear Lake"
and we found out later it was the site of a nuclear plant, but it was
still refreshing and nobody seems to be glowing. Around here you just
never know about the water. Several places have these old timey well
pumps, but every one we found had a note on it that ecoli had been
found in the water. Really? Even the well water is bad?

So, poor Safari is the one with the complete gear malfunction today. I
can totally empathize of course. His water reservoir started peeling
apart and when he pulled out his spare, it had a leak in it, which got
his backpack all wet. His food bag fell from the bear rope this
morning breaking the line and splitting the bag when it hit the
ground. And, yes there's more, he bent his trekking pole AND lost one
of the baskets. Because we all were having such a hard day, we now
refer to today as "The day that will no longer be mentioned" and we
have already planned tomorrow which amazingly includes a hike right by
a fruit stand! We are all very VERY excited.

Yes my pack still feels heavy but I don't know why

I hiked 19 miles today to the RPH shelter in NY. Today was cloudy,
unlike yesterday, which was stormy...all day....which made it much
cooler. They said it was 91, but fortunately it did not really feel
like it. When you're outside all the time, you really get used to it.
When I go inside places with air conditioning I now freeze to death.
Especially when covered in sweat...oh excuse me, the p.c. term is
perspiration. I don't perspire, I sweat. A lot.

I never shared this before, but back in Rocksylvania, I ordered a
Tarptent and had it shipped to Port Clinton, and shipped home the
tent. That night in the town pavillion was the first time I set it up
and slept in it. They are a little finicky and take a while to tweak
the guylines here and there to the point where it is functioning
properly. Just tonight, maybe three weeks later(?), I feel like I have
the process down. Night before last was the first night it rained
really hard and I got to see how it would hold up in a storm. Besides
the fact that the seams do NOT come seam-sealed which I don't
understand, but that is another matter I won't get in to, I was mostly
pleased with it's performance. During the storm it was fine, but after
the evening rain, staying wet all night, and more rain in the morning,
it began to mist a little inside. (Not incredibly surprising being
single- walled syl-nylon and all.) When the heavy drops fell on the
taut material it sprayed a little water inside the tent. I miss the
space of the Big Agnes, but I do not miss the extra 3.5 lbs. The
Tarptent is 24oz. Yep that's right a pound and a half. It has no
poles, it uses a single trekking pole. I love it when gear performs
more than one function. I have not been able to weigh my pack lately
but I am figuring it to be around 17 lbs without food or water. I have
sent home just about everything that wasn't being used every day. So,
I decided to make another list of everything in my pack.

Gregory Jade 50 backpack
Tarptent
Big Agnes insulated air core pad
Thermarest tech blanket
Sea to Summit silk liner
2 short sleeve shirts
I long sleeve shirt
2 pair socks
1 pair sock liners
Legs from my zip-off pants
Montbell down jacket
Camelbak 100oz reservoir
Princeton tec headlamp
50' paracord
15L dry sack for food
3L Nalgene canteen
Sea to Summit x-mug
Sea to Summit UL spoon
Notebook and 1 pen, 1 pencil
AMK .7 UL first aid kit
Ziploc with TP and hand sanitizer
Ben's 100% deet
Aqua Mira
iPhone and battery charger
Useless pack cover
Useless UL rain jacket

Pretty slim pickin's, eh? I have absolutely nothing in there I don't
use every day. I even sent my B.A. Ultralight chair kit home. That was
the last luxury item to go. There is no time to sit around anyway.
When I get to camp, it's all I can do to stay awake long enough to
write this, let alone laze around goofing off in a chair. So with
that...I will bid you all goodnight.

Rainy day in NY

What an interesting day on the trail today. About halfway through the
day, we were all huffing and puffing up our second large climb of the
day when we reach the summit of Bear Mountain. It was a lovely
mountain complete with three vending machines on top....two soda
machines and a Pringles machine. Yep, even Pringles got in on the
vending machine business. We realized that instead of enjoying the
nice view from the top of the mountain that we just climbed, we were
all lounged out in the middle of the pavement in front of the vending
machines. (Of course we all went over to the viewpoint and oooohed and
aaaahhed because you could see the New York skyline...sort of.) It
was pretty funny when I looked over and Safari was curled up on the
ground in front of the Pringles machine nursing his fourth Powerade.
Another interesting part of today's journey was the fact that the
trail went right through the middle of the Bear Mountain Zoo. Although
I am not a fan of animals in cages, I still thought it was something
different and entertaining...even in the pouring rain. It was still
pouring when four of us crossed the Bear Mountain bridge over the
Hudson river. That is another very very long bridge. I noticed that it
had signs about how life was worth living with hotline numbers for
help. Needless to say, it was also a very tall bridge.

Speaking of walking along, near, or across the many super busy roads
of the Northeast, we also did the hiker equivalent of "Frogger" on the
Palisades Interstate Parkway this morning. All I can say is running
across a divided highway during the morning rush hour commute will get
your butt moving...fast. If you didn't get my Frogger reference, you
are too young and you missed out on one of Atari's best low-tech video
games ever.

So I am camped in a monastery ballfield at mile marker 1399.7. The
monks are kind enough to let hikers tent in their nice ballfield and
use their water spigot. As nice as it is to have spigots nearly
everywhere on this part of the trail, the water around here tastes
terrible. We all have become water snobs and I am pretty certain that
the water from the springs in Georgia tastes the best.

Lemon Squeezer

What a difference a state can make. New York has varied terrain with a
lot of ridges and mountains of nothing but huge boulders. We did more
climbing today than walking. Seriously. I am absolutely pooped. 19
miles of rock climbing. We climbed through something called the
"lemon squeezer" which as the name implies, is a skinny little slot
canyon. If my pack had been one millimeter wider, I would have been
wedged.

We did have a nice long break at the lake in Harriman S.P. It was a
great place to sit at the picnic tables and eat dinner. Plus they had
vending machines. It's just shocking how excited you can get over a
cold drink. The "beach" area they had roped off for swimmers was like
an aquarium full of kids hyped up on too much sugary soda screaming
their heads off. So needless to say, I chose to skip the swim. It was
getting cloudy like it might rain anyway.

We have all been commenting on how we have lost our big mountain
climbing leg muscles. Since the northern part of Virginia, the
elevation losses and gains have been minimal, but the terrain has been
more difficult for the feet because of all the rocks. Now, it's rocky
and getting steeper so we are all feeling the difference. I am more
tired today than I have been in a long time. It's okay though,
because we all know we need those muscles back for what's in store in
the days ahead.

Hello New York!

Good news on all accounts. First of all, last night and today have
been a hiker reunion of sorts. I was hiking with Ace yesterday, caught
back up with Safari and Timber, and then caught back up with Supermax
and Fig! I have not seen them since Tennessee. What a sureal day
hiking with people from all different parts of my hike! It was great
seeing everyone again. In fact, we all saw many other hikers that we
had not seen in a while, it was the most hikers I have seen on the
trail in a long time. Just after lunch time, we all crossed the New
York state line together.

Another exciting part of the day was due to the fact that there is not
a whole lot of stuff going on in the towns surrounding the trail
around here... except dairy cattle grazing. And where there is dairy
cattle grazing there is dairy. And where there is dairy, there is ICE
CREAM. Yep, two miles before the Wildcat camping area, our
destination for the night, was Bellvale Creamery. I ate the biggest
mound of ice cream I could get my grubby paws on. It was soooooo good.

Goodbye Unionville

This has been a very interesting day and a half to say the least. I
have had too many unusual experiences to even put them into words. I
have been at the "Mayor's House" in Unionville, NY. Dick Ludwig is not
still the mayor, but a wonderful man that opens his home to hikers.
With the help of Butch, who runs this unique hostel, and 82 year old
Bill, an eccentric man who does the cooking, this place provides
everything a weary hiker could need. Safari and Timber hiked out
yesterday morning, but I stayed on. I already miss them and hope to
catch them someday. I found my old friend Ace, who is recuperating
here from Lyme Disease. She is planning to hike out today, and not
knowing if there is anyone behind me that could keep an eye on her, I
decided to wait until she is ready to leave and hike with her. Before
she was diagnosed, she collapsed on the trail and Butch picked her up
and took her to the doctor. She is one of about a dozen people I have
heard that have gotten Lymes since beginning the trail. The county
with the highest percentage of Lymes is Dutchess, just across the
Hudson river and a day or so away. It's time to pull out the 100%
deet. I don't like using it and have only been annoyed enough to pull
it out and sparingly spray it a couple of times. Hearing about all
these hikers getting Lymes has inspired me to be a little more cautious.
Another interesting aspect of being here at this particular time is
being here with Bulldog (Mike Hanson the blind Appalachian trail thru-
hiker) and his cameraman Hitchcock. I have really enjoyed being here
with them, getting to know them better, and watching some of the
incredible footage of Mike accending Lehigh Gap (the mountain of
boulders sometimes called Dante's Inferno). I know I will not always
remember, but I can truely complain about nothing.

Although it is raining heavily now, I must pack my stuff and head out.
Katahdin calls my name. Until next time...

"Yo bear!"

Yesterday, I was able to confirm the rumors that there was in fact a
blind guy hiking the trail this year. I met him with his...cameraman.
That's right they're making a movie. He said he had only fallen six
times. Heck, I have fallen more than that. In fact, this guy has
ultimately changed my entire attitude about this hike. So many things
seem really petty when you know there is someone out there doing this
completely blind. Amazing. This is what got me in a better mood this
morning when I realized my Camelbak has a leak in it and drained
almost all my water inside my pack and all over the bottom of my tent.
Fortunately, the sun was out in blazing form and I was able to spread
everything out and dry all my stuff thoroughly. I was, however, very
dehydrated for half the day because all the water sources are drying
up. My book said I would cross two creeks today...the first was a mud
puddle and the second did not even exsist. It was just a pile of
rocks. So needless to say, when the trail crossed Culvers Gap and
Gyp's Tavern loomed in the distance, I went and sucked up some air
conditioning...for five hours.

You know how I have mentioned seeing all kinds of tree trunks that
look like bears? Today I saw a huge backpack sitting in the middle of
the trail. I was wondering who's it was when it got up and ran away.
It didn't go too far...just off the trail a bit so it could sit and
eye my backpack full of delicious thru-hiker food (ha). Near that
very spot, another hiker said he was awakened this morning by that
very bear stealing his pack from UNDER HIS HEAD! wow. He said all he
could say was, you guessed it..."Yo bear!". I think I would have had a
few more choice things to say about that.

Hello New Jersey!

I spent a hot and humid night last night camped at the Church of the
Mountain Hostel in Delaware Water Gap, PA... yes, my last night in
Pennsylvania. So far, Jersey has mostly been a nice, less rocky ridge
walk with the exception of the 98 degree super humid day. I thought I
might just melt today. A small victory was claimed this afternoon as
the 1300 mile marker was passed. I have to say though, crossing the
Delaware river this morning, mere feet away from I-80 was a
frightening awakening to the day. The screaming 18 wheelers careening
by at 65-80 miles an hour was something I will not soon forget. I
swear that bridge was a half a mile long as well.
Today we also hiked to the Mohican Outdoor Center where we paid an
extraordinary sum of money for a mediocre egg salad sandwich with a
few chips thrown in for good measure. Apparently, in this kind of
extreme heat and drought, a dollar becomes a great deal for a cold
soda...excuse me, I mean a pop. But at least it was a nice place to
cool off for a few minutes and fill all our empty, dusty water bottles.
Another cool thing about this area that I had no idea about is the
abundant use of the word "you's", as in, "Hey, how're you's doin'?" I
love it! I just do not hear stuff like that! Don't get me wrong, I
have been up this way a time or two, but I don't think I participated
in many conversations with people in a day to day kind of way. I
guess you could say, I am more used to hearing "y'all". Anyway, that
is one of the things I love about this journey.... experiencing places
that at times can feel completely foreign.

Sunfish Pond

"Osma must die"

The day started off well with an easy hitch back to the trail from
Slatington. We immediately started to climb the mountain of boulders
affectionately known as "Dante's Inferno". There was some graffiti
painted on some of the larger rocks at the top including the title of
today's post as well as a giant spray painted American flag. How
ironic to see that on the fourth of July. It's always so funny to see
how much graffiti is misspelled.

As soon as we began the climb (literally), we saw some firefighters
standing around in the middle of the trail. They were looking for a
fire that we had actually seen from the bridge in town. We hiked with
them for a while and we were excited at the prospect of being a part
of the operation. But alas, they found the fire a good distance away
from the trail so we continued on up the mountain. It was brutally hot
already, and it was only 8am.
It has been hot...like high 90's-100 degrees the past couple of days.
It's supposed to get even hotter and unfortunately dryer. The springs
have been dry when we try to find them and all the hikers have been
forced to carry a lot more water than some of them are used to. I
always start out with 3 liters because I slurp it down so quickly. Now
I have added a fourth and I still run out. I never thought I would be
wishing for rain. Ha.

Oops...the text did not show up with the picture

Fourth of July weekend, eh?  I would have had no idea except for the multitude of dayhikers and local loafers at trailheads I hiked by today. There were a couple of view points accessible by short sidetrails that were packed, make that infested, with kids, families, and teenage hooligans. Don't you just love that word?  Hooligans!  Yeah, yeah I was once one if those too.  Anyway, it's amazing how the quiet peaceful woods change on a holiday weekend.

So let's get back to these rocks. Yes, more rocks today. Mostly huge slanty ones that you had to crawl sideways over...for seventeen something miles.  Yep. Today wore me flat out. It's only 8pm and I will probably be asleep in less than an hour.
Tomorrow we are stopping in Slatington and/or Walnutport PA for a resupply. Who comes up with these names anyway? We have chosen to skip Palmerton, PA...where hikers are permitted to sleep in the jail for one night. I am really disappointed I am going to miss that one.

Welcome to the A.T. In Pennsylvania!

Just another day in Pennsylvania...

Today's post is dedicated to power line cuts. These are interesting
swaths of land that allow you to see in both directions, left and
right, for as far as the eye can see sometimes. It is amazing to me
how you can leave a dark, cool (ok, cool-ish) tunnel of green
deciduous trees and enter a really hot, bright, sunny space filled
with what most people would term "weeds" that grow only in disturbed
areas because somebody has come through and wacked down every tree in
a line...for miles. Of course this is usually a great place to pick
blackberries and such. Sometimes you can follow the power line with
your eyes up an over several mountains. Pennsylvania, like Virginia,
has alot of these. Did I mention Pennsylvania has a lot of rocks?

So again, another successful day on the trail without poison ivy rash.
The new boots seemed to do well today...no new hot spots. Although
having bought boots TWO sizes bigger than my last pair REALLY make
them look like Sideshow Bob shoes. I now have the biggest women's feet
I have ever seen.

New boot day...

Good news...no itching...yet. How long does poison ivy take to show
up? Today was a very tough 18 and something miles here to Port
Clinton. The rocks! Wow. They are everywhere...big, small, sharp,
pointy....yikes! No wonder Marge and Lefty feel like they have been
beaten with rocks...they quite literally have. But today, they got new
shoes and new liner socks. Hopefully they will be happy soon.

As I sit here drinking warm funky tasting water that came out of a
garden hose from a Gatorade bottle that came out of a garbage can
(don't worry, I at least know the person that threw it in there), I
realize why hikers are obsessed with cold sodas. That's all I have to
say about that. Timber, made us all proud by taking the "extra value
menu challenge" at Wendy's by ordering one of everything on the extra
value menu and proceding to (mostly) eat all of it. Even the local
onlookers and Wendy's staff were shocked and awed by her thru-hiker
appetite.

So I am camped with several other hikers at a pavillion tenting area
in the middle of the tiny town of Port Clinton, PA. Other than being a
mile from Hamburg, a town that has restaurants and the biggest
Cabela's you have ever seen in your life, there doesn't seem to be a
whole lot going on here. However, it is nice of them to let us camp
here. So thank you, tiny town of Port Clinton.

Only 989 miles to go...

Well I am happy to report that Marge and Lefty are feeling much better
these days. Remember back when I caught my sock liners on fire? It
dawned on me that shortly after that was when I started getting
blisters again. I have not found anyone who sells them yet but
somebody told me they had tried pantyhose and it worked. No, I am not
wearing pantyhose, but it got me thinking about those thin socks
people wear instead of pantyhose, and sure enough I found a pair of
black trouser socks at the Amish grocery store! Of course I am
stylin' in my shiny black stockings sticking up above my hiking
socks...I might just start a new trend here. Black socks pulled way
up...yeah that's cool...oh wait that's already been done. Oh well.

Last night we stayed in town so we could shower and do some laundry.
Everytime I watch tv now I am stunned at not only the stupid
commercials that incessantly scream at you to actually "ask your
doctor about blah blah blah" (really? I should tell my doctor what to
prescribe me?), and "if you've been in an accident call such and such
attorney to get the money you deserve..."(oh, that's right, I'm an
idiot but I should sue somebody...), but the reality tv shows that, I
guess, somebody is watching, are what truely make me wonder about the
future of humans. I mean really...."Dance Your Ass Off"??? I guess
because they put asterisks instead of the "s's" it makes it an
appropriate name for a television show? Somehow "Dance Your A**" Off"
is better??? Really? And then there is the show itself. Have you seen
this? It's like the Biggest Loser meets The Gong Show. You don't
remember The Gong Show? Good. That means either you're too young or
you had more sense than to watch stupid tv shows way back then too.
Anyway, the point of this rant is that we had an idea. We are going to
make our own reality tv show, since apparently any ridiculous idea is
not only considered but actually made....It's called "Hike your Ass
Off". And we would find unhealthy, unfit people that didn't know
anything about hiking and put heavy boots on them and give them a
really heavy pack and drop them off at Springer, and tell them to walk
to Maine! Oh wait, that already happens. Okay, so here's a
twist...other hikers can vote the mean ones off the trail. Cool! We
are still working on this one...so stay tuned.

We hiked about 19 miles today to this really nice campsite near where
two streams intersect. It is about 18 miles from Port Clinton, PA.
This morning the trail was a 6 inch swath of dirt and rock completely
surrounded by poison ivy. It was impossible to avoid touching it and
sometimes I brushed past it on trees at shoulder height and arm level.
I am thinking as positively as I can about this situation but I think
the next few days should prove to be pretty interesting.

Hurray AT and T

Tonight as I sit here in my tent, I have no cell service for the first
time in days. I heard a lot of grumbling before I left on my hike and
still hear complaints about AT&T, but I have to tell you, I have been
thrilled. I tell people they clearly don't know when to turn their
phones on! Except for a couple of small towns (Hot Springs, Damascus)
I have had excellent service and can climb just about any mountain
around and get at least a bar or two. Except tonight. Anyway, I am
sure I will find somewhere to send this post from tomorrow. I will be
in the vicinity of the metropolis that is....Lickdale, Pennsylvania.

One sad item I feel compelled to acknowledge is the Hemlock situation.
I noticed a few infected trees in North Carolina, some in Virginia,
and a lot here in PA. Almost every Hemlock I see is either infected
with the Wooly Adelgid or dead. I came through an entire forest
yesterday that was nothing but dead Hemlocks. It saddens me greatly.
They are one of my favorite trees. One day they will have gone the way
of the Chestnuts, and our forests will be forever changed.

Last night, Timber and I camped at the Duncannon campground on the
Susquehanna river. All I can say is when we hiked into the campground,
we didn't know if we were walking into "Sanford and Son's" backyard or
what. This was not your regular campground. Tires littered the
"beach", and most of the "campers" had their rigs up on cinder blocks.
I don't think these were summer vacationers. Anyway, it was a hoot,
but we did skip the swim in the river.

The famous Doyle Hotel

Mile 1,126.3

Aaahhhhh Pennsylvania. I am just figuring out what this state means in
terms of the Appalachian Trail. This is what I know so far.... I am
definitely not in the south anymore. For sure. They say "pop" here
which is so cool. "Do you want a pop?", "Why yes, I would love a
pop!" They also don't go for any of that chitchatty southern small
talk. When I pass someone on the trail and yell out "Well haaayyyy,
how y'all doin'?" They just give me a little nod AT MOST. Sometimes
they don't even look up!!! Another hiker (from Pennsylvania) said,
"They just don't want to get involved". What??? Ok, whatever, I won't
go there. I had NO idea I came from such an over-the-top friendly kind
of place...but I sure am glad!
Oh, and the other thing I have learned about Pennsylvania? It's
nothing but a huge pile of rocks. No offense, but I am totally
serious. There is a little dirt sprinkled here and there...I guess
enough to grow some corn...ok, LOTS of corn...but the rest is all
rocks. And they say I haven't even gotten to the rocky parts yet. Huh?

I did really enjoy Boiling Springs. I stayed a day and a half at the
most wonderful Allenberry Resort Inn and Playhouse. Yes, you read
correctly...Marge and Lefty got most of their demands met with an
extended amount of recuperation time and yes, I said playhouse. I
missed the dinner theatre, but I had such a wonderful, relaxing visit.
The food was outstanding. Hurray!

Truce!

Well I have read the list of demands and I have agreed to meet as many
as I possibly can. They will get a half a day off tomorrow (I am only
12 miles from Boiling Springs, PA) and POSSIBLY part of the day
after...IF they are good. I cannot guarantee a pedicure or a massage
but I can tell them that there is a new pair of boots and a dip in a
swimming pool in their immediate future.

I have no idea how I was actually able to make it 17 miles today or 21
yesterday for all the blueberries everywhere! They are along the
entire trail around here. It's absolutely wonderful. Free range
blueberries. I'm all full of antioxidants now. The blackberries are
ripening as well. Mmmm. Breakfast has never been sweater...or
sweeter. Whichever.

So I stopped today at a shelter for a quick break and met this sobo
named Siren. Were you not paying attention? I already told you that
meant southbounder. Anyway, he turned around and pulled a giant IGUANA
out of his pack. No, I am not kidding! A huge beast of a lizard. And
he was actually carrying fresh apples and grapes for "Moe" to eat! If
I was carrying fruit, let me tell you, I assure you I would be the one
eating it. Wow. That is even wierder than Star Wars action figures.

Today was also the last of the parks. Every day for the last 4 days, I
have hiked through a state or county park. The park du jour was Pine
Grove Furnace SP, which is the home of the "Half Gallon
Challenge".... Where hot and sweaty thru-hikers stop in this store,
pay way too much for a crummy not even half gallon...1.5 quarts...(ok,
like that isn't enough), carton of ice- crystally, low quality, (I
don't like Hersheys ice cream but I have been scolded for saying that
out loud since we ARE in PA, but oh well...) ice cream as fast as they
can without vomiting. I am glad to report that I was able to
gratefully decline the fine offer, happily ate two nutty bar ice cream
bars, and I am sitting here WITHOUT a stomach ache.

Help!

Marge and Lefty here. Rabid is sleeping. Please help us. She has gone
insane and has been torturing us for months. Every day she puts bad
smelly hoods over our heads and beats us with rocks. We cannot take it
anymore. We are refusing to cooperate until our demands are met. We
want a vacation. A real vacation...not one of these slave labor days
she calls a vacation. A whole day just to ourselves...without the
boots. And we want a foot massage AND a pedicure. We will wait for
her answer for 24 hours. If not, we are going to stir up some REAL
trouble.

Six down...eight to go...

States, that is.
Today there is good news and bad news. The good news is that I made it
to Pennsylvania! The bad news is I might need two new feet. Marge and
Lefty are not happy campers these days. You know, you take the whole
family on a little vacation and everyone starts complaining. I heard
them mumbling something about wishing they were attached to someone
else...a couch potato or Playstation 3 addict or something or other.
The nerve!

Yes, Pennsylvania started off very nicely. At the Maryland/PA border,
there is lovely PenMar park. It had a great playground with one if
those fun curly-que slides that I enjoyed immensely. Hopefully I
didn't disturb the wedding going on as I wahooed down the slide. I had
a great little siesta on the bench swing and enjoyed having a real
bathroom and a water fountain.

I am not kidding, but I will actually be walking through another state
park tomorrow! I heard a rumor there is a swimming pool at this one.
That shouldn't be busy on a sunny warm fathers day Sunday...should
it??? Happy Fathers day to all you dads! I love you, dad!

Ultralight backpacking? Hmmmmm.

Well, another picture perfect day on the Appalachian trail in
Maryland. Today we hiked up to the Washington monument (the original
one) and saw a great view of Maryland and Pennsylvania. There is so
much civil war history here; it is really interesting. And a little sad.

I finally got my new Big Agnes pad and boy have I been sleeping well.
I had forgotten what it was like to sleep through the night. I did
however finally decide, in an effort to see just how light I could get
my pack, to send home my Big Agnes Ultralight Cyclone Chair kit. Yes,
I know...shocking isn't it? I thought so, too. There just isn't really
anything fun in my backpack anymore. I met a guy not too long ago that
actually, I am not kidding, pulled a Yoda action figure out of his
pack one night. Seriously. He was carrying FOUR books as well. I
think he said his pack was over fifty pounds and he wanted to see how
strong he could get. Wow. I just cannot find anything in the
slightest bit encouraging to say about that endeavor except, "Huh?"
Mine is 22 before food and water.

Goodbye West Virginia, Hello Maryland

You just never know where the day will take you...
I left Harper's Ferry this morning around 9am and had a great 18 mile
hike. It's hard to believe how little time you spend in West
Virginia, especially compared to how much time you spend in Virginia.
As soon as you cross the Potomac you are already in Maryland. Maryland
is beautiful! I love it. It helps that it is practically flat as a
fritter. Amazingly, we will only spend one more day in this lovely
state.

Timber, Safari, and I are camped at the Dahlgren Backpacking
Campground. It's this great flat, grassy campground that even has a
bathroom complete with showers. It's absolutely awesome! And the best
part is that it's free! Oh, and it's only a quarter mile from the
road.... The road that has a restaurant close by. Not just any
restaurant either. This is a really nice, let's see, I guess you would
call this fine dining, kind of place. The kind you rarely see smelly
people with mud on their legs and hideously colored crocs on their
feet. Did that stop us? Well hell no. You can still eat a five course
meal with muddy zip-off pants and bandana on your head! And super
sweet Safari bought dinner. Thank you Safari! That was WAY better
than anything in my food bag!

Halfway baby! Halfway!

I am number 360 according to the register here at the Appalachian
Trail Conservancy Headquarters. It's raining here and a great day to
hang around this historic town. I could not decide which picture
captured the moment best....
I am soooo happy to be here!

"Town got me"

So there is this hiker we all know called "Yul the mule". He is a
young sweet country guy from Gatlinburg, TN. I didn't know anyone
actually was from Gatlinburg, but anyway, I digress. So Yul had
generally been hiking and/or camping with us but usually was ahead of
us. One day the three of us saw him coming up behind us, and we asked
him how he got behind us. He said in his young country Gatlinburg, TN
accent, "town got me". You may have had to been there to get the true
amusement of this statement, but this is by far the best line I have
heard on the trail yet. Just thinking of the exchange makes me laugh
outloud hysterically. Ok, and the fact that there is a guy on the
trail, name withheld, that looks exactly like Garth from Wayne's
World. That makes me laugh hysterically as well. You might just have
to be here for that one, too.

Other than having to persuade a band of grumbling boy scouts from
camping right on top of us this evening, we hardly saw anyone else
today at all. ("No really, there are other campsites just up the
trail..." as we looked at them with their, "we want to stay up late
and build a huge bonfire look in their eyes"...) They say we are
"ahead of the bubble". UhHuh. It will be interesting to see what
number we all are. They tell you at the ATC how many other thru-hikers
have checked in ahead of you. I am pretty sure, somewhat
metaphorically speaking, that I am IN the bubble.

Being camped right outside of town, as I often do, you get to hear the
sounds of "town". What this means is trains. Most small trail towns
have trains and lots of them. You also hear train sounds for sometimes
days after leaving towns. Safari and I joke all the time about how we
thought we would never really truly get away from Erwin, TN because we
heard the train every day for days. It was like Groundhog Day. As I
sit in my tent just a couple of miles outside of Harper's Ferry, I
wonder how many miles north will I hear these trains?

The Roller Coaster strikes again

All I have to say is the "roller coaster" kicked my arse today. I have
three "bumps" of it left on the profile map for tomorrow morning. I am
pretty sure the humidity today was at least 900%. The bugs were out in
full fighting force. Today was definitely one of those physically
challenging days as well as mentally. I ran out of water at one point
and when I started asking myself, "Where am I going to find water?"
the skies turned black. Literally. It got so dark I almost pulled out
my headlamp. It started to rain softly and I still had one last huge
climb. (Ask and you shall receive, right?) After all that, about an
hour later, me and two other hikers were in a Cadillac...complete with
leather seats...driven by A.T. book author "Skywalker" cruising to
Mcdonalds in where else? Purcellville, Virginia. We saw him at the
Bears Den hostel and he offered to drive us to the nearest town to
eat. Then we got lost on the way back. You just never know where the
day will take you some days.

I walked past a logging operation today. After hearing the chainsaws
for what seemed like miles, I then heard the huge crash. It was a very
sad noise. Later, I heard what had to have been a racetrack. Either
that or some town near here has a serious cruising problem. So yeah,
that's about it for today. We hiked about 19 miles here and have 21
tomorrow to get into Harper's Ferry.

Back in the real woods....

So long Shenandoah! So long overpriced but highly convenient
concession food every 15-20 miles! So long crossing Skyline drive 10
times a day! Back in the wilderness, 20 miles from where I woke up
this morning, I am tenting near "Dick's Dome" shelter. It's hexagonal.
That's all I have to say about that.
Tomorrow just in time for the hottest and most humid part of the day,
Safari, Timber, and I will be entering what is formally called "The
Roller Coaster". Apparently this is 14 miles of 500' elevation gain
accents followed by 500' elevation drops. I will let you know how that
all works out. Fun.
And for those following my Big Agnes saga, they screwed up the address
and the pad never showed up. When I spoke to fedex, they said I
couldn't change the address because I was not their customer, BA was.
Uh huh. Of course it was Saturday so BA was closed. Yep. And today
was Sunday. This just gets better. Oh, and they're on the west coast.
So it won't even be early tomorrow that I can do anything about it. I
did get to switch out a hot sleeping bag for just a blanket, thanks to
mom. I will not wake up tonight trying to fight my way out of a sweaty
coffin! Thank you mom!

No bears today

Well the good news today is I did not see a single bear. I did get
stung, amazingly, three separate times by three different types of
bees. One had the audacity to go up my shorts. Another nailed poor
Marge right in the middle toe while I ate lunch, and another got me in
the thigh. #%*@$! I have to say that Afterbite stuff works wonders.
I had a lovely 18 mile walk to the Gravel springs hut where I am
camped. The weather was nice and the terrain was fairly easy. I even
had a chance to stop at the last of the SNP waysides for one last
grilled cheese sandwich. It is completely ridiculous how much I
personally contibuted to Aramark's (the concession company running all
the restaurants in the park) bottom line as I hiked through SNP. The
prices of food in those places is absurd, although you really cannot
beat the convenience.

Tomorrow I will arrive at a hostel where I can shower and get
resupplied for a couple of days. It is also where my new sleeping pad
is awaiting my arrival. Yay, sleep!
I will be in Harpers Ferry by Tuesday. It's hard to believe I am
almost halfway there. Virginia has been gorgeous. West Virginia here
I come.

Did I mention this place is infested with bears?

Today has been an unusual and surreal day on the Appalachian Trail. In
addition to being my biggest mileage day at just over 23, I ate at two
restaurants today. A portabello mushroom sandwich for lunch at Big
Meadows lodge, and a veggie quesadilla and chocolate cake for dinner
at Skyland lodge. Now that's a day on the trail! I also found myself
somehow at one point today in the middle of a giant hiking club from
Ohio out for a hike. Seriously, there were like 50 people that got off
this huge chartered bus and then all of a sudden, I was in the middle.
I hiked with them for about a half a mile. It was really cool though.
They were asking all kinds of questions and I enjoyed being part of
their group for a few minutes. It was like being the new kid at school.

I was looking for a campsite just before dark, and I look up at this
rocky outcropping area that has some nice grassy patches. I thought
what a great spot...it was nice and windy and had a great view... And
then I saw it. The tiniest little bear cub....right in the middle of
the nice flat grassy spot that was the only nice flat grassy spot for
miles. Huh. So, I continue down the mountain and decide I would just
head to the next shelter and camp there. Then I hear a twig snap and I
look over and see a HUGE bear. The biggest one I have ever seen. And
because I hear something rummaging around behind me, literally as I
write, I am pretty sure it followed me here.

All hail the Nutty Buddy ice cream bar!

After I finished writing my post last night, I realized there was a
bear up in a tree about 10' away from my tent. He made such a racket
all night. He was breaking branches and digging around on the ground
for hours. Then I heard another one behind my campspot as well. They
finally went away when it started raining about 1:30am. It was not a
peaceful night needless to say.

The entire goal for today was to get to the Lewis Mountain campground
campstore before they closed at 7pm which was 20.6 miles from where I
sleepily woke up this morning. Yes, I hiked like a madwoman all day
just to get a Nutty Buddy ice cream cone. And...I would do it again.
When I arrived at 6:15pm, they were closed even though my book said
they were open until 7. I kept knocking on the door and eventually the
guy let me in. I promised to be a good customer since he was kind
enough to open just for me, so I bought all kinds of juice, chips,
candy, and of course the much sought after ice cream treat. Now I
think I am pretty much set on the junk food quota for the next few
days. Tomorrow? The Big Meadows wayside and lodge. Uh huh. Gotta love
the Shenandoahs.

I also had a nice lunch break with some dayhikers in one of the
shelters while a rainstorm passed by. I want to thank John and Rebecca
for the fruit and nuts today. That was such a special treat. I shared
the orange with some other hikers I ran into later this afternoon.
Happy Anniversary to you both.
Oh, and I am extremely pleased to report that with their infinitely
superior customer service, Big Agnes is fedexing me a replacement pad
to the hostel where I am staying a night this weekend. Eeeeexcellent
(in a Monty Burns raspy voice)!

Bears, bears everywhere!

So you know how I said I always see bears but they are usually just
tree stumps or big rocks next to the trail? Well today they were not.
As soon as I got out of my tent this morning, I saw the bear I had
been hearing all night. He was up in the smallest, thinnest tree,
eating berries, paying no attention to me at all. Then he climbed down
and ambled away. Later today, I saw another one up the embankment
watching us as we hiked by. There seem to be a LOT of bears in this
park. Almost everyone I have spoken to here has seen at least one.

This national park is the complete antithesis of the Smokies. Where we
only crossed one road in the Smokies, we cross Skyline Drive multiple
times a day here. And today we found the first of many "waysides".
Yes, a restaurant and a campstore right off the trail. So after 7
miles of hiking this morning, it was a grilled cheese sandwich and
french fries....and....a nutty buddy ice cream bar. That really
didn't do much for my high mile day itinerary. Then there was the case
of the poorly marked section of trail which led to about 3 miles of
completely unecessary hiking, not including side trails to unecessary
food. Dont even get me started on THAT. So I have to admit that today
seemed somewhat counterproductive.

Although the weather really was gorgeous and absolutely perfect for
hiking, I was dragging today from too little sleep. I got in late last
night and the only tent spot was rocky and very unlevel (so much so
that even I could tell it was totally slanted). But worse than that,
am sad to report that there is still a leak in the beloved Big Agnes.
I am working on a solution and I am sure you will hear all about it.

I just looked outside the tent and amazingly there is ANOTHER bear up
in the tree right next to me. This place is infested.

Welcome to the Shenandoahs

Well today was truly an exception. Normally when it's hot, that clean-
just showered-wearing clean clothes feeling lasts 4 maybe 5 minutes,
tops, after returning to the trail. Today it lasted most of the
morning because of a front that brought cooler temps and low
humidity. A nice breeze for most of the day kept a lot of the bugs at
bay. It felt fabulous!

I learned a most valuable lesson yesterday. When I was at the local
Waynesboro duds-n-suds, I put everything in the dryer for only a
couple of minutes on high heat...you know, I thought the heat would
kill some of the funk that even a washing machine cannot remove. Well
a funny thing is apparently synthetic fibers melt and even begin to
burn, oddly enough, in commercial-grade high heat dryers. Now of
course in retrospect this makes perfect sense and I should have known
that, but as I sit here in my closed up tent, other than the fresh
stinky sock smell that happens to permeate EVERYTHING I OWN...
permanently, I have now added a new smell to the what should have been
somewhat clean clothes smell...burned polypropylene...that once used
to be sock liners. Huh. Go figure.

Even getting a late start out of town this morning (I was leisurely
taking advantage of the continental breakfast), I was able to hike
20.2 miles today. I have to admit, I have found the answer. It's
true... I have resorted to drugs. No silly, not that kind. Caffeine!
Because I do not drink coffee regularly anymore, the smallest amount
gives me the best kick ever! Wow. Two cups of coffee this morning and
I was good to go. I should have thought of this hundreds of miles ago!

Hello Waynesboro, goodbye Waynesboro!

During my hike to Waynesboro this morning, I regained at least a
smidge of tolerance for bugs again. It helped that most of the hike
this morning was through 30 mph winds....and, there were none. Also, I
am learning how to become invisible. It's really cool how this works.
Sometimes I forget and I have to ask other hikers if they can see me.
I know. You are trying to figure out if I am kidding or not or if
these sometimes inhumane conditions have driven me completely wacko.
I am here to inform you that, yes, she the hiker is totally mad.

However, this too shall pass and I am pleased to inform that tonight I
did successfully locate the hole in my beloved Big Agnes sleeping pad.
It is currently propped up drying out from it's evening of
entertainment, being trampled on repeatedly in the bathtub, awaiting
surgery in the morning. In addition to the visit to by far the best
Chinese buffet ever (AYCE sushi included!!!), this has been a most
successful and shortest town visit yet. Got off the trail and was
greeted by "Hobbler" a wonderful trail angel that gave Erik the Red,
Red Stick, and I a ride to town, AND stopped by the outfitters and
waited for us, AND gave me a sharpie to identify the little hole on my
sleeping pad so I would know where to patch it! Thank you Hobbler!
Then off to shower, followed by a couple of hours of gorging on
veggies, fruit, fried rice, and of course gobs of sushi, then a trip
to Kroger's for resupply, and then a half mile walk to the laundromat
and back. So yes, a very busy afternoon. I am looking forward to
entering Shenandoah bright and early tomorrow morning, which is only a
few hours away, so goodnight!

Smokey the Bear...

Happy National Trails Day

Well it seems to be that I have completely lost the ability to
identify level ground. I woke up several times last night to find
myself crammed up against the bottom of the tent. This happens with
some regularity. Either the trail is running out of flat spots or I
can no longer locate them. Even as I sit here now I can feel myself
listing over to one side. That's okay...the campsite is awesome with a
rocky ledge outcropping that was the perfect spot for a breezy bug-
free dinner complete with a spectacular sunset.

I had a nice 16 or so mile hike today that began with a 3.5 mile
climb. Now that's the way to start the day. It took me all day to get
here, too. Apparently it is saturday. And apparently this is a very
popular section of trail. There were many dayhikers and sobo
(southbound) section hikers. They were all headed south now that I
think about it. They clearly knew something that I did not. Anyway,
most of the people stopped and engaged me in conversation (ie: asked
me lots of questions about what I ate, and how heavy my pack was, and
various other inquiries I have heard countless times). Then there was
the guy I ran into later in the day. This was a particularly peculiar
conversation that went something like this...Me: "hey how are ya?"
Wierd guy on trail: "hey! where you headed to?" Me: "Maine" Wierd
guy on trail: "Oh, on the A.T.?" Me: "Yep." Wierd guy on trail: "I
didn't know the A.T. was around here!" Me: "You're on it right now"
Wierd guy on trail: "huh?" Me: (mumbles something under her breath as
she quickly hikes away, frequently looking over her shoulder...) I
mean, Really? Where did you think you were?

Tomorrow I arrive in Waynesboro, Va, which is the entrance to the
Shenandoah National Park. I have been looking forward to this section
for quite some time, as it is an area I am quite fond of. I will be
spending the night in town, doing some laundry, buying more food, and
most importantly, trying to fix my beloved Big Agnes Air Core pad in a
bathtub. It has a leak and that is not conducive to a weary hiker's
good night sleep!

This afternoon's hike...

"A.T. Hiker gets eaten alive by no-seeums"

I can see the headlines now.

BUGS! I absolutely lost my tolerance today for the gnats, no-seeums,
mosquitos, and those obnoxious stalker flies that endlessly buzz
around your head. I wore myself out swatting at them all with my
bandana...and, come to think of it, impaled myself with my hiking
poles trying to discourage those tiny bastards from making a meal out
of me. I understand the purpose for the bugs. A fitting end.... a meal
for some larger creature in the food chain. But does there have to be
so MANY??? And why do they have to be flesh-eating AND so tenacious?
Anyway, I had a great 22.1 mile hike today up and over "The
Priest" (over 3,000+' elevation drop followed by...shockingly... a
3,000+" elevation gain). Let me tell you, this is not doing anything
for you Catholics. It was truly brutal. However, the trail register at
the priest shelter was hysterical. I have never seen so many
confessions. The highlight of this possibly most brutal day yet on the
A.T. was the Tye river. After that never ending downhill, I plopped my
feet in that cold mountain river and they felt alive once more. I was
hanging out on a rock that formed a little pool that was full of
tadpoles, I mean pollywogs, when I noticed a cluster of them to one
side. They were voraciously attacking something and when I got a
closer look, I saw they were eating another tadpole! Who new those
cute little frog children were canibals!!!

Speaking of wildlife, I had several interesting encounters today. This
morning as I walked along, I nearly stepped on this tiny ball of fuzz
in the middle of the trail. At closer inspection, I see it is a tiny
baby bird probably learning how to fly. I saw mama eyeing me
suspiciously as I watched junior hop around for a few minutes. It was
really cool. Later this afternoon, I see a deer up the trail. As I got
closer, I expected her to run away quickly. She never did. I thought
to myself, "this deer must be deaf!". I am not kidding when I say, I
walked right up to this deer...like 5 feet away and it never ran away.
It mosyed off to the side and just sat there and looked at me. It was
quite an experience.

I am camped next to a noisy creek and it's not just the gurgling
stream making all the noise. There are several barred owls howling at
eachother from what sounds like a tree right over my head. It is, once
again, a jungle out there.

I am camped near three ladies from Indiana that are section hiking.
We had a nice conversation at dinner. It is so nice to see so many
women out on the trail. Go ladies, go!

Wednesday, June 2nd

After having a wonderful couple of days with Drew in Lexington,
Virginia, getting back on the trail today was tough. It is always
sooooo hard to say goodbye. Today my pack felt heavier, the sun felt
hotter, the mountains seemed to be steeper, and the trail went on
forever. Oh yeah, all the water sources were dry. I did not see anyone
but a couple of section hikers all day today. It seems the herd has
thinned. I am camped alone on top of the highest mountain (one of
many) I climbed today. I only hiked a little over 13 miles
today...the result of starting at noon. I stopped after about 10 miles
and had an early dinner and then hiked until just after 7pm. I did
see a lot of wild columbine patches today. As well as a turtle, some
lizards, a black rat snake, and some deer.

"Hiker Feed"

Ever heard of a "hiker feed"? Well I had not until today. This is
trail magic of the highest order. I am not talking about the {awesome}
cooler on the side of the trail near a road crossing full of sodas on
a hot day. (Thank you to those who put the awesome coolers full of
sodas on the side of the trail near road crossings on the hot day!!!)
This was something entirely different. Ann, Loon, Signage, and
wonderful others whose names have escaped me, made quesadillas over
hot coals, greens, cookies, fruit salad, couscous salad, quinoa, tofu,
lasagna in a Dutch oven, cheese rolls, spring rolls, and everything
you can imagine. It was a spectacular feast. THANK YOU!!!
As I sit here absolutely stuffed, I am thinking about how mind
boggling the generosity and thoughtfulness of others can be. We were
discussing, as we sat around pigging out all evening, that if the rest
of the world treated eachother like hikers treat eachother, the world
would be a better place. (Most trail magic is hosted by hikers or
former hikers).

Of course the best trail magic is seeing loved ones after being on the
trail for months. I am lucky enough to have one meeting me tomorrow.
After hiking 14.5 miles in the morning, I am meeting Drew and spending
a couple of days with him. Thank you for driving so far to see me! I
can't wait to see you!

Thunderstorms on a Friday afternoon...

Although I am in my tent listening to a raucous thunderstorm outside,
today was mostly sunny and hot. I just made it to a perfect camping
spot and got the tent up just minutes before it started coming down in
buckets. It was really muggy and still today, so it felt particularly
good to sit in the middle of Jennings creek. Lots of people went
swimming, enjoying a lazy afternoon until it started thundering.

Tomorrow, Saturday, is one gargantuan climb pretty much all day,
gaining over 4,000' in elevation total. I have been studying the
profile map for tomorrow's hike for over a week and have been dreading
this seemingly never-ending climb. The good news is that there is
rumor of trail magic (read: real food) hosted by a local trail club at
one of the points where we cross the blue ridge parkway tomorrow. Yay.

One thing I have noticed since going to all cold food is how food
preparation is incredibly fast. I am usually done eating by the time
most people have their water boiling. So far, my favorite dinner is
tuna, cheese, and (lately) sliced tomato on a tortilla. Of course
after almost slicing my finger off last night, I am much slower in my
food preparation. Don't worry mom I have a well stocked first aid kit
and I am slowly but surely learning how to properly use everything in
it.

Thursday

Back on the trail again. Sometimes getting out of a trail town is
tricky. I finally got back on track and marched 17.5 miles to a great
camping spot with a view. I crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway four or
five times today. It's wierd following a road for so long.

Today started out sunny, hot, and muggy. As I sit here, the wind is
blowing hard and it's lightning. The forecast rernains the same with
30-40% chance of thunderstorms every day. At least it usually doesn't
rain all day.

I don't usually talk about gear, but WOW! What a difference it makes
at times. I was fortunate enough to be able to drop about 3-4 pounds
from my pack. I switched to my ONE pound summer weight sleeping bag,
swapped backpacks, and sent home my Jetboil. My Gregory Jade 60 is a
much more comfortable pack, I felt like I was practically skipping
down the trail. I am not sure what my pack weighs now...I am soooo
curious (I absolutely must find a scale). I will have to do a new gear
list because I hardly have anything I started with.

Oh, and Marge and Lefty are doing really well. I only have two pieces
of tape on them now! Boots are working just fine.

McAfee's Knob

Although this is a commonly photographed spot, the view in the
background is usually not the backside of a morning rainshower. It was
still a really beautiful spot.

Pollywog soup day

Pollywog. What a wonderful word. Doesn't it just make you smile to say
it? I did not know there was a regional differentiation between
pollywogs and tadpoles. The reason I mention it is I just happened to
camp the other day near a pond that was full of them. Yes, it was the
only water source for miles.

So yesterday we all had a huge climb at the start of the day. It was
not too steep, actually the mountain had nice long switchbacks. It was
only cloudy when we began with occasional peeks of sunshine. By the
time we reached the top it was thundering and dark heavy clouds filled
the sky. Amazingly there was a bench at the top where we all gathered
to catch our breath and commiserate about the drenching we were about
to receive. "Too much" had a 6 x 9' tarp and decided he was going to
take cover. So what happened next? Yes, the three of us hid from the
thunderstorm, crammed on the bench under the tarp. All of a sudden we
saw feet in front of us and the uncontrollable laughter ensued. Of
course we invited "Dodger" to join us to wait out the storm.
Eventually the lightning and thunder moved away and we continued on
our way, still chuckling.

So after several days of rain, I had been looking forward to arriving
in Daleville. Getting everything clean and dry becomes the driving
force for the last few days before getting to a trail town. Keeping
things dry and clean is a futile obsession, as it usually begins
raining the very moment you leave the trail town. But you know what
they say out here on the trail..."no rain, no pain, no Maine".

Dragon's tooth....yes, that's the trail

Saturday....

Big rocks, little rocks, two 1700'+ elevation gain climbs, mud, and
rain are how I would describe yesterday. 22 gruelling miles to the
Niday shelter where I victoriously climbed into my sleeping bag at
9pm. The reason I am awake this morning at 5am, awakened by an ALARM,
no less???? Other hikers anxious to meet up with their friends so they
can go party. Uh huh. Unfortunately, having the worst night of sleep
on this trip so far, I face the notorious "dragons tooth" later today.
Apparently it's a rocky scramble with built in ladders and such. That
ought to be exciting.

Now that I have finished complaining, I can say that besides the
difficulty factor in yesterdays many adventurious twists and turns and
tumbles, I can also say that it was a gorgeous hike with many scenic
rock outcroppings, farmlands, and of course all the flowering flora.

For those of you that have never hiked a section of the A.T. through
farmland, you may not be aware of the fun way we get over all the
fences. There are these stile type contraptions that are like a big
wooden two sided ladders. These would be fun without a heavy backpack
and trekking poles, but let me tell you....these have been the source
of hours of laughter. As some hikers try to wedge themselves in the
fences trying to avoid going up and over them. Some of them are really
rickety, some are covered in poison ivy, and some are much steeper on
one side than the other. These are the ones you think...this is going
to topple over someday...is it today? Well, we climbed over probably
8 or 9 of those yesterday, just to add to the fun.
Yep, today is a new day. I am looking forward to see what kind of mess
I can stir up on this trail today.

Friday...

Waiting for it to rain...again. I was lucky to stay dry while hiking
today. It was really dark with ominous clouds and high wind all day.
But it never did rain. It's supposed to rain overnight and tomorrow as
well. The trail was really rocky so I'm glad it was dry.

The trail was really beautiful today. I was up on a ridge for a good
portion, then following a cascading stream for a while, and through
ferny meadows. The mountain laurel and flame azalea is in full bloom
and it is gorgeous. It reminded me of hiking in the Cohuttas quite a
bit.

I know, I know...you want to know how the cold food thing is going
don't you? Well, I had a delicious whole wheat tortilla with smoked
salmon (yeah the kind from a foil pouch, but good nonetheless), pepper
jack cheese and sliced tomato. It was spectacular! Yes, I packed 2
tomatos, an avocado, 2 oranges and 2 bananas out from town yesterday.
And yes, my pack weighed 435 pounds...at least. I have really enjoyed
having the fresh food, but it has also been difficult carrying the
extra weight. I am trying to come up with a new plan for next week. Or
find a sherpa.

Sunshine!

Wow. What a difference a day can make. Today was beautiful. I had an
interesting hike out of Pearisburg this morning. Coming into or out of
towns is always interesting. Usually the trail will end up in
somebody's side or back yard eventually. Today it weaved in and out of
yards, back into the woods (you know, the urban kind...pine forests
covered in poison ivy), up neighborhood streets, over a huge bridge,
beside a highway more like an interstate...it's a jungle out there.
Somebody I have been hiking with for a few days got lost twice today,
before the trail ever made it into the woods.

I saw a huge 5 or 6 foot black rat snake this morning. This fella had
just had some kind of massive lunch. He was hanging out next to the
river. I also saw a toad and some deer. That about wraps up the
wildlife for the day, other than hikers.

I am camped up on a ridge in a meadow area, with a nice view of
sprawling farmland down below. I got a late start this morning and had
a somewhat leisurely 12 something mile hike today with a 2 hour break
at a gorgeous lunch spot. I was taking time today to stop and smell
the flowers and I am glad I did. They smell wonderful.

"...it's one of those people from the woods, dear"

Well, as predicted, the Chinese buffet was sadly mediocre. Filling,
but mediocre. And after a day of eating as much town food as possible,
I am ready to get back on the trail as soon as possible. As usual I
can only handle so much "civilization".
Today I gladly watched as all the surrounding mountains were
completely covered in dark storm clouds and I was not in it. All my
clothes and all my gear is totally dry...at least for now. The weather
is actually supposed to be really nice tomorrow.

So I resupplied my food for the next week and I can say I'm down with
the mashed potatoes. Actually I have decided to go all cold. No more
cooking. Even mashed potatoes. So this will be an interesting
experiment. I am planning to send my stove home next week. Hmmmm.

Well I am looking at a nice stretch of trail here out of Pearisburg,
Virginia. I will keep you posted. Ok goodnight.
Oh, and the title of today's post is a quote I actually overheard in
town today. Yep.

Ferns in the rain...

Still raining...

I am in my tent near a cliff overlooking Pearisburg, Va. At least I am
assuming that is the town below....I have no idea really because I am
in the clouds completely and it is still raining. I am sure it will
stop tomorrow and be sunny because I will be in a town.

It was a pretty tough 19 or so miles today. The trail was very rocky
which makes for hard hiking. The on and off rain wears you out as
well. We actually heard tornado sirens going off in the town below.
Don't worry. We are hiding in our tents. Because everyone knows that
tents are safe and will protect you from everything, right? Just
kidding....The three of us that are camped up here on this cliff have
an actual plan if we hear a tornado. Of course it involves dangling
from a rocky ledge but a plan none the less. Some days are way more
interesting than others.

That's alright. Tomorrow is Chinese buffet day....we are hoping the
Chinese restaurant makes it through the night. Everyone I have been
hiking with has been talking about nothing but the Chinese buffet. I
am sure it will be absolutely mediocre at best but bring it on.

I have to say, tonight and last night have been some of the coolest
places to camp. Last night I was camped near a beautiful waterfall and
tomorrow morning, I will wake up to a gorgeous view...assuming the
clouds and fog actually go away. I will let you know later how good
the view was.

Sunday

So once again I find I am sitting here smashed in between 8 smelly wet
hikers in a shelter during a thunderstorm. I was hiking along today
and I thought to myself, "I don't really mind hiking in the rain when
it's warm out..." and just about that time, the skies absolutely
opened up. I mean full force. I was not wearing any rain gear because
it was so warm. I don't remember ever being so wet. By the time I got
to the next shelter, I am sure I was quite a sight. I was planning to
go 7-9 more miles today but I never left here and it only ended up
being a 14.5 mile day. The past couple of days I have been really
lucky because it rained mostly at night. Oh well. It's all good.
This morning was really nice. There were some hikers that were
dropping off another hiker and I just happened to be hiking by at the
same time. They had cold sodas, mint oreos, fruit, mixed nuts, and
raisins. And, they took my trash from my food bag. What a nice
surprise. It definitely made up for the storms that came later today.
I certainly have the experience for a future professional food
panhandler.

Monday, Monday. Right?

Rain! So I woke up still sardined between lots of other smelly hikers
but the funniest part was the shelter itself. We had clothes lines
criss-crossed all over the place with wet clothes, socks, bandanas,
pack covers, rain gear, and you name it. Traditionally, we hang our
packs from rope suspended from the ceiling in shelters to keep mice
from getting in them. So between the clothelines and the packs hanging
everywhere, it was like a wet hiking gear explosion. You could not
even walk around for all the "stuff".

I got up at 6am (as if you have a choice when you wake up in a shelter
with that many people in it) and was on the trail, in the rain, by
7:30 this morning. I was anxious to get to the next shelter 10 miles
away to take a break, get out if the rain for a few minutes, and let
Marge and Lefty dry out. The next motivator was none other than
Trent's store on Hwy 606. Yep, food was calling our names. Even if it
was just deep fried potatoes and cheap convenient store pizza. The 4
of us that showed up at the road at the same time, hitched a ride in
the back of some guy's pickup truck to the store. (Thanks nice dude
with the truck!) So I had a veggie pizza, apple pie, and diet A&W
rootbeer. Yum. Yes I know, all our lives revolve around food out
here. I told you that already. Don't act so surprised.

Now I am camped beside Dismal Creek falls after a 19.5 mile day. The
waterfall is beautiful. I am camped at mile marker 604 and will be in
Pearisburg the day after tomorrow. Yay.

Saturday

Yesterday, I hiked down a mountain to find a river that was big enough
to get into and take a little dip. That is so totally refreshing on a
hot steamy day. Today I found a creek but it was more like standing in
it than swimming. Marge and Lefty enjoyed it though. What I did find
today, after a gorgeous hike up and over several grassy balds, was the
Chestnut knob shelter overlooking Burkes Gardens (otherwise known as
"God's Thumprint") where I stopped for lunch. There were some
dayhikers having a picnic. They were so kind to share their
leftovers. I had an absolutely awesome tomato sandwich and cookies and
they gave me their extra veggies to take with me! Thank you guys! So
then tonight for dinner, I had lettuce, onions, and green peppers with
tuna in a tortilla. Fabulous! Not only did Iuck out for lunch, but at
the bottom of the mountain this nice couple had left a bag of cold
sodas. What a treat. The generosity and thoughtfulness of complete
strangers has completely awed me.

So here I am, in my tent listening to a ferocious thunderstorm. It has
been raining hard for about an hour. This is about the time you figure
out how well you picked your spot to put the tent. So far so good
tonight. No waterbed effect. Last night I slept in the shelter, so
when it started thunderstorming, it didn't matter. I just thought it
might be fun to carry around a wet tent tomorrow for a while. Just for
kicks.

Friday

In reference to my earlier inquiry about the whereabouts of Tarzan, I
am here to report that I have found him. Yes! You guessed it. He is
hiking the Appalachian trail! After he ditched poor old Jane,
unfortunately he had to have knee replacement surgery from swinging on
too many vines. I passed him at the last shelter.
It is a beautiful day to be hiking the Appalachian Trail. I am headed
19 miles north to a spot that us supposed to be haunted. Cool.

Thursday May?

Atkins, Virginia. What can I say? Just got back from eating at a
little "home style cooking" restaurant called The Barn just up the
road. You know, one of those places where the list of "vegetables"
goes something like this..."macaroni and cheese, cottage cheese, cole
slaw, pinto beans, and fried okra".....of course it had an assortment
of various ways to order fried potatoes, onion rings, and an entire
page of meats, including fried bologna(?). I know I am still in the
south and all, but do people really eat that? Being the vegetarian
CRAVING vegetables that I am, I ordered the vegetable plate. I really
have no idea what I actually ordered, but I was presented with a bowl
of beans (complete with chunks of some kind of reddish fatty meat
floating around), fried okra, or I should say some fried batter with
the remnants of something green in it, an iceberg salad with cheese
and bacon, and french fries. Oh, and some corn bread. Well that pretty
much rounds out a healthy meal dontcha think? Since I told the
waitress I was vegetarian, I bet the little piles of bacon bits and
chunks of reddish fatty meat left on my plate came as no surprise.

I am just spending the night here in Atkins, VA at a lovely little
retro 1960's style motel. The trail actually goes right by here and
under I-81. I am getting back on the trail tomorrow morning with a 15
mile hike planned. The weather has been off and on rainy the past
couple of days, with the exception of today because I am indoors of
course. And as usual, it is forcasted to be mostly rainy tomorrow
because all my stuff is now completely dried out and clean. That's
okay. It's just how it works sometimes... or nearly every time. I am
just grateful for the opportunity to be out here at all. What a gift.
It's not every spring that you can spend so much time outside, you
literally can watch the rhododendrons bloom before your very eyes just
after a rain storm. Or go to sleep at night camped right next to a
rushing creek and wake up to a cacophony of what sounds like 100 birds
every morning. It's a gift alright.

Tuesday?

I celebrate two milestones today...one being that I am camped at the
Trimpi shelter about 17 miles past the 500 mile marker and the other
being that I hiked over 20 miles to get here. I saw more ponies
enshrouded in dense fog this morning. Today's hike included quite a
bit of walking through cloud covered balds. It seemed very surreal. (I
added a couple of pictures to the slideshow on the right.)

I woke up to rain this morning. I was happy about my decision to sleep
in the shelter. The thunder and lightning never came and the rain
eventually slacked off. The sun even peaked out this evening for a few
minutes. Literally. Three.

There is a rumor that I will be passing by a shelter on the trail
tomorrow that you can actually order pizza. Wow. I will be definitely
giving that a whirl. So naturally, knowing I will be eating a huge
lunch, ate all my food reserved for tomorrow, tonight. It was a
veritable feast, including mashed potatoes...

Monday sometime in May...

Today was totally awesome! Hiking through the the Grayson Highlands is
spectacular. There are wild ponies with their foals everywhere. I
stopped at the Thomas Knob shelter for lunch and a couple of them just
walked right in the shelter. They were pretty tenacious about trying
to convince me to share my food with them. They didn't offer to carry
my pack for me the rest of the day so I had to decline their requests.

I am so proud of Marge and Lefty today. They did a fantastic job
carrying me 17.3 miles today. They only complained a few times. I am
actually sleeping in the Wise shelter tonight, as it is supposed to
thunderstorm tonight. I thought I could at least avoid packing up a
wet tent. Now on to more important things...dinner. I had a special
treat tonight. Somebody gave me some bacon bits made from tofu. Yep,
they went into my mashed potatoes. Yum.

I hiked past a huge crop of pink ladyslippers this morning. There must
have been 50 of them. I saw a few red columbine, tons of trout lilies,
ramps, star chickweed, and one white flower that I was not familiar
with. It had two completely different size blooms on it. Tomorrow is
my first "scheduled" twenty mile day. I will tell you how that works
out later...

Mother's Day sunday

Well first of all, Happy mom's day to all the mothers. Of course this
probably will not post for a couple of days and will be a little
behind the times. I have not had AT&T service for a while. Damascus is
another communication black hole. That's okay, because it is by far my
favorite little town I have seen yet.

Today's hike was great. It was near the river for quite a bit,
paralleled the Virginia Creeper trail for a while, full of gorgeous
Rhododendron blooms, and topped off by meeting all kinds of new
people. I stopped 5 times to take my boots off and let my feet breath
and apply new dressing, moleskin, duct tape, or anti-friction goo. My
new accidental trail town hobby has become to seek out any type of
store that has any kind of first aid supplies and carefully examine
their blister care selection. The treatment of the day today was an
exquisite combination of gel pads, wrapped carefully with sports tape,
and a side order of my recently purchased "Body-Glide" (the above
mentioned anti-friction goo). Oh and an evening treatment of some of
that red stuff my mom used to put all over cuts when I was a little
kid, that another hiker let me use. And just like I remember from way
back then, because I think they outlawed it because it contains mercury
(???), it still stings like hell.

I somehow managed to squeek out a 15.8 mile hike here to the Lost
Mountain shelter. Tomorrow I will be hiking past Mt Rogers, at 5,729'
in elevation, Virginia's highest peak and through the Grayson
Highlands that I hear is full of hiker friendly wild ponies. Cool.

Virginia!

Yay! Hiked past the Virginia border yesterday and into the quaint
little town of Damascus, mile marker 463.5. I will be staying here for
a day or so to let some recurring blisters heal. Although I am one
week too early for the famous Trail Days festivities, this small town
seems to be bustling with hikers. They are everywhere. I have seen
many old faces as well as new ones.

The weather is absolutely beautiful. I saw the first pink ladyslippers
and lilies of the valley yesterday. The first few blossoms of the
mountain laurel are just beginning to pop out as well. The mountains
are almost completely covered in mayapples. I think their leaves look
like little alien umbrellas. If they are, I am here to tell you that
they are here in force and are ready to take over the planet. Another
alien species is the squaw root. They are little orangey-yellow spiked
finger looking things that burst out of the ground. They might be
alien probes keeping an eye out on unsuspecting hikers passing by.

Years ago while backpacking is when I first heard a repeated
sound...almost like a vibration in the ground. It was always the same
pattern, and I always thought it was something man-made. I have heard
it since the beginning of this hike and I finally learned what it was.
Apparently it's a male grouse beating himself half senseless just to
catch a hot babe. Wow. Now that is what I call dedicated. You don't
see men out in the world beating on their chest to attract females
anymore...oh wait, I forgot about Tarzan. What ever happened to Tarzan
anyway?

Wednesday?

Ever since my little right-of-way disagreement with the baby
copperhead the other day, every stick I see in the trail is a snake.
I am not particularly scared of snakes, but I certainly don't want to
step on one. It's particularly amusing when part of the stick is
hidden under leaves, so when I step on the exposed end, the leaves
rustle. I must have jumped straight up a half a dozen times. I also
see lots of bears...okay, they are usually just tree stumps.

Oh yeah, I also got bit on the ass by a dog. I was just standing there
and he snuck up behind me and nipped me. He didn't draw blood, but I
still tried to bite him back. I was unsuccessful, and I explained to
him that I wasn't really rabid and he was lucky this time. Stupid dog.

I also want to thank the church of something or other of Shady Valley,
TN for their awesome trail magic. They had left a cooler full of cold
Mountain Dews and Little Debbies by the Cross Mtn road intersection.
It is really shocking what an enthusiastic hiker I am after getting
hopped up on caffeinated sugary soda and cheap sugary snacks. Of
course I already had Little Debbies in my pack but they taste much
better when you don't have to carry them on your back and you just
find them in the trail. So I saved one nutty bar for later in the day.
So later today, I take out the nutty bar and start unwrapping it, when
I stumble...again...and the nutty bar goes flying and I skid down the
trail several feet on my shoulder. So I finally get myself upright,
like a turtle on it's back, and realize that I have landed square on
top of the ill-fated nutty bar, absolutely pulverizing it to an
unrecognizable gooey powder, that I of course, still try to eat out of
the package.

I hiked 15.9 fairly easy miles today and I am camped a little past the
Abington Gap shelter with it's wicked half mile straight down trail to
the water source. The trail was gently rolling so no long descents or
ascents. Very nice. It was for most of the afternoon burned on one
side of the trail as part of a prescribed burn procedure. I still
smell campfire smell. I am 6.3 miles from the Virginia border and
about 10 miles from Damascus. Feels like I am making some kind of
progress here.

Tuesday...I think it's May already. Wow.

After spending a fun couple of days with mom, I had an exhausting 15.6
mile hike today. I don't know why I'm so tired, the terrain was quite
moderate. I guess with a full food bag (packs are the heaviest after
leaving town...and of course the fresh fruit I hid for myself in there
doesn't help) and less sleep than I have grown accustomed to equals a
super tired hiker.
I am not sure if it's these new huge clown boots I am sporting or
what but I also stumbled about 20 times today. I never went completely
down, but I certainly came close. If someone had been hiking behind me
they would have thought I was totally intoxicated. Other than
thwarting my ability to walk straight, the boots seem to be fufilling
the needs of Marge and Lefty in a satisfactory manner.

I am the only resident in the Iron Mountain shelter tonight. I should
say the only human resident anyway. This shelter has a sign in it that
states it was built in 1960. It is really small and smells a little
funky. That's okay, it was vegetarian taco night. Yum.

Reprieve from the rain...

Day off!  So here I sit in a warm dry house in Boone, NC watching a huge rainstorm enshroud Grandfather mountain. Mom picked me up where the trail crosses Hwy 321 and I have been fortunate to be able to spend the short weekend with her. We went into town and ate the biggest meal I have ever eaten...ever. Oh, AND I finally had some REAL mashed 'taters and they were scrumdiddlyumptious!  We did some grocery shopping which is a great thing to do when you are THAT full. I am lucky I came back with any food for my pack at all. I didn't think I would ever be able to eat again. (But alas I not only got hungry again, but ate almost an entire Mellow Mushroom pizza!)

And, Marge and Lefty got some new digs!  As much as I have poo-pooed (is that a word?) Keen's in the past, I now find myself the proud owner of these doofusy looking boots. I have to say, that as much as they look like clown shoes to me, they have lots of room for the toes to wiggle around...Even the little formerly-squished-black-toe-nailed-ones on the end!  So hopefully this will help the 'ol dogs with their daily grind. 

 

Another interesting phenomenon I have observed is the prolific use of knee braces, straps, and other knee support accoutrements. At first I thought there was some kind of secret society going on. But as of today, I find that I too have inadvertently joined the ranks of the "TWO knee braced goofy looking" hikers. There are these strap thingy's that you look at and think, "what could that possibly do to help chronic knee pain?" But I bought one a while back and I found myself taking it off one knee and putting it on the other, and amazingly it really helps. So I bought another to keep both knees happy simultaneously. (And of course so I can look just as cool as everyone else. Ha.)

So now to go study my trail guide and figure out my next destination...see you on up the road...