I had an emotional response to walking today. I realized I haven't walked more than a mile or so since being off the trail. Although I did hike and camp for a couple of days at Acadia Nat'l Park, but that was my immediate unwinding, very amazing, very neccesary. I've just been so busy doing this and that, visiting people and places, tying up loose ends, cleaning up and clearing out (as Persephone would say) and making space for the new.Finally, last night I felt that things were settling down and a real rythym might be able to start. It felt good to putter around in the kitchen, making up my long craved for red cabbage and seaweed salad, marinating tofu for BLTs tomorrow, and looking up recipes online. Cup of tea in hand I ventured to the couch and flipped on the tube. Instantly getting sucked into the show 'Project Runway' I began to feel antsy. 'Is this what it's going to be like now?' Instead of sitting outside around a fire, staring at that with a few good friends, enjoying the simplicity of it all, I am inside, staring at people I don't know or care about, and I don't even know that it's actually really warm outside. It looked cold through the window because of the storm, so I hadn't bothered to go out. I don't like being detatched from what's going on in nature. So, I decided, at that moment that I definately need to get my butt outside....no messin' around. This morning, after cereal and tea I donned my running shoes and strolled on down the street. A more perfect fall morning couldn't have existed. Warm, but cool enough for my favorite knit cap, bright red and yellow leaves up against the bold blue fall sky and sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. Mmmm Hmmmm.
It felt so good to be moving. Stretching my legs, my knees loosening up (they are still kind stiff, especially my left one) I felt a bounce coming into my step and a surge of sweet energy. Not ten minutes into my walk, I started flashing to visions of being on the trail, or a trail. As clear as I could see the sidewalk in front of me, the houses on the road and the cars whizzing past, I could,in my mind's eye, see a brown trail beneath my feet, trees and forest growth on either side and only the sounds of the leaves blowing in the breeze, birds and chipmunks busy as ever and red squirrels bitching (they are always, it seems, going off on something from some high post in a tree)at any and everything in sight. I felt like I could walk all day, knowing that I actually could if I had food and water. It's a cool feeling to know that I could turn a 3 mile walk into 20 and never suffer for it. I was suddenly missing the trail, suddenly, a lot. I got lost in thought and memory for a bit and was feeling pretty emotional. It could've turned to sadness and longing,and in my past,that my be where I would have gone. Instead, it turned to a feeling of peace, joy and gratitude. I now have these memories I can turn to anytime I need them.
As I said in one of my earlier entries, this walk, in part, was a walk of gratitude. Gratitude for the conciousness and strenght to chose my own path. And now, the universe, seeing my heart, my soul, and determination is opening it's doors for me. I can almost here them wispering to each other, 'i think she's ready'. And I'm listening, with all my senses, to the guiding forces~
As the main character's mother in Almost Famous says to the lead guitarist in the band, "Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aide" I think that's just right on.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
थे रोड इस लॉन्ग थे रिवर वाइड.. विल इ बे थे समे व्हेन इ राच थे ओथेर साइड?
So...i wrote an amazing blog update last night a nd was about to send it when the internet connection was momentary lost, and my update was permanently lost. terribly sorry, for it was a good one. not as much in the sprit of it today b ecause i want to go kayaking and fishing...........
Aaaaah! final frontier!! Natty and I strolled into Monson, ME about noon yesterday and are staying at the lakehouse hostel/B&B along with some other hikers...namely my dear ones Firecracker and Big Fish!! Hooray...been trying to catch those two for months, but it couldn't have come at a better time.we will hopefully all finish together, pretty awsome! after a 17? miler the other day we reaaly wanted to camp on this river we had been hiking along for several miles and were hoping to find a spot, when lo and behold there's FC and BF camped with a fire going already...room for two more?? Oh yeah!! It's been so long i've been missin' my homegirl, Firecracker....and Natty's heard all about them, so finally we all meet....yaaay! we stayed up late(by hiker standards, uh 10pm) around the fire, played some tunes. played the Hiker Funk song, written by Natty, myself and our friend who we haven't seen in awhile, Honey Dew. firecracker recorded it on her DVR and listened to it while hiking yeserday...cool.
So, Maine is incredible! How is it that i have lived here but had nooo idea how magical, and beautiful it is.from the rocky bald, above treeline mountaintops to the dence packed fir and pine trees, moss lined trails. Aaah...so much moss. just gorgeous. there have been so many opportunities to camp on rivers, ponds and lakes with beauiful views, wildlife everywhere. in some places there have been more moose tracks than people tracks. we saw a huge bull moose the other day. i was walking super slow and quiet(quite by accident, my knee was killing me and i was taking it easy) and iheard him before i saw him. he was munching away on something and breathing, prety loud. i tried to sneak up to take a photo, but he started walking away. how something so huge makes his way through these densley packed forests had been a mystery. i realized that they don't 'make their way through' if it's in thier way, they run into it and knock it down....how else could it work. i had to laugh at the racket he made, you'de think out in the natural world , the creatures could be a little stealth, not so with big moose. soo loud. just before mahoosic notch, we had seen a full moose skeleton off the trail. someone had taken it upon themselves to write out the word HELP! with the bones. i helped myself to a rib bone and put it in my 'voodoo pocket' on the side of my pack, along with my two turkey feathers (i used to have a snake skin) and now a tail of some animal(a mink?or a marten??) it was just sitting there on the trail....my voodoo pocket is nearly complete!
So we got a glimpse of the ol' final destination the other day, Mt Katadhin.....getting closer every step i take. It's pretty exciting. I'm psyched to be reaching the end, the top of the mountain. and i 'm tired of hiking. i'm tired of putting in big miles, not tired of hiking, and that's the problem. i like this ...a lot. i love hiking the AT. i love camping, walkiing somewhere and setting up camp...being outside, stopping by a river for a snack or a nap. looking up at the leaves lowing in the beeze while the fallish looking clouds roll across the sky. the weather is grand. and it has ben for quite some time now.....since august 30......i hope it stays that way, the forcast says it is possible. It's very rare to have the weather that we did through the white mountains and on. it's been cool, cold crispy nights and mornings, beautiful cool, warm or hot days, sunny with some good cloud cover.
too cool for a dip...too bad, there have been so many places to swim. i could totally come back and do the whole maine section again, or parts of it at a leisurly pace..it is that wonderful. the terrain is not too hard. what a treat after such strenuous hiking.
After the initial ass kicking we got the first two days into maine my legs had gotten to a point of exhaustion that i have never experienced. they would just burn and burn the second we would start to gain elevation. there was just no energy there. in Grafton notch, where my friend, ben, dropped us off after zeroing in bethel, we ran into a ranger who told us it just gets easier and easier all the way to katadhin.... i nearly cried. ...but he was right, hooray!
Maine is full of beauiful ponds and lakes, rivers. we had to ford a river the other day(cross in our crocs), and also we had to flag down a ferryman to take us across the kennebek river. it's too deep and wide to walk. this guy, hillbilly dave, a ranger, is available for ferrying evryday in season between 9am-11am and again from 2pm-4pm so you've got to get there, otherwise that's where you're camping for the night. anyway there was an orange flag there on th side of the trail, and he had been expecting us,his previous passengers told him so, so i waved the flag and he hopped into his red canoe, paddled on over and picked us up. it was super windy and we had our life vests buckled up tight, a sweet little ride.
so here we are in monson, the last outpost before the 100 mile wildrness... we are chillin' here today, being tuesday...soo many people rolled into town yesterday it was crazy!! and great! a lot of peoplr hitched up from wherever they were because of timing, and want to get to katedhin before the snow flies and then go back to finish what they missed. so folks i haven't seen in ages are poppin' in left and right...so fun to see everyone. saw C-Bass and Swift, George(or john-anna, or beefstick), Logan(joey, or finger-mullet) and Alan (maybe he's finger-mullet...they all just got new names)tough to keep track. a bunch of folks i haven't seen since the Doyle, of the infamous doyle!!!There have been so many amazing pepole i've met out here. really good people. people who believe in themselves and in their potential. This young guy, his name is 'You' said somehting at breakfast this morning and it made me so happy. it was such refreshment. he said, 'i have learned what a great young man i am and how much potential there is within me, and i'm going to travel the world.....' i don't know if i got that right, but his youth, his goodness and his confidence was powerful.there is so much potential wrapped up within every one of us and it's a mystery sometimes to unravel, but when you know it's there, it's impossible to ingore, and a disservice to ourselves and to others to ignore. so, you've got to be who you are, find out what you are good at, and do that....because the world needs you.
so i'm nearing the end but really (and,yah, this may sound cliche) the beginning.....
the road is long, the river is wide..who will i be on the other side?
it's been amzaing knowing how many people have been following this whole journey. it's filled my heart hearing people's responses, their encouragement, their joy in sharing these stories. i've been pretty happy about that. i definatley feel really blessed.
so, peace out ya'll.........i might just keep a running , sort of, uh, after trail journal too.....see what happens now.
LOVE AND GRATITUDE TO ALL!!!!!!!
your (almost, there is another many names) one and only
~MANY NAMES~
Aaaaah! final frontier!! Natty and I strolled into Monson, ME about noon yesterday and are staying at the lakehouse hostel/B&B along with some other hikers...namely my dear ones Firecracker and Big Fish!! Hooray...been trying to catch those two for months, but it couldn't have come at a better time.we will hopefully all finish together, pretty awsome! after a 17? miler the other day we reaaly wanted to camp on this river we had been hiking along for several miles and were hoping to find a spot, when lo and behold there's FC and BF camped with a fire going already...room for two more?? Oh yeah!! It's been so long i've been missin' my homegirl, Firecracker....and Natty's heard all about them, so finally we all meet....yaaay! we stayed up late(by hiker standards, uh 10pm) around the fire, played some tunes. played the Hiker Funk song, written by Natty, myself and our friend who we haven't seen in awhile, Honey Dew. firecracker recorded it on her DVR and listened to it while hiking yeserday...cool.
So, Maine is incredible! How is it that i have lived here but had nooo idea how magical, and beautiful it is.from the rocky bald, above treeline mountaintops to the dence packed fir and pine trees, moss lined trails. Aaah...so much moss. just gorgeous. there have been so many opportunities to camp on rivers, ponds and lakes with beauiful views, wildlife everywhere. in some places there have been more moose tracks than people tracks. we saw a huge bull moose the other day. i was walking super slow and quiet(quite by accident, my knee was killing me and i was taking it easy) and iheard him before i saw him. he was munching away on something and breathing, prety loud. i tried to sneak up to take a photo, but he started walking away. how something so huge makes his way through these densley packed forests had been a mystery. i realized that they don't 'make their way through' if it's in thier way, they run into it and knock it down....how else could it work. i had to laugh at the racket he made, you'de think out in the natural world , the creatures could be a little stealth, not so with big moose. soo loud. just before mahoosic notch, we had seen a full moose skeleton off the trail. someone had taken it upon themselves to write out the word HELP! with the bones. i helped myself to a rib bone and put it in my 'voodoo pocket' on the side of my pack, along with my two turkey feathers (i used to have a snake skin) and now a tail of some animal(a mink?or a marten??) it was just sitting there on the trail....my voodoo pocket is nearly complete!
So we got a glimpse of the ol' final destination the other day, Mt Katadhin.....getting closer every step i take. It's pretty exciting. I'm psyched to be reaching the end, the top of the mountain. and i 'm tired of hiking. i'm tired of putting in big miles, not tired of hiking, and that's the problem. i like this ...a lot. i love hiking the AT. i love camping, walkiing somewhere and setting up camp...being outside, stopping by a river for a snack or a nap. looking up at the leaves lowing in the beeze while the fallish looking clouds roll across the sky. the weather is grand. and it has ben for quite some time now.....since august 30......i hope it stays that way, the forcast says it is possible. It's very rare to have the weather that we did through the white mountains and on. it's been cool, cold crispy nights and mornings, beautiful cool, warm or hot days, sunny with some good cloud cover.
too cool for a dip...too bad, there have been so many places to swim. i could totally come back and do the whole maine section again, or parts of it at a leisurly pace..it is that wonderful. the terrain is not too hard. what a treat after such strenuous hiking.
After the initial ass kicking we got the first two days into maine my legs had gotten to a point of exhaustion that i have never experienced. they would just burn and burn the second we would start to gain elevation. there was just no energy there. in Grafton notch, where my friend, ben, dropped us off after zeroing in bethel, we ran into a ranger who told us it just gets easier and easier all the way to katadhin.... i nearly cried. ...but he was right, hooray!
Maine is full of beauiful ponds and lakes, rivers. we had to ford a river the other day(cross in our crocs), and also we had to flag down a ferryman to take us across the kennebek river. it's too deep and wide to walk. this guy, hillbilly dave, a ranger, is available for ferrying evryday in season between 9am-11am and again from 2pm-4pm so you've got to get there, otherwise that's where you're camping for the night. anyway there was an orange flag there on th side of the trail, and he had been expecting us,his previous passengers told him so, so i waved the flag and he hopped into his red canoe, paddled on over and picked us up. it was super windy and we had our life vests buckled up tight, a sweet little ride.
so here we are in monson, the last outpost before the 100 mile wildrness... we are chillin' here today, being tuesday...soo many people rolled into town yesterday it was crazy!! and great! a lot of peoplr hitched up from wherever they were because of timing, and want to get to katedhin before the snow flies and then go back to finish what they missed. so folks i haven't seen in ages are poppin' in left and right...so fun to see everyone. saw C-Bass and Swift, George(or john-anna, or beefstick), Logan(joey, or finger-mullet) and Alan (maybe he's finger-mullet...they all just got new names)tough to keep track. a bunch of folks i haven't seen since the Doyle, of the infamous doyle!!!There have been so many amazing pepole i've met out here. really good people. people who believe in themselves and in their potential. This young guy, his name is 'You' said somehting at breakfast this morning and it made me so happy. it was such refreshment. he said, 'i have learned what a great young man i am and how much potential there is within me, and i'm going to travel the world.....' i don't know if i got that right, but his youth, his goodness and his confidence was powerful.there is so much potential wrapped up within every one of us and it's a mystery sometimes to unravel, but when you know it's there, it's impossible to ingore, and a disservice to ourselves and to others to ignore. so, you've got to be who you are, find out what you are good at, and do that....because the world needs you.
so i'm nearing the end but really (and,yah, this may sound cliche) the beginning.....
the road is long, the river is wide..who will i be on the other side?
it's been amzaing knowing how many people have been following this whole journey. it's filled my heart hearing people's responses, their encouragement, their joy in sharing these stories. i've been pretty happy about that. i definatley feel really blessed.
so, peace out ya'll.........i might just keep a running , sort of, uh, after trail journal too.....see what happens now.
LOVE AND GRATITUDE TO ALL!!!!!!!
your (almost, there is another many names) one and only
~MANY NAMES~
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
थे एंड इस नार......और शौल्ड इ से, थे बेगिन्निंग
Hello ! Hello! greetings....it's going to be nearly impossible to write eabout evrything that's been going on...just got to stratton, ME and the library will close in ten minutes..i will do what i can. perhaps, begin with the present and work backwards????
Or not...... i really don't like not being able to write everything i want because the quality is lacking, so i 'm wondering if i should tell at all..or do an outline and fill in later...okay..
so my birthday, august 29th has been named the 'bad saturday' due to remnants of a hurricane....we (natty and i) hiked 18 treacheruos miles to franconia notch on this day...thankfully to warm dry birthday shelter for food showers and rest.....next day we meet up with my most excellent friend anika, who came to hike part of the whites with us. the weather cleared up and it was spectacular...a super diffucult hike, and for 3 days anika, natty and i went over the beautiful franconia ridge,and other mountains unbelieveavle......magnifecent views...after all this time hiking this was the most beautiful by far, and the most difficult (sorry anika, i hope you still like me) down to crawford notch...anika went home .....natty and i coninued up to mt. washington and summited the next day...there are a bunch of cool things that happened in the whites , but alas....no time
got to gorham,NH for labor day weekend...went into town for big giant breakie and got a message from my dad...the Whole fam was in norway ME fro the holiday and dad offered to pick us up for the night....oh yeah, how couold we say no. 'Jay's shuttle service' was there within the hour and went back to the lakehouse for a day of superior R&R...so much neede...some real exhaustion had been setting in..can't even describe
dropped us back off in gorham the next day and we ventured off to finish new hampshire and enter ME......heading for the infamous 'Mahoosic Notch' debatably the most difficult mile on the trail......well it turned out to be crazy fun..just super technical manuvering and a littl sttrategy was needed to get over some difficult rocky areas...but super cool. all these rock slabs fallen on each other creating little caves and such...a giant playground. you could hear water running beneath the rocks and there are some spots with perma ice keeping things real cool down there.
I gotta go....sorry.....180 miles to go
~MANY NAMES~
Or not...... i really don't like not being able to write everything i want because the quality is lacking, so i 'm wondering if i should tell at all..or do an outline and fill in later...okay..
so my birthday, august 29th has been named the 'bad saturday' due to remnants of a hurricane....we (natty and i) hiked 18 treacheruos miles to franconia notch on this day...thankfully to warm dry birthday shelter for food showers and rest.....next day we meet up with my most excellent friend anika, who came to hike part of the whites with us. the weather cleared up and it was spectacular...a super diffucult hike, and for 3 days anika, natty and i went over the beautiful franconia ridge,and other mountains unbelieveavle......magnifecent views...after all this time hiking this was the most beautiful by far, and the most difficult (sorry anika, i hope you still like me) down to crawford notch...anika went home .....natty and i coninued up to mt. washington and summited the next day...there are a bunch of cool things that happened in the whites , but alas....no time
got to gorham,NH for labor day weekend...went into town for big giant breakie and got a message from my dad...the Whole fam was in norway ME fro the holiday and dad offered to pick us up for the night....oh yeah, how couold we say no. 'Jay's shuttle service' was there within the hour and went back to the lakehouse for a day of superior R&R...so much neede...some real exhaustion had been setting in..can't even describe
dropped us back off in gorham the next day and we ventured off to finish new hampshire and enter ME......heading for the infamous 'Mahoosic Notch' debatably the most difficult mile on the trail......well it turned out to be crazy fun..just super technical manuvering and a littl sttrategy was needed to get over some difficult rocky areas...but super cool. all these rock slabs fallen on each other creating little caves and such...a giant playground. you could hear water running beneath the rocks and there are some spots with perma ice keeping things real cool down there.
I gotta go....sorry.....180 miles to go
~MANY NAMES~
Monday, August 24, 2009
आउट ऑफ़ वेरमोंट, तठे सुल्ट्री तेम्प्त्रेस
Ah Ha Ha!! i have just finished vermont and will be hiking in new hampshire tomorrw. i think the beavers rule vermont. we passed more beaver dams and along with the dams saw quite a few moose tracks. it seem that the beavers and the moose have a bit of a symbiotic relationship. the beavers drastically alter the environment and create fantastically swampy places for the moose to chillax' in. they like that....i don't know what the moose do for the beavers. maybe just provide entertainment.
got to hang out at the inn at long trail the other night. camped out across the street and walked over for a couple of well deserved pints. he next day was crappie and natty had a rock he needed to mail home(he does this from time to time) so we took a bus into rutland(to the post office) 9 miles down the road. once there, the skies opned up, torrential rain, buildings getting struck by lightning. we decided tp go see the new quentin t. movie and when we came out of the theatre we saw about 12 other hikers with the same great idea. Hooray!!! well, since we caught the movie, we missed the last bus, and..since we left our tents set up across the street from the inn we didn't have our backpacks which can make it tough to get a hitch. people like to pick up backpackers cuz they know we cool.....but they don't want to pick up random hitchhikers. So we made a sign from materials from a local bookstore that said 'Hikers to Inn at Long Trail'. the woman at the shop wished us luck and off we went. a successful hitch and new friend later we were back at the inn.
The weather has not ben very condusive to great hiking mileage. rain , humidity, thunder storms...all equals lack of motivation. plus great ideas of,'lets do something else today..' but tonight i am writing from a comfort suites hotel where natty's parents are visiting from michigan. they took us out for a slack pack today. so we left our packs at the hotel and packed the little day packs that his parents brought with lunch, snacks, water etc.........sooooo awsome to have a light pack. we did 22+ miles today...hooray!! that's a lot of miles for a couple of bums. we are doing it again tomorrow, maybe this will be a new leaf turning over and there won't be so much bumming around. but that is really quite fun.......i just read my old friend Huck Finnn's trail journal tonight and he is IN the hundred mile wilderness. actually, by this time he may already be done !!!! Amazing! Well, i've got two states left......... must go sleep, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
~Many Names~
Oh !! How could i forget! There is another Many Names on the trail. It's a guy and he is just behind me. I've heard he is looking for me and has been for a while...but not because he feels i am steping on his many toes by sharing this name.....he also heard that i carry a guitar and i think he is quite musical as well....in very interesting and unique ways from what i hear...sooooooooooooo i look forward to my introduction to the first many names. any day now
got to hang out at the inn at long trail the other night. camped out across the street and walked over for a couple of well deserved pints. he next day was crappie and natty had a rock he needed to mail home(he does this from time to time) so we took a bus into rutland(to the post office) 9 miles down the road. once there, the skies opned up, torrential rain, buildings getting struck by lightning. we decided tp go see the new quentin t. movie and when we came out of the theatre we saw about 12 other hikers with the same great idea. Hooray!!! well, since we caught the movie, we missed the last bus, and..since we left our tents set up across the street from the inn we didn't have our backpacks which can make it tough to get a hitch. people like to pick up backpackers cuz they know we cool.....but they don't want to pick up random hitchhikers. So we made a sign from materials from a local bookstore that said 'Hikers to Inn at Long Trail'. the woman at the shop wished us luck and off we went. a successful hitch and new friend later we were back at the inn.
The weather has not ben very condusive to great hiking mileage. rain , humidity, thunder storms...all equals lack of motivation. plus great ideas of,'lets do something else today..' but tonight i am writing from a comfort suites hotel where natty's parents are visiting from michigan. they took us out for a slack pack today. so we left our packs at the hotel and packed the little day packs that his parents brought with lunch, snacks, water etc.........sooooo awsome to have a light pack. we did 22+ miles today...hooray!! that's a lot of miles for a couple of bums. we are doing it again tomorrow, maybe this will be a new leaf turning over and there won't be so much bumming around. but that is really quite fun.......i just read my old friend Huck Finnn's trail journal tonight and he is IN the hundred mile wilderness. actually, by this time he may already be done !!!! Amazing! Well, i've got two states left......... must go sleep, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
~Many Names~
Oh !! How could i forget! There is another Many Names on the trail. It's a guy and he is just behind me. I've heard he is looking for me and has been for a while...but not because he feels i am steping on his many toes by sharing this name.....he also heard that i carry a guitar and i think he is quite musical as well....in very interesting and unique ways from what i hear...sooooooooooooo i look forward to my introduction to the first many names. any day now
Monday, August 17, 2009
वेरमोंट मोर्निंग होत एंड हाजी
Good morning everyone ~
I am writing from the Green Mountain House hostel in Manchester, VT at 1640.6 miles from Springer Mountain, GA (the beginning of the AT), and 537.7 miles from
Mt Katahdin, ME......Not bad. I have gotten to a point where i am a tad bit blown away by the fact that I've walked all the way from Georgia to Vermont. And i'm not alone in this. Just lately, in the past week....I'll just be walking and be like, "We're in Vermont, can you believe it!!" and whoever i am with will maybe say, "I know, I know !!! blah blah.....Amazing!! It feels pretty good to put midly, there's this excitment building that was too timid to come out before i made it this far. Hee hee !!!!
Vermont (verd - mont, french for 'green mountain') fills my very cells with such a refreshed feeling. I am so happy to be in mountains again. It definately makes the hiking harder, and my body is feeling it, for sure, but the air is sweet with the smell of spruce trees at the higher elevations, there is so much green, so much furry moss. I left a hiking tip (Many Names Hiking Tip #1) in a shelter log the other day (for other hikers to read and do what they will with) it said.."P.S. ~If, on your hike, you should come across a big rock covered in soft, fuzzy green moss, sitting in the dappled sunlight of the forest, stop and take a nap on it. The earth will be happy and smile down upon you" I have a feeling that that advice will not go ignored. Vermont has had a big reputaion for being super muddy, messy...hence the nickname 'Ver-mud'. I've been hiking with my friend Natty Bumpo and we wanted to give vermont the benefit of the doubt, thinking that people were just trying to be dramatic. I think sometimes people tell us hard, or negative things to look forward to for the same reasons that people gossip....the need for something other that reality to occupt the mind. Anyway....'they' were right. We were not a half mile over the VT/MA border and all of a sudden the trail just turned to this rediculous slop only to get worse and worse as the day progressed. Natty fell twice, I fell once (only my 3rd real fall on this whole hike). There were spots i would stick in my trkking pole to check the depth and it would be over a foot of serious mud. Very precarious and slippery. That intense muddyness has subsided a bit, especially when we get into the higher elevations. Even the mud can't hinder my feelings of love for these green mountains. Natty was saying the other day that one day in PA he got to a relatively high point (by PA standards) looked out over the land and was a bit deppressed by the flatness of it all, like..'i thought we were hiking in the mountains' We climbed Stratton Mt the other day, almost up to 4,000 feet and then up the fire tower at the top....amazing views, beautiful blue sky day !!
I know everyone likes to hear the names of the people i've been meeting along the way, so I'll make a little list because i don't know if I'll get to fit them all in to a story. Wishy-Washy, Hot Chocolate, Cass, Swift, C-Bass, Honey-Do, Magic, Pig Pen, Wishbone, Quade, Matty-G, Turtle, Fearless Phil......ect, can't think of more right now. It's been great to meet and grooove with a whole new slew of people.
So my parents, fairly newly retired, have begun a little adventure of there own. After hearing much talk of 'Trail Magic', they decided to go on a little mission to try it out for them selves. It started off with i thnk just a cooler of cold sodas at a road crossing, i think they didn't run into any thru hikers that day. So they went a little more south to Mt. Greylock in MA were there would definatley be thru hikers passing through. There Trailside party was complete with cold sodas, beers, ham sandwiches, and to my amazement, a complete list of all the hikers i've ever mentioned in my blog or over the phone, so that when they meet one they can cross the name off, or if they meet a new one they add it to the list.....pretty neat, guys!! They are really on top of their trail-magic game! And it turned out they ran into a bunch of my old hiking friends that got way ahead while i was off trail in june...so that was awsome to hear from them. They also stopped at this guy Tom's house in Dalton, MA...he takes hikers into his home, his house is literally on the trail as the trail passed through town on his street. They also met a bunch of good friends right there on the front porch. I ended up staying there a couple weeks later and Tom was so happy to meet me because he thought my parents were so cool !!! It's always nice to complete a circle like that! So the REAL trail magic from good ol' Jay and lynn (mom and dad) came the friday just a day before the newport folk festival. One of our friends, Honey-do, was going. He was getting picked up by some friends that day. Well that definatly planted the seed. We had all been seriously jonesin' for some live music, i wanted to dance in a big way, and the thought of seeing the ocean just seemed to sweet to pass up. We toyed with differnt ideas of how to get there and none of them seemed to stick. Finally, i said,"well, i could call my parents and see if they want to come and get us" ..i've learned that if you want something, ask for it, don't be shy, the worse thing someone could say is no, no big deal. Well, they said yes!! My dad said he would be there in 3 hours (we wre just south of the NY/CT border at the time. Amazing. So they came and got me, Spoonman and Natty, took us back to westboro MA we all got showers, food, beds (i actually slept in my old bed!) in the morning they made us a grand breakfast, i borrowed my mom's car and off we went to the Folk Fets ! SOoo fun, i swam in the ocean off the peir, heard great bands, we ran into Honey_Do almost immediatly. The weather was amazing, ran into a freind from the island...and, ha ha...i played a little open mic there (so i can say that i officially played at the newport folk festival!) They had a little Gibson Guitar set up there with beautiful $3-5,000 guitars and the rule was you had to play one of them, and it had to be an original song.......so that's what i did. It's felt kind of ballsy..and while i don't think i did very well, i got nervous(of course) and the guitar was really big and i had never played it before.......anyway, i still felt proud of myself for doing that!! My friends got photos and spoonman filmed me...i watched it and hated it of course!!
Next day we set out for Block Island, took the ferry over, rented bikes had an amazing day. Saw so many freinds, loved showing my trail peeps the magical place i always talk about. Got back to mom and dad's house they made us another great breakfast and dad drove us back down to NY. Before we left my mom was just bursting with such a sweet happiness that she, and my dad have been able to meet so many of the people i've talked about and experience the whole Trail thing, see what it's all about. It was just amazing. I was thrilled beyond words.....not everyone has the support from their families out here. A lot of people's fams don't get what they're doing, or just aren't intersted. So, just to have support is cool, but to have my parents actually set out to meet fellow thru hikers and do trail magic is just killer!!! So a BIG Thank You- you are Awsome to mom and dad (from spoonman and natty too)) !!!!!!Then when dad dropped us off in NY he came out and hiked a couple miles with us .....so i can say i hked a section of the AT with my da !!! Pretty Badass !!!!!
I have so much more to write...my sisters came out to mt greylock for a day..but i will write about that next time...i have to get off the computer NOW !!
Peace !! Much love to everyone!!!!
~MANY NAMES~
I am writing from the Green Mountain House hostel in Manchester, VT at 1640.6 miles from Springer Mountain, GA (the beginning of the AT), and 537.7 miles from
Mt Katahdin, ME......Not bad. I have gotten to a point where i am a tad bit blown away by the fact that I've walked all the way from Georgia to Vermont. And i'm not alone in this. Just lately, in the past week....I'll just be walking and be like, "We're in Vermont, can you believe it!!" and whoever i am with will maybe say, "I know, I know !!! blah blah.....Amazing!! It feels pretty good to put midly, there's this excitment building that was too timid to come out before i made it this far. Hee hee !!!!
Vermont (verd - mont, french for 'green mountain') fills my very cells with such a refreshed feeling. I am so happy to be in mountains again. It definately makes the hiking harder, and my body is feeling it, for sure, but the air is sweet with the smell of spruce trees at the higher elevations, there is so much green, so much furry moss. I left a hiking tip (Many Names Hiking Tip #1) in a shelter log the other day (for other hikers to read and do what they will with) it said.."P.S. ~If, on your hike, you should come across a big rock covered in soft, fuzzy green moss, sitting in the dappled sunlight of the forest, stop and take a nap on it. The earth will be happy and smile down upon you" I have a feeling that that advice will not go ignored. Vermont has had a big reputaion for being super muddy, messy...hence the nickname 'Ver-mud'. I've been hiking with my friend Natty Bumpo and we wanted to give vermont the benefit of the doubt, thinking that people were just trying to be dramatic. I think sometimes people tell us hard, or negative things to look forward to for the same reasons that people gossip....the need for something other that reality to occupt the mind. Anyway....'they' were right. We were not a half mile over the VT/MA border and all of a sudden the trail just turned to this rediculous slop only to get worse and worse as the day progressed. Natty fell twice, I fell once (only my 3rd real fall on this whole hike). There were spots i would stick in my trkking pole to check the depth and it would be over a foot of serious mud. Very precarious and slippery. That intense muddyness has subsided a bit, especially when we get into the higher elevations. Even the mud can't hinder my feelings of love for these green mountains. Natty was saying the other day that one day in PA he got to a relatively high point (by PA standards) looked out over the land and was a bit deppressed by the flatness of it all, like..'i thought we were hiking in the mountains' We climbed Stratton Mt the other day, almost up to 4,000 feet and then up the fire tower at the top....amazing views, beautiful blue sky day !!
I know everyone likes to hear the names of the people i've been meeting along the way, so I'll make a little list because i don't know if I'll get to fit them all in to a story. Wishy-Washy, Hot Chocolate, Cass, Swift, C-Bass, Honey-Do, Magic, Pig Pen, Wishbone, Quade, Matty-G, Turtle, Fearless Phil......ect, can't think of more right now. It's been great to meet and grooove with a whole new slew of people.
So my parents, fairly newly retired, have begun a little adventure of there own. After hearing much talk of 'Trail Magic', they decided to go on a little mission to try it out for them selves. It started off with i thnk just a cooler of cold sodas at a road crossing, i think they didn't run into any thru hikers that day. So they went a little more south to Mt. Greylock in MA were there would definatley be thru hikers passing through. There Trailside party was complete with cold sodas, beers, ham sandwiches, and to my amazement, a complete list of all the hikers i've ever mentioned in my blog or over the phone, so that when they meet one they can cross the name off, or if they meet a new one they add it to the list.....pretty neat, guys!! They are really on top of their trail-magic game! And it turned out they ran into a bunch of my old hiking friends that got way ahead while i was off trail in june...so that was awsome to hear from them. They also stopped at this guy Tom's house in Dalton, MA...he takes hikers into his home, his house is literally on the trail as the trail passed through town on his street. They also met a bunch of good friends right there on the front porch. I ended up staying there a couple weeks later and Tom was so happy to meet me because he thought my parents were so cool !!! It's always nice to complete a circle like that! So the REAL trail magic from good ol' Jay and lynn (mom and dad) came the friday just a day before the newport folk festival. One of our friends, Honey-do, was going. He was getting picked up by some friends that day. Well that definatly planted the seed. We had all been seriously jonesin' for some live music, i wanted to dance in a big way, and the thought of seeing the ocean just seemed to sweet to pass up. We toyed with differnt ideas of how to get there and none of them seemed to stick. Finally, i said,"well, i could call my parents and see if they want to come and get us" ..i've learned that if you want something, ask for it, don't be shy, the worse thing someone could say is no, no big deal. Well, they said yes!! My dad said he would be there in 3 hours (we wre just south of the NY/CT border at the time. Amazing. So they came and got me, Spoonman and Natty, took us back to westboro MA we all got showers, food, beds (i actually slept in my old bed!) in the morning they made us a grand breakfast, i borrowed my mom's car and off we went to the Folk Fets ! SOoo fun, i swam in the ocean off the peir, heard great bands, we ran into Honey_Do almost immediatly. The weather was amazing, ran into a freind from the island...and, ha ha...i played a little open mic there (so i can say that i officially played at the newport folk festival!) They had a little Gibson Guitar set up there with beautiful $3-5,000 guitars and the rule was you had to play one of them, and it had to be an original song.......so that's what i did. It's felt kind of ballsy..and while i don't think i did very well, i got nervous(of course) and the guitar was really big and i had never played it before.......anyway, i still felt proud of myself for doing that!! My friends got photos and spoonman filmed me...i watched it and hated it of course!!
Next day we set out for Block Island, took the ferry over, rented bikes had an amazing day. Saw so many freinds, loved showing my trail peeps the magical place i always talk about. Got back to mom and dad's house they made us another great breakfast and dad drove us back down to NY. Before we left my mom was just bursting with such a sweet happiness that she, and my dad have been able to meet so many of the people i've talked about and experience the whole Trail thing, see what it's all about. It was just amazing. I was thrilled beyond words.....not everyone has the support from their families out here. A lot of people's fams don't get what they're doing, or just aren't intersted. So, just to have support is cool, but to have my parents actually set out to meet fellow thru hikers and do trail magic is just killer!!! So a BIG Thank You- you are Awsome to mom and dad (from spoonman and natty too)) !!!!!!Then when dad dropped us off in NY he came out and hiked a couple miles with us .....so i can say i hked a section of the AT with my da !!! Pretty Badass !!!!!
I have so much more to write...my sisters came out to mt greylock for a day..but i will write about that next time...i have to get off the computer NOW !!
Peace !! Much love to everyone!!!!
~MANY NAMES~
Sunday, August 16, 2009
वेरमोंट यू सुल्ट्री तेम्प्त्रेस इ लव यू
Hey everyone!!
So sorry i have taken so terribly long to write. i will try right now, i think it might be hard because i am in a room with 7 other people talking and it's super hard to concentrate....i might have to re update tomorrow morning... ahhhh
.....i've been sitting here for 15 minutes and keep erasing what i'm writing..too much distraction, i will do it tomorrow
~Many Names~
So sorry i have taken so terribly long to write. i will try right now, i think it might be hard because i am in a room with 7 other people talking and it's super hard to concentrate....i might have to re update tomorrow morning... ahhhh
.....i've been sitting here for 15 minutes and keep erasing what i'm writing..too much distraction, i will do it tomorrow
~Many Names~
Sunday, July 26, 2009
इ ऍम अ बिग टाइम स्लाक्कर , येः बित्चेस!!
Aloha Everyone...
How is Many Names at a computer, yet again, you ask??? I am a big time slacker!! I don't know what happened to me recently, maybe the heat, humidity, mosquitos, blah blah whatever......but here i am taking another break after staying at a hostel (the famous 'Mayor's House' former mayor of unionville, NY now takes in hikers at his home......treats us like gold and gives us much inspiration to keep on keepin on. Amazing, really) just a couple days ago.
I don't know..i keep rolling in and out of this funk, not that i'm deppressed, perhaps maybe bored?? i mean, the trail is the trail is the trail. i get up and walk..the state, the terrain, the weather changes but i'm still just walking, taking a stroll of various levels of difficulty. It's really the people and my experiences with them that are meaning anything right now. So, i'm finding that without the peeps around, i lose my motivation and have to start thinking about what could possibly inspire me...to give me some energy.
Today, i slept in...i had been really super tired yesterday, only did 12 miles, took a nap under a pine tree and camped early. There were also some minor inconviniences experienced today that sort of set the dark cloud over my head. I had only gone about 4 miles this morning when i came across a bunch of gallon jugs of spring water left there by a couple of 'trail angels'.The water sources were not going to be entirely reliable today, so that was great. They had left some business cards with their # and if anyone needed a break to call. I thought about it and was just like, 'screw it. i don't care if this is lazy. i just don't want to do this today' So i called, John, the husband, picked me up with their two awsome dogs. I am the only hiker here. It's really peaceful. We'll have dinner together later. It's really just what i needed...a break without the high energy of a busy hostel. Hopefully, my vibe will be elevated tomorrow and i can rock the trail and love it. I've already hiked 1,370 miles, and have 807 miles to go......and miles to go before i sleep
I can do that. I'm not far from Conn. and then it's just a skip into Mass......
I don't think i have anything else to say. I'm going to have a glass of wine and sit outside and play my guitar.
Peace and Love Ya'll
~MANY NAMES~
How is Many Names at a computer, yet again, you ask??? I am a big time slacker!! I don't know what happened to me recently, maybe the heat, humidity, mosquitos, blah blah whatever......but here i am taking another break after staying at a hostel (the famous 'Mayor's House' former mayor of unionville, NY now takes in hikers at his home......treats us like gold and gives us much inspiration to keep on keepin on. Amazing, really) just a couple days ago.
I don't know..i keep rolling in and out of this funk, not that i'm deppressed, perhaps maybe bored?? i mean, the trail is the trail is the trail. i get up and walk..the state, the terrain, the weather changes but i'm still just walking, taking a stroll of various levels of difficulty. It's really the people and my experiences with them that are meaning anything right now. So, i'm finding that without the peeps around, i lose my motivation and have to start thinking about what could possibly inspire me...to give me some energy.
Today, i slept in...i had been really super tired yesterday, only did 12 miles, took a nap under a pine tree and camped early. There were also some minor inconviniences experienced today that sort of set the dark cloud over my head. I had only gone about 4 miles this morning when i came across a bunch of gallon jugs of spring water left there by a couple of 'trail angels'.The water sources were not going to be entirely reliable today, so that was great. They had left some business cards with their # and if anyone needed a break to call. I thought about it and was just like, 'screw it. i don't care if this is lazy. i just don't want to do this today' So i called, John, the husband, picked me up with their two awsome dogs. I am the only hiker here. It's really peaceful. We'll have dinner together later. It's really just what i needed...a break without the high energy of a busy hostel. Hopefully, my vibe will be elevated tomorrow and i can rock the trail and love it. I've already hiked 1,370 miles, and have 807 miles to go......and miles to go before i sleep
I can do that. I'm not far from Conn. and then it's just a skip into Mass......
I don't think i have anything else to say. I'm going to have a glass of wine and sit outside and play my guitar.
Peace and Love Ya'll
~MANY NAMES~
Monday, July 20, 2009
थे जौर्नी ऑफ़ मानी नमस कांतिनुएस
Greetings my lovely ones
I am a hare's breath away from New Jersey. I got into Delaware Water Gap, PA this afternoon and am staying the night at my friend wild bill's parents house, Yaay! Thank you jane and john...shower, laundry, company..sweet. So that makes 1,286.3 miles so far and only 895 to go, pretty cool. PA just flew by, it was totally rocky, kind of an ankle turner, but fun. Yesterday we did some real climbing,and it was so fun to something different, i kind of felt like i was out west..Hmmm..
I spent the last few days hiking with ProffMark(who just finished his PA section hike today,Hooray!!)and Nattie. We camped out last night on this high clearing to watch the sunset and this morning i got them both up at dawn, made some coffee and we chilled while the sun came up, and all the mist and clouds in the valley looked so amazing.
I couldn't possibly go on any further without mention of 'The Doyle', short for the old Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, PA. This place has been in operation for over 100 years, and i don't think they've done any repairs in that long. I can't believe the place isn't condemned, but I, for one am so glad it's not. There's the bar and pool room on the 1st floor, the balcony, the old locked up ballroom and lobby with the red and white checkered linoliem floor on the second, and rising up two more floors around the lobby off a big rickety spiral staircases are the rooms.Mine was great, it didn't have mold on the walls, i especially loved the extension cord running up from the floor to the naked light bulb in the middle of the cieling. Enough description. That night so many hikers came in to stay at the doyle, it just kept filling up,the bar got packed, people everywhere playing guitars, singing, freestyling...a creative mystical vibe seemed to filled this creepy old place. Some of us were playing music in the 2nd floor lobby and looked up to see two floors of people just hangin' over the railings, i guess the music had traveled up through the hallways into the rooms and eveyone just came out. Someone on the 3rd floor found a bible and was reading a sermon, wearing a top hat...i just remember hearing his finishing words "And it was good!" over the music. Ah, the Doyle. I turned in early, but that party rocked till the wee hours. Oh, Yeah.
And how could i foget to mention that i also got new sneakers! Fascinating to all i'm sure......but i had hiked the 21 miiles into Duncannon in my crocs, cuz the boots were not rockin' my world and i was in agony!!! (I actually just met a guy named CrocStar, but he was wearing sneakers..so....)New sneakers...Great!! I am flying..it feels so good to have light feet. Of course, i am, as i write, nursing a new blister. That will pass, hopefully by tomorrow.
Well after Duncannon i was off solo style again for a bit. I was thinking that i wanted to be alone, and it was great for camping, privacy...but i was really starting to go a little crazy in my head. Too much alone can be tricky. It's hard to know when to stop. It wasn't until i ran into my old friend Jim Dandy, who i hadn't seen in months, at a shelter the other day. It was so good to catch up, find out about certain people. He was so suprised to see me! I met the guys he was hiking with,Amero, Nattie and Bee Man. They were heading to a B&B right on the trail about 4 miles away, for a meal. I ended up going too, then it started pouring and the owner suggested we camp out in the backyard under the pavillion....That was awsome. There was a good band, good company, beautiful morning the next day, refreshed after the rain. It felt like crispy fall before it got hot. And all of a sudden i felt like a normal person again.
Life is good. I still love this friggin' trail. There were so many blueberries the other day, i filled a ziplock bag...ate all the berries in it, filled it again, ate it again and filled again for later. They were so good and beautiful!
How can i forget the completion of the Many Names Missing Glasses story. Long story short...I lost my glasses on the trail, near a place called 'Lost Spectacles Gap' thought they were gone forever, but someone (mommallama, who i ended up meeting later) found them and through the magical workings of the trail, got them back to me. We met weeks later and became friends.She insisted that her textiles-major daughter would fashion me a glasses case to attach to my pack so i would never lose the specs again.Well, i just picked up the case at the outfitter in Port Clinton where she left it (she is way ahead)and it is so amazing! Way more than i expected. It's organic hemp or cotton, lined with silk with a little bell on it, and on the outside it says my name, Many Names..and on the back it says, if lost please return to.........all that info. She even put her tag on it..it was so proffessional. All week i was like, 'don't lose the glasses, don't lose em', you're almost in port clinton, almost there!!'
I met a hiker yesterday who actually made the mistake of wiping with poison ivy.Hmmm. I felt bad about that.
Anyway...off to bed.Pleasant dreams.
Peace
~Many Names~
I am a hare's breath away from New Jersey. I got into Delaware Water Gap, PA this afternoon and am staying the night at my friend wild bill's parents house, Yaay! Thank you jane and john...shower, laundry, company..sweet. So that makes 1,286.3 miles so far and only 895 to go, pretty cool. PA just flew by, it was totally rocky, kind of an ankle turner, but fun. Yesterday we did some real climbing,and it was so fun to something different, i kind of felt like i was out west..Hmmm..
I spent the last few days hiking with ProffMark(who just finished his PA section hike today,Hooray!!)and Nattie. We camped out last night on this high clearing to watch the sunset and this morning i got them both up at dawn, made some coffee and we chilled while the sun came up, and all the mist and clouds in the valley looked so amazing.
I couldn't possibly go on any further without mention of 'The Doyle', short for the old Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, PA. This place has been in operation for over 100 years, and i don't think they've done any repairs in that long. I can't believe the place isn't condemned, but I, for one am so glad it's not. There's the bar and pool room on the 1st floor, the balcony, the old locked up ballroom and lobby with the red and white checkered linoliem floor on the second, and rising up two more floors around the lobby off a big rickety spiral staircases are the rooms.Mine was great, it didn't have mold on the walls, i especially loved the extension cord running up from the floor to the naked light bulb in the middle of the cieling. Enough description. That night so many hikers came in to stay at the doyle, it just kept filling up,the bar got packed, people everywhere playing guitars, singing, freestyling...a creative mystical vibe seemed to filled this creepy old place. Some of us were playing music in the 2nd floor lobby and looked up to see two floors of people just hangin' over the railings, i guess the music had traveled up through the hallways into the rooms and eveyone just came out. Someone on the 3rd floor found a bible and was reading a sermon, wearing a top hat...i just remember hearing his finishing words "And it was good!" over the music. Ah, the Doyle. I turned in early, but that party rocked till the wee hours. Oh, Yeah.
And how could i foget to mention that i also got new sneakers! Fascinating to all i'm sure......but i had hiked the 21 miiles into Duncannon in my crocs, cuz the boots were not rockin' my world and i was in agony!!! (I actually just met a guy named CrocStar, but he was wearing sneakers..so....)New sneakers...Great!! I am flying..it feels so good to have light feet. Of course, i am, as i write, nursing a new blister. That will pass, hopefully by tomorrow.
Well after Duncannon i was off solo style again for a bit. I was thinking that i wanted to be alone, and it was great for camping, privacy...but i was really starting to go a little crazy in my head. Too much alone can be tricky. It's hard to know when to stop. It wasn't until i ran into my old friend Jim Dandy, who i hadn't seen in months, at a shelter the other day. It was so good to catch up, find out about certain people. He was so suprised to see me! I met the guys he was hiking with,Amero, Nattie and Bee Man. They were heading to a B&B right on the trail about 4 miles away, for a meal. I ended up going too, then it started pouring and the owner suggested we camp out in the backyard under the pavillion....That was awsome. There was a good band, good company, beautiful morning the next day, refreshed after the rain. It felt like crispy fall before it got hot. And all of a sudden i felt like a normal person again.
Life is good. I still love this friggin' trail. There were so many blueberries the other day, i filled a ziplock bag...ate all the berries in it, filled it again, ate it again and filled again for later. They were so good and beautiful!
How can i forget the completion of the Many Names Missing Glasses story. Long story short...I lost my glasses on the trail, near a place called 'Lost Spectacles Gap' thought they were gone forever, but someone (mommallama, who i ended up meeting later) found them and through the magical workings of the trail, got them back to me. We met weeks later and became friends.She insisted that her textiles-major daughter would fashion me a glasses case to attach to my pack so i would never lose the specs again.Well, i just picked up the case at the outfitter in Port Clinton where she left it (she is way ahead)and it is so amazing! Way more than i expected. It's organic hemp or cotton, lined with silk with a little bell on it, and on the outside it says my name, Many Names..and on the back it says, if lost please return to.........all that info. She even put her tag on it..it was so proffessional. All week i was like, 'don't lose the glasses, don't lose em', you're almost in port clinton, almost there!!'
I met a hiker yesterday who actually made the mistake of wiping with poison ivy.Hmmm. I felt bad about that.
Anyway...off to bed.Pleasant dreams.
Peace
~Many Names~
Friday, July 10, 2009
हाफ गल्लों चैलेन्ज इस दिस्गुस्तिंग एंड ग्रेट एंड तोताल्ली नेसस्सरी !!!
Greetings Friends nad Neighbors !!
It's blueberry season in Pennsylvania!!! Hooray! They just appeared the other day, a glowing blue out of the corner of my eye. I was needing some blue in my life. I am a believer in the 'rainbow diet'...eat all your colors and your will be healthy and vibrant! Sometimes blue is hard to come by. But i got plenty of green the other day with my 1/2 gallon of mint choc chip ice cream!
It has been a long time tradition for thru hikers when they reach the halfway piont on the trail they stop at the Pine Grove Furnace general store, get a 1/2 gallon of their desired flavor and eat it in record time...i don't know why, possibly a marketing scheme that i, and thousands of other thru hikers fall victim to. so, to celebrate i got my ice cream..took a painful 1HR 10 min to 'finish'..i left a 1/2 pint of ice cream soup, so technically i did not conquer the '1/2 Gallon Challenge' as it's called. It's distgusting. And yet, I still feel victorious! Why? Cuz I'm a BADASS!!!Period.
So getting back onto the trail after my 2 weeks off has been awsome, but did not start off so sweet. I always write about these amazing and magical things that happen. Well sometimes things just suck...and when they do, it spirals into something almost unmanageable..not physically, but just mentally being able to deal. So 4th July i roll back into Harper's Ferry, WV amidst the throngs of tourists asking me one stupid question after another becuase i seem to be the only backpacker around. (Where is everyone?) I am the last hiker on the planet. Got my semi new boots..hope they work out, my pack is once again ridiculously heavy becuase i want to be healthier out here so i've got avocados, a couple tomatoes, extra nutritional backup stuff.....=extra weight.I was just feeling wierd and detatched from everything and everyone in the world. So i only hiked 4 miles and wanted to stop to camp by these sweet cliffs over looking the potomac river and the vally. Good views for fires works too. Got my tent pitched, took my food bag out and realized my bottle of 'louisianna perfect' hot sauce had broken, slicing thru it's protective ziplock bag, spilling over everything, and pooling in the bottom of my food bag. Great. Awsome. I only have a liter and a half of water and that's for tonight and to get me to the next water source tomorrow(there was no water at the cliffs, but i wanted to be there) Huge meess, spent an hour and 1/2 getting everything separated, organized, into different bags, trying to keep the smell contained to not attract animals. So then i had about 2 LBS of disgusting trash to pack out. So that's all set. I went to hang my bear bag over a tree branch and the line (that has been fine for 3 months) broke, snapped back and hit me in the forehead. No big deal, didn't hurt, i fixed it easily, but, i mean, Come on!! It was seeming like too much, maybe just because i was deppressed. So i went to sleep, and by the providence of the divine spirits, i slept like a baby, and woke up the next morning to the most spectacular sunrise i have seen on this entire journey.
Things have a way of balancing themselves out, don't they. I got everything cleaned up the next day at a restroom not to far off the trail, and once again, things were returning to a familiar rythm.
The next night i camped out another set of beautiful cliffs, the Annapolis Cliffs. I met 2 super cool guys, Manimal and Ananook. They camped there too. We all cooked dinner together and watched the sunset, played music(manimal has a guitar as well) and watched the full moon rise. I woke in the morning to a person walking along the cliffs shouting happily, "Victory! Victory!", then he said 'oops' and i heard nothing. I asked the boys if it was them, no it wasn't. Hmmm, i wonder who my victorious friend was. ?
It's definately been a different trip this time around, all my friends being so far north now. I am essentially alone, meeting a few people here and there, but i am really diggin' it. I have camped by myself everynight, not at shelters, but at perfect intuitivly found campsites wherever i feel like stopping. The other morning i just made coffee and played guitar for 3 hours before heading out.That was just over the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. It took 2 days to cross MD. some people do the '4 State Challenge..they camp just on the VA/WV border and begin there hike VA -WV - MD - PA in under 24 hours....my friend hobbit did it in 20...aw, she's so cool!
I heard a noise in the woods the other night that made my blood freeze in my veins. I was in my tent, maybe midnight and i heard this sound from way down that sounded like a thousand voices of the dead combined into one, spouting out something in a wierd language. Was it a feline creature? Was it someone on a megaphone from the town/ camp below? I heard it again and it was so bizarre, almost like words...must've been an animal...or??? But i will say that it made me think of things i'd see in a movie that i would watch with my sister Kathy or Elise Ulrich. That's when i just visualize my third eye and chant myself to sleep. Sorry if i've creeped ya'll out...i'm still here so.........
Anyway, i am writing from boiling spring, PA, an awsome town. I stopped to visit my childhood friend of the family (Ned, Boots) , his wife Wendy and their new daughter Melody(she's gonna be a little rock star so she's cool in my book, and soo cute)...and Wendy's parents Buck and Diane. I'm staying at B + D's house right on this beautiful creek that ned and i went tubing down today....awsome! Took a zero day here today tryng to mend my poor feet. I've got some blisters from my boots that i have stopped wearing. I 've just been hiking in my crocs...liberating, yet not sustainable. I'll be heading out tomorrow, hopefully get some hiking sneakers in Duncannon on sunday. It has been so nice staying here, the hospitality is amazing.
Alright, it's late, must sleep.......peace and many blessings to all....don't be freaked out by my story of the strange sound in the woods(mom, sisters)...
All is well.....and i may catch up to some friends after all...everyone seems to be seriously chillin' here and there and i'm on-na move!!!
Oh Yeah! Many Names got her Mojo back brothers and sistas !
Peace Out Ya'll !!
It's blueberry season in Pennsylvania!!! Hooray! They just appeared the other day, a glowing blue out of the corner of my eye. I was needing some blue in my life. I am a believer in the 'rainbow diet'...eat all your colors and your will be healthy and vibrant! Sometimes blue is hard to come by. But i got plenty of green the other day with my 1/2 gallon of mint choc chip ice cream!
It has been a long time tradition for thru hikers when they reach the halfway piont on the trail they stop at the Pine Grove Furnace general store, get a 1/2 gallon of their desired flavor and eat it in record time...i don't know why, possibly a marketing scheme that i, and thousands of other thru hikers fall victim to. so, to celebrate i got my ice cream..took a painful 1HR 10 min to 'finish'..i left a 1/2 pint of ice cream soup, so technically i did not conquer the '1/2 Gallon Challenge' as it's called. It's distgusting. And yet, I still feel victorious! Why? Cuz I'm a BADASS!!!Period.
So getting back onto the trail after my 2 weeks off has been awsome, but did not start off so sweet. I always write about these amazing and magical things that happen. Well sometimes things just suck...and when they do, it spirals into something almost unmanageable..not physically, but just mentally being able to deal. So 4th July i roll back into Harper's Ferry, WV amidst the throngs of tourists asking me one stupid question after another becuase i seem to be the only backpacker around. (Where is everyone?) I am the last hiker on the planet. Got my semi new boots..hope they work out, my pack is once again ridiculously heavy becuase i want to be healthier out here so i've got avocados, a couple tomatoes, extra nutritional backup stuff.....=extra weight.I was just feeling wierd and detatched from everything and everyone in the world. So i only hiked 4 miles and wanted to stop to camp by these sweet cliffs over looking the potomac river and the vally. Good views for fires works too. Got my tent pitched, took my food bag out and realized my bottle of 'louisianna perfect' hot sauce had broken, slicing thru it's protective ziplock bag, spilling over everything, and pooling in the bottom of my food bag. Great. Awsome. I only have a liter and a half of water and that's for tonight and to get me to the next water source tomorrow(there was no water at the cliffs, but i wanted to be there) Huge meess, spent an hour and 1/2 getting everything separated, organized, into different bags, trying to keep the smell contained to not attract animals. So then i had about 2 LBS of disgusting trash to pack out. So that's all set. I went to hang my bear bag over a tree branch and the line (that has been fine for 3 months) broke, snapped back and hit me in the forehead. No big deal, didn't hurt, i fixed it easily, but, i mean, Come on!! It was seeming like too much, maybe just because i was deppressed. So i went to sleep, and by the providence of the divine spirits, i slept like a baby, and woke up the next morning to the most spectacular sunrise i have seen on this entire journey.
Things have a way of balancing themselves out, don't they. I got everything cleaned up the next day at a restroom not to far off the trail, and once again, things were returning to a familiar rythm.
The next night i camped out another set of beautiful cliffs, the Annapolis Cliffs. I met 2 super cool guys, Manimal and Ananook. They camped there too. We all cooked dinner together and watched the sunset, played music(manimal has a guitar as well) and watched the full moon rise. I woke in the morning to a person walking along the cliffs shouting happily, "Victory! Victory!", then he said 'oops' and i heard nothing. I asked the boys if it was them, no it wasn't. Hmmm, i wonder who my victorious friend was. ?
It's definately been a different trip this time around, all my friends being so far north now. I am essentially alone, meeting a few people here and there, but i am really diggin' it. I have camped by myself everynight, not at shelters, but at perfect intuitivly found campsites wherever i feel like stopping. The other morning i just made coffee and played guitar for 3 hours before heading out.That was just over the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. It took 2 days to cross MD. some people do the '4 State Challenge..they camp just on the VA/WV border and begin there hike VA -WV - MD - PA in under 24 hours....my friend hobbit did it in 20...aw, she's so cool!
I heard a noise in the woods the other night that made my blood freeze in my veins. I was in my tent, maybe midnight and i heard this sound from way down that sounded like a thousand voices of the dead combined into one, spouting out something in a wierd language. Was it a feline creature? Was it someone on a megaphone from the town/ camp below? I heard it again and it was so bizarre, almost like words...must've been an animal...or??? But i will say that it made me think of things i'd see in a movie that i would watch with my sister Kathy or Elise Ulrich. That's when i just visualize my third eye and chant myself to sleep. Sorry if i've creeped ya'll out...i'm still here so.........
Anyway, i am writing from boiling spring, PA, an awsome town. I stopped to visit my childhood friend of the family (Ned, Boots) , his wife Wendy and their new daughter Melody(she's gonna be a little rock star so she's cool in my book, and soo cute)...and Wendy's parents Buck and Diane. I'm staying at B + D's house right on this beautiful creek that ned and i went tubing down today....awsome! Took a zero day here today tryng to mend my poor feet. I've got some blisters from my boots that i have stopped wearing. I 've just been hiking in my crocs...liberating, yet not sustainable. I'll be heading out tomorrow, hopefully get some hiking sneakers in Duncannon on sunday. It has been so nice staying here, the hospitality is amazing.
Alright, it's late, must sleep.......peace and many blessings to all....don't be freaked out by my story of the strange sound in the woods(mom, sisters)...
All is well.....and i may catch up to some friends after all...everyone seems to be seriously chillin' here and there and i'm on-na move!!!
Oh Yeah! Many Names got her Mojo back brothers and sistas !
Peace Out Ya'll !!
Friday, June 26, 2009
थिस रिवर विल रोल, रोल, रोल
Wow! I haven't updated in so long....i don't even know where to begin.
I had to take a break from the trail for Dave's brother's wedding, wicked good time! Then had to go to the island to take care of some boat issues. Not as big of a deal as i had feared and dreaded! So i am on Block Island, takin care of business and having a great time in the process.....don't worry, even if i wanted to stay, my friends would kick me off the island and personally drag me back to the trail! Got some sweet surfing in, sushi, wine, great friends who i hope know how valuable they are~ Big changes, some good evolution to work with for the second half of this AT Hiking Adventure. I feel like the REAL work is ahead. This journey is only half, probably less, physical. The rest, that's all spirit, man. Where your mental mind goes during a long day, just essentially walking on a path. You have time to explore every minute thought or feeling. Examining your emotions. Really digging deep into you dreams. Daydreaming. And a beautiful amount of time just admiring natures handy work. Watching how the leaves turn up their silvery sides in a thunderstorm. Checking out passing clouds. Just sitting and listening to the sounds of the birds and the breeze. It's sweet, and it reminds how simple peace can be. It begins inside yourself. It makes me dream of a peaceful world.
Anyway, i think i am running out of time at the library, so i need to post this. I don't really feel like i'm done writing...maybe more later.
But for a physical update...I have gone as far as Harper's Ferry, just outside of D.C. So that's 1013 miles, just under halfway there!! Pretty sweet.
Peace Ya'll
Melinda ~Many Names~
I had to take a break from the trail for Dave's brother's wedding, wicked good time! Then had to go to the island to take care of some boat issues. Not as big of a deal as i had feared and dreaded! So i am on Block Island, takin care of business and having a great time in the process.....don't worry, even if i wanted to stay, my friends would kick me off the island and personally drag me back to the trail! Got some sweet surfing in, sushi, wine, great friends who i hope know how valuable they are~ Big changes, some good evolution to work with for the second half of this AT Hiking Adventure. I feel like the REAL work is ahead. This journey is only half, probably less, physical. The rest, that's all spirit, man. Where your mental mind goes during a long day, just essentially walking on a path. You have time to explore every minute thought or feeling. Examining your emotions. Really digging deep into you dreams. Daydreaming. And a beautiful amount of time just admiring natures handy work. Watching how the leaves turn up their silvery sides in a thunderstorm. Checking out passing clouds. Just sitting and listening to the sounds of the birds and the breeze. It's sweet, and it reminds how simple peace can be. It begins inside yourself. It makes me dream of a peaceful world.
Anyway, i think i am running out of time at the library, so i need to post this. I don't really feel like i'm done writing...maybe more later.
But for a physical update...I have gone as far as Harper's Ferry, just outside of D.C. So that's 1013 miles, just under halfway there!! Pretty sweet.
Peace Ya'll
Melinda ~Many Names~
Monday, May 25, 2009
ट्रेल मैजिक मैजिक ट्रेल मानी नमस अत
Hello my friends ~*~
~Many Names here, hangin' with my mom and dad in a hotel in, uh, catawba? or Salem? Anyway, just ate a nice big meal, took a fantastic shower, am going to sleep in a bed tonight, Hooray! These things in life are just too grand for words ~#*#~!!!
M & D came down for a visit after my cousin's west point graduation (Yeah ,Mike!! you rock!) it's so sweet to see them.
It's been amazin' dayz out on the trail. Where to begin. I feel like evrything is magical but to write about it, hmmmmmm......it's not even about the specifics of what happens but more so the choices and avenues leading up to moments unforgettable. But they all really simple things, like i set off alone just after sunrise the other morning, hiked a couple of miles and stopped in a small meadow because i saw some wild greens to harvest for a salad (i was really craving fresh saled). While picking red clover, chickweed, wood sorrel, violets, ect. i saw a bunch of milkweed shoots. Yay! bay green veggies. i started cutting the little stalks. my new friend Spoonman showed up, wondered what i was doing and wanted to learn all about the wild edibles. Then Huck Finn showed up, and Blessed, Startreck rolled on through....quite a trailside meeting of the minds! Blessed is also really into wild harvesting, he knows things i don't know and vice versa..he really wanted to know how to cook the milkweed. Anyway, the day went by and a whole group of us decided to camp together by a lovely creek, spoonman built a fire so we could boil all the water for the milkweed, i fixed up wild salad and spread it out on a (clean) bandana so peeps could help themselves. Startreck donated some fresh garlic and onions (yum) and we all had a mini sample feast...everyone was suprised at how good it all was. I was so happy, such a sweet crew. Also there was Soundtrack, K-Bar, Schooner, and Ferdie. Music was played late (late for us) into the night, and all was right with the world.
The next day Spoon and i were the last ones out of camp feeling highly Unmotivated. We ended up hitching a ride to a hole in the wall restaraunt for burgers, sweet tea, and ice cream. There were deer heads all over the wall,but where we were sitting was just a deer butt. Just the ol' rump. Hmm... we got a ride..witht the same guy back to the creek, still feeling lazy, swamm in the creek, spoon lost his sunglasses once, i found...twice for good...sunbathed and finally hiked to a sweet clifftop lookout, chilled, watched the sunset....nighthiked five more miles in the dark, cowboy camped by another little creek. Listened to the CRUNCH, crunch of the gyspy moth caterpillars out in full force!!! gross! They fell on me from the trees all throughout the next day. I had one hanging from the tip of my nose, by a thread. Distusting..i am sort of tough...but i don't dig those guys, or the flies, coming on strong! oh! i am covered in bites (natural bug spray sucks, don't let anyone fool you!!)
Trail Days was awsome!! There was so much going on at all times, it was overwhelming. I got to march in the parade wearing my sequence evening gown found on the side of the road (perfect fit!), we all swam in the river after and sang songs, then watched the "Talented Hiker Contest" hiker talent show.....from banjo playing, playing drums on an overturned kayak, Ahab did beatbox (awsome, he won!!!), juggling fire, spoken word, reggea(yeah,Crazy Horse!!one mile an hour) and other stuff. Participated in some contra dancing...that was fun! and back at tent city was just a huge party, lots of music playing and singing, a huge bonfire, drum circle, dancing around the fire, hula hoops, spinning poi(yeah firecracker!i love you mamacita, and, yes, we can be friends forever). Laaaaaate night. so fun, so worth it...and soooooo ready to get back into the woods!!!
Last night, that same group of folks from the wildfood night and i camped out up at this place called the 'Dragon's Tooth'. These spiky unbelievable rock formations sticking up all jagged and ever-so-climbable. We were all hanging out up there for the sunset, Soundtrack (who truly lives up to his names) takes out his flute and plays such an amazing tune, tunes for the moment, just perched up there on the highest peak. I just look around, feelin' so fine. Man, life is good. as it should be. i didn't think i could get any happier this morning as i was hiking down the mountain toward the town where i would meet my parents.....and then i turned a corner and saw a cooler sitting there on the side of the trail with a note that said, "Hey hikers!...i can't remember what it said now, but it was full with cold sodas on ice, i gabbed a coca cola (something i have never drank in my life! I love it now) said thank you to the spirits, and strolled on down the trail.
~Many Names here, hangin' with my mom and dad in a hotel in, uh, catawba? or Salem? Anyway, just ate a nice big meal, took a fantastic shower, am going to sleep in a bed tonight, Hooray! These things in life are just too grand for words ~#*#~!!!
M & D came down for a visit after my cousin's west point graduation (Yeah ,Mike!! you rock!) it's so sweet to see them.
It's been amazin' dayz out on the trail. Where to begin. I feel like evrything is magical but to write about it, hmmmmmm......it's not even about the specifics of what happens but more so the choices and avenues leading up to moments unforgettable. But they all really simple things, like i set off alone just after sunrise the other morning, hiked a couple of miles and stopped in a small meadow because i saw some wild greens to harvest for a salad (i was really craving fresh saled). While picking red clover, chickweed, wood sorrel, violets, ect. i saw a bunch of milkweed shoots. Yay! bay green veggies. i started cutting the little stalks. my new friend Spoonman showed up, wondered what i was doing and wanted to learn all about the wild edibles. Then Huck Finn showed up, and Blessed, Startreck rolled on through....quite a trailside meeting of the minds! Blessed is also really into wild harvesting, he knows things i don't know and vice versa..he really wanted to know how to cook the milkweed. Anyway, the day went by and a whole group of us decided to camp together by a lovely creek, spoonman built a fire so we could boil all the water for the milkweed, i fixed up wild salad and spread it out on a (clean) bandana so peeps could help themselves. Startreck donated some fresh garlic and onions (yum) and we all had a mini sample feast...everyone was suprised at how good it all was. I was so happy, such a sweet crew. Also there was Soundtrack, K-Bar, Schooner, and Ferdie. Music was played late (late for us) into the night, and all was right with the world.
The next day Spoon and i were the last ones out of camp feeling highly Unmotivated. We ended up hitching a ride to a hole in the wall restaraunt for burgers, sweet tea, and ice cream. There were deer heads all over the wall,but where we were sitting was just a deer butt. Just the ol' rump. Hmm... we got a ride..witht the same guy back to the creek, still feeling lazy, swamm in the creek, spoon lost his sunglasses once, i found...twice for good...sunbathed and finally hiked to a sweet clifftop lookout, chilled, watched the sunset....nighthiked five more miles in the dark, cowboy camped by another little creek. Listened to the CRUNCH, crunch of the gyspy moth caterpillars out in full force!!! gross! They fell on me from the trees all throughout the next day. I had one hanging from the tip of my nose, by a thread. Distusting..i am sort of tough...but i don't dig those guys, or the flies, coming on strong! oh! i am covered in bites (natural bug spray sucks, don't let anyone fool you!!)
Trail Days was awsome!! There was so much going on at all times, it was overwhelming. I got to march in the parade wearing my sequence evening gown found on the side of the road (perfect fit!), we all swam in the river after and sang songs, then watched the "Talented Hiker Contest" hiker talent show.....from banjo playing, playing drums on an overturned kayak, Ahab did beatbox (awsome, he won!!!), juggling fire, spoken word, reggea(yeah,Crazy Horse!!one mile an hour) and other stuff. Participated in some contra dancing...that was fun! and back at tent city was just a huge party, lots of music playing and singing, a huge bonfire, drum circle, dancing around the fire, hula hoops, spinning poi(yeah firecracker!i love you mamacita, and, yes, we can be friends forever). Laaaaaate night. so fun, so worth it...and soooooo ready to get back into the woods!!!
Last night, that same group of folks from the wildfood night and i camped out up at this place called the 'Dragon's Tooth'. These spiky unbelievable rock formations sticking up all jagged and ever-so-climbable. We were all hanging out up there for the sunset, Soundtrack (who truly lives up to his names) takes out his flute and plays such an amazing tune, tunes for the moment, just perched up there on the highest peak. I just look around, feelin' so fine. Man, life is good. as it should be. i didn't think i could get any happier this morning as i was hiking down the mountain toward the town where i would meet my parents.....and then i turned a corner and saw a cooler sitting there on the side of the trail with a note that said, "Hey hikers!...i can't remember what it said now, but it was full with cold sodas on ice, i gabbed a coca cola (something i have never drank in my life! I love it now) said thank you to the spirits, and strolled on down the trail.
Monday, May 4, 2009
इ कैन'टी वेट तो हिके इन माय एवेनिंग गोवन
Hey Everybody!!
So i decided to spend another night in Damascus, VA....we were going to leave this afternoon, but it's raining, i hadn't updated or called anyone and a couple of friends are getting off the trail due to foot pain, blues, missing loved ones, and a couple others set out today but turned back, also because of foot pain and are back in town trying to find a solution. So, it feels right to stay. I'm not punching any time clock, so it really deosn't matter.
It's been a really nice week. A couple of Huck Finn's friends from college came out for a week to hike. John and Ben....had a wicked good time with some kindred folks. The weather was near perfect for some of the most spectacular hikes so far. We traveled through/over the Roan Highlands. They are these beautiful open, bald top mountains. Grassy and windy. One sunny day after sharing 3 beers (that were given to us by some folks at a road crossing) between five people, we were sufficiently buzzed (hiker tolerance!! Fun!) hike a short distance to the grassy summit and sunbathed for a delicious two hours. I managed a couple of cartwheels and handstands, i am finally not too sore to do that. Although i would not be able to do it first thing in the morning. It still takes me a few minutes to get upright and able to walk, but once i get moving, i am fine. One night we slept in this big old barn converted into a shelter, open to east and quite a few people got up for the sunrise, it was mellow and sweet. That next was my favorite hike over little abd big hump (i think) mountains. Highlands grassy tops with grazing cattle and a couple of huge longhorn bulls with some serious horns....i tried to not make eye contact. I didn't even take their picture, i was intimidated. After that i came to a psture of grazing horses, all on the mountain top...they're all fenced in and hikers have to go through this akward fence/gate contraption..it's good fun.
Another sweet time was a few nights ago we (huck finn, john, ben, and nightfight) camped out in a grassy meadow on a riverside, made a fire, stargazed, passed around the guitar and played music all night. It was perfect, lots of Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan flyin' around, learned soome new tunes. My friends, Bonnie and Teigan just got their backpacker guitar the other day...so now we can jam!!
The hostels are usually memorable because they're most often run by the coolest cats you'll ever come across. I got early one morning, packed up and took off like a rocket because i was anxious to get to Kincora hostel, for a much needed shower....it was time. I practically ran the 6 miles, got there in record time...my friends arrived later. Kincora is run by this amazing fellow, Bob Peoples..i don't know how to describe the warmth and coziness of the place. There's a small kitchen and living room w/ a couch a couple of armchairs, pillows and blankets, but you feel at ease, and at home. There's a big picnic table out on the front porch, where i ended up giving a couple of massages. The hostel runs on a $4 donation..for a bed and shower, laundry, sometimes a meal. Noone's making any money off this...it's a labor of love. So I did some massages for hikers for donations of any amount and whatever that was, i donated it to the hostel. So that felt really good to me. So many good things happen, it's nice to do something good.
There was another really cool bald mountain called Beauty Spot...when we got up there, it was like a miny tent city....a beautiful evening. There's a road that leads up there so quite a few people (former thru hikers, etc.) were there. A group of lovely wild ones brought up some trail magic for us....rotisseree chicken, cheesecake, baked beans, apples, soda, and best of all..Bubbles!!! It was a bubble fest!! Sunset bubbly!! Good fun, good fun. The sweetness of life is always exaggerated when there are bubbles.
I met Dave's cousin/2nd cousin here yesterday..Gypsy and Lone wolf. It's always great to be far and find a connection. It turns out that she is an avid hula hooper as well (Hoooray!! There's another one!) and will supply some hula hoops for some fellow hoopers for the Trails Days Fest which is coming right up in 2 weeks...a big hiker fest here in Damascus!! I will hike ahaed and then come back...there will be a hiker parade(i have plans for that one!!) music all sorts of fun things for little freaks like myself!!!
I must go...library closing!!!!!! Pecae, Love to all!!!!
MANY NAMES Melinda
So i decided to spend another night in Damascus, VA....we were going to leave this afternoon, but it's raining, i hadn't updated or called anyone and a couple of friends are getting off the trail due to foot pain, blues, missing loved ones, and a couple others set out today but turned back, also because of foot pain and are back in town trying to find a solution. So, it feels right to stay. I'm not punching any time clock, so it really deosn't matter.
It's been a really nice week. A couple of Huck Finn's friends from college came out for a week to hike. John and Ben....had a wicked good time with some kindred folks. The weather was near perfect for some of the most spectacular hikes so far. We traveled through/over the Roan Highlands. They are these beautiful open, bald top mountains. Grassy and windy. One sunny day after sharing 3 beers (that were given to us by some folks at a road crossing) between five people, we were sufficiently buzzed (hiker tolerance!! Fun!) hike a short distance to the grassy summit and sunbathed for a delicious two hours. I managed a couple of cartwheels and handstands, i am finally not too sore to do that. Although i would not be able to do it first thing in the morning. It still takes me a few minutes to get upright and able to walk, but once i get moving, i am fine. One night we slept in this big old barn converted into a shelter, open to east and quite a few people got up for the sunrise, it was mellow and sweet. That next was my favorite hike over little abd big hump (i think) mountains. Highlands grassy tops with grazing cattle and a couple of huge longhorn bulls with some serious horns....i tried to not make eye contact. I didn't even take their picture, i was intimidated. After that i came to a psture of grazing horses, all on the mountain top...they're all fenced in and hikers have to go through this akward fence/gate contraption..it's good fun.
Another sweet time was a few nights ago we (huck finn, john, ben, and nightfight) camped out in a grassy meadow on a riverside, made a fire, stargazed, passed around the guitar and played music all night. It was perfect, lots of Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan flyin' around, learned soome new tunes. My friends, Bonnie and Teigan just got their backpacker guitar the other day...so now we can jam!!
The hostels are usually memorable because they're most often run by the coolest cats you'll ever come across. I got early one morning, packed up and took off like a rocket because i was anxious to get to Kincora hostel, for a much needed shower....it was time. I practically ran the 6 miles, got there in record time...my friends arrived later. Kincora is run by this amazing fellow, Bob Peoples..i don't know how to describe the warmth and coziness of the place. There's a small kitchen and living room w/ a couch a couple of armchairs, pillows and blankets, but you feel at ease, and at home. There's a big picnic table out on the front porch, where i ended up giving a couple of massages. The hostel runs on a $4 donation..for a bed and shower, laundry, sometimes a meal. Noone's making any money off this...it's a labor of love. So I did some massages for hikers for donations of any amount and whatever that was, i donated it to the hostel. So that felt really good to me. So many good things happen, it's nice to do something good.
There was another really cool bald mountain called Beauty Spot...when we got up there, it was like a miny tent city....a beautiful evening. There's a road that leads up there so quite a few people (former thru hikers, etc.) were there. A group of lovely wild ones brought up some trail magic for us....rotisseree chicken, cheesecake, baked beans, apples, soda, and best of all..Bubbles!!! It was a bubble fest!! Sunset bubbly!! Good fun, good fun. The sweetness of life is always exaggerated when there are bubbles.
I met Dave's cousin/2nd cousin here yesterday..Gypsy and Lone wolf. It's always great to be far and find a connection. It turns out that she is an avid hula hooper as well (Hoooray!! There's another one!) and will supply some hula hoops for some fellow hoopers for the Trails Days Fest which is coming right up in 2 weeks...a big hiker fest here in Damascus!! I will hike ahaed and then come back...there will be a hiker parade(i have plans for that one!!) music all sorts of fun things for little freaks like myself!!!
I must go...library closing!!!!!! Pecae, Love to all!!!!
MANY NAMES Melinda
रैन अगं बुत माय स्काई इस नोट क्लौद्य
Greetings from Damascus, VA....463 miles all is well.....just wanted to check in, for those wondering why i'm online but not calling....no cell service again. i want to update more, got to run to the PO for a package, then the library, so hopefully i can write more ~*~
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
ट्रेल मैजिक
Hey folks!!
So, i really want to talk about Trail Magic. I could hike the trail without it... ...but i wouldn't want to. I definately believe in the goodness of people, it's something that has never really faltered through thick and thin. Now, after experiencing so much trail magic it's only solidified. These 'TRAIL ANGELS' set up somewhere on or near the trail where hikers are coming thru and basically feed us. Sometimes it's someone at a road crossing with sodas and candy bars, sometimes it's hotdogs and hamburgers, the last one we had, there was a note on a trailhead post giving directions to a house 300 yrds down the road for trail magic. So myself, Huck Finn, Firecracker, Bonnie, Teagan, Burning Man, and couple others walked to this house only to be greeted (and invited in!most people would not want hikers in their house because we are dirty!)by FAL(Free at Last) and Hercules (both previous thru hikers)for a sit down breakfast of belgian waffles, cheesy egg puffs(delicious) and coffee,immediatly followed by a lunch of pork stew and bread, dessert brownie sundea or applecrisp w/ vanilla ice cream...Everything homeade and delicious. We were there for at least an hour 1/2 and then sat out on the lawn digesting, napping and playing guitar for a while. Soo sweet.
So, why do people do this for people they may never meet again. Spending their money and time? This is something that Huck Finn and i talk about quite a bit. The beautiful thing about Trail Magic is that there is no agenda. There is nothing to get in return except for the pure joy of making someone else's day. Whenever we've had good trai magic, it's never, 'oh, i hope we get more good trail magic' , it's always, 'what kind of trail magic can we do when we are done?" cuz it just feels so good.....It's a really sweet and special thing that happens out here. And you get the addresses of some of these people and send them pictures of you up on Mt Katadin when you finish. They'll keep photo albums full of hikers they have taken care of.....So, when i say, 'Love is Everywhere!' ~that's just how it is.
I've been playing a lot more music lately, the weather's been getting nicer...which is awsome because doing the calculations we've had 50% prcipitation.
Gotta go...library closing.....339 miles so far getting closer to virginia!!
Peace Ya'll Love to Everyone
MANY NAMES (melinda)
So, i really want to talk about Trail Magic. I could hike the trail without it... ...but i wouldn't want to. I definately believe in the goodness of people, it's something that has never really faltered through thick and thin. Now, after experiencing so much trail magic it's only solidified. These 'TRAIL ANGELS' set up somewhere on or near the trail where hikers are coming thru and basically feed us. Sometimes it's someone at a road crossing with sodas and candy bars, sometimes it's hotdogs and hamburgers, the last one we had, there was a note on a trailhead post giving directions to a house 300 yrds down the road for trail magic. So myself, Huck Finn, Firecracker, Bonnie, Teagan, Burning Man, and couple others walked to this house only to be greeted (and invited in!most people would not want hikers in their house because we are dirty!)by FAL(Free at Last) and Hercules (both previous thru hikers)for a sit down breakfast of belgian waffles, cheesy egg puffs(delicious) and coffee,immediatly followed by a lunch of pork stew and bread, dessert brownie sundea or applecrisp w/ vanilla ice cream...Everything homeade and delicious. We were there for at least an hour 1/2 and then sat out on the lawn digesting, napping and playing guitar for a while. Soo sweet.
So, why do people do this for people they may never meet again. Spending their money and time? This is something that Huck Finn and i talk about quite a bit. The beautiful thing about Trail Magic is that there is no agenda. There is nothing to get in return except for the pure joy of making someone else's day. Whenever we've had good trai magic, it's never, 'oh, i hope we get more good trail magic' , it's always, 'what kind of trail magic can we do when we are done?" cuz it just feels so good.....It's a really sweet and special thing that happens out here. And you get the addresses of some of these people and send them pictures of you up on Mt Katadin when you finish. They'll keep photo albums full of hikers they have taken care of.....So, when i say, 'Love is Everywhere!' ~that's just how it is.
I've been playing a lot more music lately, the weather's been getting nicer...which is awsome because doing the calculations we've had 50% prcipitation.
Gotta go...library closing.....339 miles so far getting closer to virginia!!
Peace Ya'll Love to Everyone
MANY NAMES (melinda)
Friday, April 17, 2009
त्रुक्किन ओं अलोंग
Hey all~ my sweet peeps !!
So, I'm sitting here in Hot Springs, NC (the trail goes right through the center of town, so, hard not to stop) after a day a half of resting up, soaking in the hot springs(my body is so happy) eating amazing vegetarian four course meals at the most amazing hostel ever, and then going across the street for bacon and eggs! Getting ready to head back out on the trail after i write this.
This hostel, Elmer's is just so sweet. It's been taking in hikers for over fifty years, serving them organic vegetarian food, made with love by the folks who live and work there. We all eat together in the dining room. There's a music room with a piano, banjo, recorder, guitar , violin, dijeridoos, oh yeah! showers, cozy beds. It's an old historic victorian home full of cool antiques and things from all over the world and a huge library of kick ass books.....anyway, i could talk just about Elmer's all day.
It's been the most amazing rest stop, i think, because it was so truly deserved. We had some really hard weather and tough times in the smokies. Snow, sleet, hail, thunderstorms(watching lighting strike the from outside a shelter), high winds, mud, slush,slippery wet trail....everybody wiping out all over. I made the cocky mistake of stating, after days of other people falling except me, thaT 'i guess i just don't fall'....well that next day i was almost wiping out all day until finally i took the king digger that reminded me of Goonies when everyone falls off the log because Data has "Slick Shoes"....it was good. I miraculously did not land on my guitar! In the smokies there are some really amazing views at the summits..and Clingman's Dome is the highest piont on the trail, being at 6643 ft....alas they were all in the rain and fog. Near the end the sun came up in the morning, beautiful sunrise, the big moon was still up and glowing, there was a lake of clouds below us and everyone was so happy and glowing. It was awsome. I still have awsome thoughts of the smokies because evryone is so ridiculously cool, all suffrin' together, all packed in together in the shelter(you have to stay in shelters in the smokies) like sardines, lots of snoring, lots of bad gas, i haven't laughed so hard, maybe ever. We've taken to writing songs, uh, i don't know if they're good, or appropriate but they'rw pretty funny. Maybe we'll play em at trail days...that's the hiker festival coming up in May in Damascus, VA.....gonna be sOOOOOOO fun!!
I've hiked 271 miles so far. Mostly with my super hiking companion Huck Finn. We put in some killer days recently. Motivation being....smokin' the smokies and gettin to hot springs.....i needed to chill. So we did a big day, stopped at Standing Bear Farm Hostle where a bunch of hikers were staying, but we just wanted pizza and then we would hike on and camp. A hiker named James had found and harvested a bunch of morrell mushrooms and brought them in, sauteed in butter and had himself a fine meal....i didn't get to try any. We ate and were all giddy from good food, and i had a soda so i was cranked, Huck Finn, James, and myself(Many Names) decided to night hike...so we took off and hiked until midnight making it a total 25.5 mile day, and cowboy camping under the stars!! (cowboy camping is when you are not in your tent, just outside in your sleeping bag)..such a treat after having to stay with a million people in shelters. Next day we ended up doing another big day, 23 miles, it just happened that way.....and then, ahhhhhh, hot springs. Everyone's so happy to get to chill.
I've met a whole new crew of awsome people in the last 2 days, it's crazy. When you meet someone new and introduce yourself, it's always like, 'Oh, yeah, I've heard of you.....' you almost already know people and can't wait to actually meet them. Someone said that in the world population 35% are introverts, on the trail, 65% are introverts....which is funny because everyone i meet, myself included are so outgoing out here.......we figured it's just because we are with 'our people' so were just as real as we could ever be and no need to hold anything back. I met this one girl, Firecracker, we think we must have been separated at birth, we are so much alike! it's amazing. There's two deaf people hiking together (Western from san diego and Red Tree from Oregon) in their mid-late twenties, they were hooked up by friends to hike the trail together. They are super cool and our paths keep crossing,it's been slow to begin communicate but we all want to know each other..so it's beginning. Western and i had a great conversation about surfing yesterday and i learn a bunch of signs. I can say 'crazy, wierd, awsome, dreams, sad, thank you, you're welcome, focus, hike, great, tomorrow....i just need to get the alphabet down so we can really get somewhere. Who would've have thought that this kind of opportuntiy would be here un the trail. The unexpected things blow my mind. I am so in love with everyone and everything. I just feel so much gratitude all the time. I'm so grateful for the conciousness and ability to choose my own path, no matter how strange, wierd, winding or hard it might be. I choose it. And i'm happy. And the tree was happy......The forest floor is brimming with little green things growing, and smelling of spring...Hooray...Love to everyone!!!
So, I'm sitting here in Hot Springs, NC (the trail goes right through the center of town, so, hard not to stop) after a day a half of resting up, soaking in the hot springs(my body is so happy) eating amazing vegetarian four course meals at the most amazing hostel ever, and then going across the street for bacon and eggs! Getting ready to head back out on the trail after i write this.
This hostel, Elmer's is just so sweet. It's been taking in hikers for over fifty years, serving them organic vegetarian food, made with love by the folks who live and work there. We all eat together in the dining room. There's a music room with a piano, banjo, recorder, guitar , violin, dijeridoos, oh yeah! showers, cozy beds. It's an old historic victorian home full of cool antiques and things from all over the world and a huge library of kick ass books.....anyway, i could talk just about Elmer's all day.
It's been the most amazing rest stop, i think, because it was so truly deserved. We had some really hard weather and tough times in the smokies. Snow, sleet, hail, thunderstorms(watching lighting strike the from outside a shelter), high winds, mud, slush,slippery wet trail....everybody wiping out all over. I made the cocky mistake of stating, after days of other people falling except me, thaT 'i guess i just don't fall'....well that next day i was almost wiping out all day until finally i took the king digger that reminded me of Goonies when everyone falls off the log because Data has "Slick Shoes"....it was good. I miraculously did not land on my guitar! In the smokies there are some really amazing views at the summits..and Clingman's Dome is the highest piont on the trail, being at 6643 ft....alas they were all in the rain and fog. Near the end the sun came up in the morning, beautiful sunrise, the big moon was still up and glowing, there was a lake of clouds below us and everyone was so happy and glowing. It was awsome. I still have awsome thoughts of the smokies because evryone is so ridiculously cool, all suffrin' together, all packed in together in the shelter(you have to stay in shelters in the smokies) like sardines, lots of snoring, lots of bad gas, i haven't laughed so hard, maybe ever. We've taken to writing songs, uh, i don't know if they're good, or appropriate but they'rw pretty funny. Maybe we'll play em at trail days...that's the hiker festival coming up in May in Damascus, VA.....gonna be sOOOOOOO fun!!
I've hiked 271 miles so far. Mostly with my super hiking companion Huck Finn. We put in some killer days recently. Motivation being....smokin' the smokies and gettin to hot springs.....i needed to chill. So we did a big day, stopped at Standing Bear Farm Hostle where a bunch of hikers were staying, but we just wanted pizza and then we would hike on and camp. A hiker named James had found and harvested a bunch of morrell mushrooms and brought them in, sauteed in butter and had himself a fine meal....i didn't get to try any. We ate and were all giddy from good food, and i had a soda so i was cranked, Huck Finn, James, and myself(Many Names) decided to night hike...so we took off and hiked until midnight making it a total 25.5 mile day, and cowboy camping under the stars!! (cowboy camping is when you are not in your tent, just outside in your sleeping bag)..such a treat after having to stay with a million people in shelters. Next day we ended up doing another big day, 23 miles, it just happened that way.....and then, ahhhhhh, hot springs. Everyone's so happy to get to chill.
I've met a whole new crew of awsome people in the last 2 days, it's crazy. When you meet someone new and introduce yourself, it's always like, 'Oh, yeah, I've heard of you.....' you almost already know people and can't wait to actually meet them. Someone said that in the world population 35% are introverts, on the trail, 65% are introverts....which is funny because everyone i meet, myself included are so outgoing out here.......we figured it's just because we are with 'our people' so were just as real as we could ever be and no need to hold anything back. I met this one girl, Firecracker, we think we must have been separated at birth, we are so much alike! it's amazing. There's two deaf people hiking together (Western from san diego and Red Tree from Oregon) in their mid-late twenties, they were hooked up by friends to hike the trail together. They are super cool and our paths keep crossing,it's been slow to begin communicate but we all want to know each other..so it's beginning. Western and i had a great conversation about surfing yesterday and i learn a bunch of signs. I can say 'crazy, wierd, awsome, dreams, sad, thank you, you're welcome, focus, hike, great, tomorrow....i just need to get the alphabet down so we can really get somewhere. Who would've have thought that this kind of opportuntiy would be here un the trail. The unexpected things blow my mind. I am so in love with everyone and everything. I just feel so much gratitude all the time. I'm so grateful for the conciousness and ability to choose my own path, no matter how strange, wierd, winding or hard it might be. I choose it. And i'm happy. And the tree was happy......The forest floor is brimming with little green things growing, and smelling of spring...Hooray...Love to everyone!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
स्मोकी मौन्तैंस.....almost
Hey people of the world
just a quick update...was going to enter the smokies today, but i woke up with a migraine, didn't get my mail drop today, and there is severe winter weather warnings for the smokies..(foot o snow, 60 mph winds, 21-35 degree) yuck, no like..the signs are vague, but i think telling me to stick around here for a day or two. so that's what i'll do, along with others. we had two beautiful days of warm sun, moon and stars.......gotta go!
just a quick update...was going to enter the smokies today, but i woke up with a migraine, didn't get my mail drop today, and there is severe winter weather warnings for the smokies..(foot o snow, 60 mph winds, 21-35 degree) yuck, no like..the signs are vague, but i think telling me to stick around here for a day or two. so that's what i'll do, along with others. we had two beautiful days of warm sun, moon and stars.......gotta go!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
१०० मिल्स + टुडे
Greetings!! i really don't know why my title is always in sanskrit...it must be a sign.
i must make this quick will write more later. entered north carolina 3 days ago. hit 100 miles today....107 to be excact.....we are cruisin..but by no means rushing. i was thinking about henry david thorough...he said something like , 'i live where i am, or where ever i am is where i live" it couldn't be more true, it seems to be the most true thing. all is well in the land of Many Names...had great trail magic today. ran into two guys off the trail named Gatorade and Fishin Fred..they were grilling grilled cheese over a fire and had hot coffee...they saw my guitar and said they'd trade a sandwich for a song, i said 'good trade' and i got 2 sandwiches, ha ha, they were great! been mostly hiking with huck finn and too tall....tonight is too tall's last night he was only section hiking so we came into town for the last hurrah, going to resupply and send a maildrop to pick up right before entering the smokies in less than a week..not sure when i can update, hopefully before smokies...i will try to write better...there's so much to say
it sort of snowed the other night up at 4600 ft it was wierd snow that looked like coconut flakes...rhine ice?? all the trees looked as if from a mystical land it was awsome until trying to sleep and soo @#$#$%cold!!!! beautiful sun next day. reached a summit, standing indian moutain...grassy top amazing views, we took lunch and sweet siesta and moseyeed on along....okay, i really have to go.....
love you all!! peace
Many Names (melinda)
i must make this quick will write more later. entered north carolina 3 days ago. hit 100 miles today....107 to be excact.....we are cruisin..but by no means rushing. i was thinking about henry david thorough...he said something like , 'i live where i am, or where ever i am is where i live" it couldn't be more true, it seems to be the most true thing. all is well in the land of Many Names...had great trail magic today. ran into two guys off the trail named Gatorade and Fishin Fred..they were grilling grilled cheese over a fire and had hot coffee...they saw my guitar and said they'd trade a sandwich for a song, i said 'good trade' and i got 2 sandwiches, ha ha, they were great! been mostly hiking with huck finn and too tall....tonight is too tall's last night he was only section hiking so we came into town for the last hurrah, going to resupply and send a maildrop to pick up right before entering the smokies in less than a week..not sure when i can update, hopefully before smokies...i will try to write better...there's so much to say
it sort of snowed the other night up at 4600 ft it was wierd snow that looked like coconut flakes...rhine ice?? all the trees looked as if from a mystical land it was awsome until trying to sleep and soo @#$#$%cold!!!! beautiful sun next day. reached a summit, standing indian moutain...grassy top amazing views, we took lunch and sweet siesta and moseyeed on along....okay, i really have to go.....
love you all!! peace
Many Names (melinda)
Friday, March 27, 2009
रोक्किन' थे अत इन जार्जिया !!!!
Greetings Ya'll!!...if, for some reason, the title is in Thai...i don't know why..but it just came out that way. if not...don't worry about it.
Anyway....so far, after only a week the trail has been a wicked awsome adventure. i started at amicalola falls state park where dave, tica and i camped out, got my pack all over packed and set out friday march 20. hiked 7.3 miles to the summit of springer mountain where the trail actually begins where i was greeted by a fellow thru hiker, ramble-on, and his friends having a champagne toast send off.
first couple of days were super hard, putting in only about 7.8-7.3 miles. my pack was really heavy and my muscles were super sore.....but so was every ones so i wasn't alone. but beautiful weather first 4 days, i couldn't have asked for a better beginning. i've met a bunch of people, most with trail names, such as.... Huck Finn, Too Tall, Wild Bill(yes, there's a wild bill on the trail too!), Rock, sunchaser, sunshine mc happy pants, magma orphan, tree beard, spring peeper, gov't mule, Z, coyote, ect. My trail name is Many Names, short for "she who has many names" for some reason, my second night out, at a shelter, some folks there deemed it muy important that i get a name and were giving me a time cuz my pack was so wieghted, wanting to call me,"heavy', then at dinner time, i busted out my magickal bag of many condiments..and so..'condiment girl' and so it went on and on(i can't even remember the other names i got) until it was..'she who has many names'...which seems appropriate to me, not just on the trail..
we also have a friend named mary poppins...he has a magical umbrella in his pack. .......but he dissapeared
stopped at neels gap where the trail goes right tru an outfitter shop, they take your pack apart with you and tell you what you need and don't to get your pack weight down...i lost a lot of weight and was able to keep with me, my backpacker guitar which is awsome(thanks dave!)...been playing a little. they also had free burgers, showers and laundry(not free)!!!!
then the rain...the days blend, hiking in the rain, wet clothes, wet tent, wet sleeping bag....freezing the but off...yet, strangly...still having the best time..today, with a lake in my boots singing all the way down,(not up,too hard too sing going up a mountain) and now at a hotel in Hiawassee with some fellow hikers, showered up, our tents set up in our room, sleeping bags hanging from the curtain rod, a makeshift clothes line across the room...just got back from all you can eat buffett where we saw about 20 other hikers with the same idea..... sweet
will be back on the trail sunday maybe around noon, and will soon be in north carolina! hope the boots are dry by then
oh..i almost forgot...been a lot of bears around so we hang 'bear bags'..hanging your food bag from a tree so the bears can't get it. at a campsite shared with several friends, one group hung there bags the proper way, and the rest of us made a real sh*t show about hanging ours..i was worried about it in the night and was up half the night listening for bears. so morning comes and our bags are still hanging, yet our friends' has been apprehended torns to shreds, left only the bag, an apple, and a jar of peanut butter that i guess he couldn't open...well they handled it like champs..just hitched to town to resupply and caught right up to us and we just had dinner with them! Hmmmm
Anyway...life is good, so happy to be on the trail...loving all the people, couldn't really ask for more right about now
Peace and much love to all!!!
melinda 'many names'
Anyway....so far, after only a week the trail has been a wicked awsome adventure. i started at amicalola falls state park where dave, tica and i camped out, got my pack all over packed and set out friday march 20. hiked 7.3 miles to the summit of springer mountain where the trail actually begins where i was greeted by a fellow thru hiker, ramble-on, and his friends having a champagne toast send off.
first couple of days were super hard, putting in only about 7.8-7.3 miles. my pack was really heavy and my muscles were super sore.....but so was every ones so i wasn't alone. but beautiful weather first 4 days, i couldn't have asked for a better beginning. i've met a bunch of people, most with trail names, such as.... Huck Finn, Too Tall, Wild Bill(yes, there's a wild bill on the trail too!), Rock, sunchaser, sunshine mc happy pants, magma orphan, tree beard, spring peeper, gov't mule, Z, coyote, ect. My trail name is Many Names, short for "she who has many names" for some reason, my second night out, at a shelter, some folks there deemed it muy important that i get a name and were giving me a time cuz my pack was so wieghted, wanting to call me,"heavy', then at dinner time, i busted out my magickal bag of many condiments..and so..'condiment girl' and so it went on and on(i can't even remember the other names i got) until it was..'she who has many names'...which seems appropriate to me, not just on the trail..
we also have a friend named mary poppins...he has a magical umbrella in his pack. .......but he dissapeared
stopped at neels gap where the trail goes right tru an outfitter shop, they take your pack apart with you and tell you what you need and don't to get your pack weight down...i lost a lot of weight and was able to keep with me, my backpacker guitar which is awsome(thanks dave!)...been playing a little. they also had free burgers, showers and laundry(not free)!!!!
then the rain...the days blend, hiking in the rain, wet clothes, wet tent, wet sleeping bag....freezing the but off...yet, strangly...still having the best time..today, with a lake in my boots singing all the way down,(not up,too hard too sing going up a mountain) and now at a hotel in Hiawassee with some fellow hikers, showered up, our tents set up in our room, sleeping bags hanging from the curtain rod, a makeshift clothes line across the room...just got back from all you can eat buffett where we saw about 20 other hikers with the same idea..... sweet
will be back on the trail sunday maybe around noon, and will soon be in north carolina! hope the boots are dry by then
oh..i almost forgot...been a lot of bears around so we hang 'bear bags'..hanging your food bag from a tree so the bears can't get it. at a campsite shared with several friends, one group hung there bags the proper way, and the rest of us made a real sh*t show about hanging ours..i was worried about it in the night and was up half the night listening for bears. so morning comes and our bags are still hanging, yet our friends' has been apprehended torns to shreds, left only the bag, an apple, and a jar of peanut butter that i guess he couldn't open...well they handled it like champs..just hitched to town to resupply and caught right up to us and we just had dinner with them! Hmmmm
Anyway...life is good, so happy to be on the trail...loving all the people, couldn't really ask for more right about now
Peace and much love to all!!!
melinda 'many names'
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
first blog trial...trying to figure it out!
So I begin my first blog, just created only moments ago. Pretty easy. I want to keep a running blog of my hike on the appalchian trail beginning in late march in Georgia. The begins on Springer mountain, northern georgia and finishes top of mount Katadhin, baxter state park, Maine. I estimate it will take about six months to hike alllll the way.
Finishing would be truly amazing, but my goal is really to stay present. Go to sleep after a long day in the woods, wake up...and go hiking. There it is....yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery..but today is a gift.....The Present!!!! Ha Ha!!So that's where i will try and stay
For now i am getting my gear together, figuring out finances, what to do with this and that while i'm gone..breaking in a second pair of boots, simplifying my diet..going to bed earlier and earlier, mellowing out, and stressing out(a little). Getting pretty excited. The natural cycles is where i feel most at ease. Get up with the sun, sleep when it's dark, be outside. It just feels so right. Dream earth dreams.
So, i've got to figure out how to put pictures on this site with my digital camera that i am still figuring out! Baby steps.....oh yeah
Peace y'all
Melinda lindyflower ( no trail name yet)
Finishing would be truly amazing, but my goal is really to stay present. Go to sleep after a long day in the woods, wake up...and go hiking. There it is....yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery..but today is a gift.....The Present!!!! Ha Ha!!So that's where i will try and stay
For now i am getting my gear together, figuring out finances, what to do with this and that while i'm gone..breaking in a second pair of boots, simplifying my diet..going to bed earlier and earlier, mellowing out, and stressing out(a little). Getting pretty excited. The natural cycles is where i feel most at ease. Get up with the sun, sleep when it's dark, be outside. It just feels so right. Dream earth dreams.
So, i've got to figure out how to put pictures on this site with my digital camera that i am still figuring out! Baby steps.....oh yeah
Peace y'all
Melinda lindyflower ( no trail name yet)
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