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)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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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