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
Monday, August 24, 2009
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~
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