Half Gallon & Halfway

It was a rainy night, and I woke with my gear all more wet than when I went to sleep. Then things quickly got worse, as I realized the weakening laces in my Saloman shoes had finally split apart. This wouldn't be a problem if the shoe took normal laces, but it's designed to fit thin kevlar laces instead. I only had a 3.5 mile hike to the ATC museum and the half gallon challenge, and every step felt like my right foot was in a slipper.
We did have one pitstop along the way, as we finally hit the true halfway point on this runaway trail. One quick photo op later, and Mr. Fantastic, Eva, and myself were continuing on towards a nauseous future. We caught up with Short Term at the road, and walked the short trip to the general store that is the home of the half gallon challenge.
By the time all of the 1.5 quart ice cream containers were dispersed (I know it's a pint shy of a real half gallon, but that's how they sell them now), we had a rather large crew of challengers. Red Fury and High Life started before us, then Knock on Wood and Yoopak (previously misspelled U-Pack), and finally Eva, Free, and Short Term. And Short Term doesn't even like I've cream.
Mr. Fantastic and I both went with Cookies all located together, I assume, to collect our sound and smell pollution. Jukebox and Slim were kind enough to throw our laundry in with theirs, and we watched tv and took showers in the meantime. Once back in our clean duds, we all trotted back to the main office to find the bar. Mr. Fantastic and I enjoyed a beautiful AYCE before joining the rest. It was at this time that plans were made. While enjoying an assortment of sushi, meat, and potatoes, my mom and I schemed. With my shoelace debacle, and Mr. Fantastic's current plans to leave the trail, we had a possible option to discuss. Instead of picking us up on Thursday for the wedding, I asked if they could pick us up any sooner. My problem was a distinct lack of gear shops in the area, to buy kevlar laces or new shoes. But back at home.. REI is KING! Plus, in that extra time I could easily see Moonrise Kingdom.
When discussed, my mom offered to pick us up tomorrow morning, bringing Mr. F to his "Boo-sauce", and me to Wildwood with them. It sounded too perfect to pass up. Not to mention, that ending the trail at the halfway point could have some poetic finality for Mr. Fantastic. We said yes.
It was time to take our place among our friends at the bar, and turn the night into a celebration. The rest is mostly a blur, but involved a few key points of reference. We all had a couple of drinks, and then went up to Jukebox and Slims room to enjoy the wine that we had nipped from the "Free cheese & wine" downstairs. After those bottles were done, Mr. Fantastic and Eva procured 2 carafes from our friendly neighborhood bar tender across the street. After those carafes were done, we all went to said bar tender across the street to up the ante. Things got a little crazy at this point, but eventually led to us being cut off. A quick .1 hike brought us back to our rooms, where everyone split up for their respective Z's.
Tomorrow morning will be the beginning of something crazy: a trip home. I have every intention of coming back out to the trail and attempting the second half alone, but it will require a lot of adapting. I don't think I would have made it this far without having a Mr. Fantastic to lean on during the bad days. Having emotional support built-in always helps, even if it did frequently come from a sideways angle. I probably won't blog much, if at all, for this week, since I won't really be wandering. When no place is home, everywhere is home. When someplace is home, after 3 full months without one, it may be tough to leave. Hopefully I make the right choice.

What's luck got to do with it?

Waking up to a hot breakfast being served to you is the right way to start the day. Dick Flap caught up with us this morning so he could eat properly as well, which was certainly surprising. While eating, he regaled us with a new tale of "stealth" camping that amazed everyone. He's always good for a crazy story. All I'll say is that it's amazing the police officer didn't arrest him and Suds.
We took our time leaving today, and I charged up my phone while lounging around the campsite. When Mr. Fantastic and I did get started, we very quickly adopted different paces. I was aiming for my 10 miles in 3 hours again, which would take me to a shelter for lunch, while Mr. F nursed his mostly healed foot. I hit my mark again over some lovely terrain. Pennsylvania may end in nonstop rocks, but early on it's really quite relaxing.
I kicked off my shoes, stuffed my face, and watched some podcasts in the shelter as everyone else ambled in. I stayed there for 2 and a half hours to really soak up the ambiance of the relaxing day. Eventually the crew (Eva, Short Term, Free, Scientist, Red Fury, High Life, U-Pack, Jeez Louise, and Knock on Wood) all trickled back onto the trail. Mr. Fantastic and I followed behind, and adopted our paces.
We only had another 6.2 left, and it was starting to spit more than just a drizzle. The weather managed to stay wet and cool, without ever turning into a full fledged rain. That's pretty perfect weather for hiking, as it keeps you quite cool and comfortable.
I finished those last miles in an hour and 45 minutes, which made me happy, and found myself at a pair of rather mundane shelters. Everyone arrived immediately after, and only Red Fury and High Life continued past.
It was another easy hike, and Mr. F's foot seems all the better for it. Unfortunately he's done a little math and is realizing how unlikely it's becoming that he can finish on time. A possible solution he threw out there would be if he skips ahead about 200 miles to make the timing manageable, and allow him to finish at Katahdin. He's hoping I'll join him, which is sounding good to me since I'd like it if we can take our pictures together at the finish line. Afterwards I can go back and hike the 2 sections I skipped with no real timeline. It makes sense, but for now we're just doing a little mulling.
Tomorrow is a BIG day. We will finally hit the actual halfway point, and attempt the half gallon challenge. I'll let you know how that goes, and if we manage to complete the 16 miles that will follow said bellyful of dairy.

You're the Best.. Around

My sleeping-in-the-snorers-shelter gambit paid off, as no one else joined us. It did get surprisingly cold though, to the point where I had to get up to put more clothes on so my feet didn't need to be amputated by sunup. The chill took a little while to shake off, and I didn't crawl out of my liner until 8:30am. Mr. Fantastic was still stuffed into his mummy bag, so I enjoyed a breakfast of leftovers and got ready for the day. Butter passed us as Mr. F was getting up, and kept on trucking, keeping up her killer pace.
Once I got going I decided to try and keep a quick pace toward the hiker feed at the campgrounds 10 miles out. I succeeded in my goal, and then some. Since there was only one water source along the way, and it was off the trail, I booked it straight through with no breaks and arrived at the campgrounds in 3 hours. That has now shattered my previous goal of a 3mph average, and left me feeling quite elated. Those 10 miles were also my favorite miles of hiking I've done on the trail so far. They're not my favorite for being the most beautiful, or the most technical, but for bringing out a sense of joy to just hike. Feeling confident and strong out here is very important. Today filled that quota perfectly.
Once I arrived I wandered the campgrounds for 30 minutes looking for the feed. It's a massive place with a swimming pool big enough for an army. When I eventually found the campsites where the feed was to be, I found myself alone with a note that read "Make yourself at home". There was some Kool-Aid and snack bars, but it was otherwise a ghost campsite. The downside of arriving early is that if plans fall through, you have nothing to do. So I snacked, read a little, and then decided to head Mr. Fantastic off at the pass so we could eat in town and get our resupply done.
I crossed paths with Butter on the way back to the highway, and she followed me back to join us in town. When I finally found Mr. F he was relaxing at the hiker feed sign (and trail magic that I had enjoyed earlier) with Eva and Short Term. We happily joined them, getting ready to walk .3 to a pizza place. Mr. Fantastic had apparently had a very bad day, so we're back to our usual roles of inverse moods. He's experiencing a stabbing pain on the ball of his foot, which made for a rough hike. We have a mantra to help keep us on the trail: if I have 5 bad days in a row I'll quit. It works well, because that'll probably never happen. Mr. F counted today as day 1. He also decided he had to stop hiking for the day, so that meant that we could enjoy the hiker feed dinner and breakfast, a hot shower, and the swimming pool.
This was all discussed as we ambled along the highway on our way to pizza. We all ordered too much food, while Mr. Fantastic and Eva mimed dance moves and lip synced to whatever random songs played on the radio. It was a fun lunch, and we spent far too much time there. Butter left before us in her eternal search for a phone charger, and eventually Eva and Short Term started heading over to the market another .4 down the road. We were all leaving our packs behind for this quick trip, but as Mr. F and I hit the parking lot to start our walk, we were stopped by a man in a truck. He pulled up and asked if we were hikers, then went on to explain that he was Cook Doctor, the hiker feed chef, and he was on his way to the market. He gave us a lift, and we threw Eva and Short Term's packs in his truck with us, arriving at the market moments before they did. We all quickly stocked up, and hopped back in the truck to ride in style up to the campsite.
We quickly pitched tents, and then ran down to the pool to make the day that much more complete. It's quite lovely to go from a smelly salty hiker, to a damp clean one, over the course of playing games and swimming around. I also happily discovered that Mr. F doesn't know how to tread water properly, when he asked me how long I could do it for and he guessed 2 minutes. Priceless.
We made it back up to the campsites just as everyone was starting to eat. Butter was back, along with Red Fury and High Life, Knock on Wood, U-Pack, and plenty more. Hot dogs, hamburgers, corn, chili, and apple sauce covered everyone's plates while conversations jumped all around the long table. It was an amazing dinner that was then followed by a boatload of ice cream. I'm still nursing a food baby, but I'm also looking forward to breakfast.
It was an amazing day for me, jumping from one high to another. A day of nonstop peaks never happens out here, as it's the contrast that makes everything so wonderful. With that in mind I think today will easily be one of my favorite days on the trail. Who knows what tomorrow could hold?

The Big Spill

It was an ordinary morning out on the trail. I woke up around 8am, ate about 1200 cold calories, packed up my gear, and got my feet on the trail at 9am. The plan was to hike 9.5 miles and hitch into town, but plans were happily deviated.
It was 6 miles to the first shelter where we took a quick break, and immediately after some serious rocks began. In those last miles before the road I had my first potentially dangerous fall, and actually got quite lucky. While taking a steep falling step from one rock ledge down to another, I lost my footing and had my knee aiming for a 3.5 foot drop directly onto a pointed rock. Thankfully at the last moment I stabbed my trekking pole into the ground and managed to vault my momentum into a little gap; narrowly escaping a hike-ending injury, and incredibly, avoiding even a scrape or abrasion. I was laughing at my own luck when Mr. Fantastic quickly turned to see if I was alright, but as I hiked on I became a little shaken at how close a call it had been. It's easy to forget how human you still are after doing this for so long. Thankfully there were no other near-catastrophic falls for the rest of the day.
When we came to the road that we planned to hitch from we found ourselves at a local park. The road was unfortunately barren of traffic, so we decided to eat lunch there, under the blessings of a soda machine and power outlets.
While gorging, we started to realize how annoying it was going to be to hitch into town 2.5 miles further on (the next busy road) when we were already full and power charged. Consulting the guide we learned a few key pieces of knowledge. Tomorrow, after 10 miles, we will hit a park that is having a week long hiker feed (thank you section hikers for this piece of intel). They also have showers, and even a swimming pool. Even better, the park is located on a road that is only a .7 mile hike to a supermarket. Since we both had enough extra food to last us through a dinner and breakfast, we could greatly ease our burden by taking this advantage. So what does any good hiker do when they learn they have extra time in the day? If you said take a nap on a picnic bench, you are correct!
With 8.5 miles to go, we relaxed until about 4pm, filled up our water, and started out. A third of a mile brought us to the Mason Dixon, and finally into the North and Pennsylvania. No more South! We each snapped a quick pic, and then threw in some earbuds to listen to podcasts and hike at different paces. The gnats were really bad today, and the best thing to do is hide behind sunglasses so they don't dive into your eyes, and put in headphones so you don't have to hear their incessant buzzing. I tried soaking myself in bug spray early in the morning, but since it did nothing at all I threw it out at the next trash can. Why carry extra weight and coat yourself in poison if the bugs don't even care?
For the rest of the hike I listened to The Nerdist, with Levar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame (hilarious!), and Doug Loves Movies. Both of these are constant recommendations of Monica, and I was happy to finally have a chance to listen to the hour-plus long audio podcasts. It also gave me a fun new movie game to play on the trail.
These two podcasts brought me all the way to my shelter by 7pm, where I found a wonderfully novel setup. There are two smallish shelters, separated by a covered picnic table. One shelter says "Snorers" while the other says "Non-Snorers". Of course the non-snorer shelter already had two older gentlemen in it, and if I've learned anything out here, it's that all old men snore. So I jumped into the empty snorers shelter, because I think those old bastards are either lying, or live in blissful ignorance. Only time will tell.
While today had a big scare, it felt great to enter the North. Tomorrow has the makings of an awesome day at the pool, and we're only getting closer to the wedding. I can't wait to see family, and Mr. F can't wait to see Keith. Big things are coming, and at least so far big rocks and cumbersome falls can't stop them. Each step only brings us closer.