There's gliders in them thar woods!

For a second time, the Allenberry has been a great place to stay. Once we awoke from our slumber, I threw in a load of laundry, and we made our way to the breakfast buffet. Their sticky buns lived up to their reputation.
Chris couldn't get ahold of a taxi service willing to come out to Boiling Springs, so we waited in the lobby for his dad to arrive. He graciously gave me a lift back to where we got off the trail. We said our farewells, and I walked back into the woods. It's amazing how fast your perception of the trip changes the moment you go from a hiking troupe, to a single hiker.
It was only 6 miles before I'd be back, yet again, in Boiling Springs. I tried to push my speed back up and get these miles done quickly, using lunch in town as a motivator. It worked. It took me an hour and a half to arrive at the Cafe, and I spent an hour relaxing and eating there. By the time I started moving again it was already 3:30pm, and I had to make haste.
The trail was flat for many miles, which was nice, but also left me with nowhere to camp. I was hiking through corn fields, cow pastures, and meandering over streams. With no other option, I had to do another 14 miles to the next shelter.
I had high hopes that I'd find my trail legs fast, but knew I was also taking a bit of a chance doing that many miles that soon after a long break. It wasn't until the last couple of miles that I would realize it was too far.
The walk was very pretty, and I passed tons of day hikers out with their families. It's a popular area for hiking apparently, and another place where I was treated like a rock star. People honked and waved as driving by, children called out to their parents "Look it's a real hiker!", and old men stopped me to grill me about my experiences. It was a good day for moral, less so for my legs.
I trundled up the last mile back into the cliffs, arriving at the shelter just before it started getting dark. Following me to shelter there were NPR, and Switchback. I've met NPR once before, and heard of Switchback, so it was nice to see some actual thru-hikers again. We all relaxed and complained about aching joints as the sun vanished behind distant cliffs.
Just as I was tucking myself in to get some sleep, I heard a cacophony of scratching noises from somewhere in the darkness of the shelter. Typically I'd chalk this up to just another mouse, but it was so loud that I grabbed my headlamp for a peek. Looking up toward the ceiling I saw what I first thought was a flying squirrel, but quickly realized was a massive sugar glider! I yelled for the other hikers to check it out with me, as the little guy wandered about the beams, and eventually scurried away. I knew sugar gliders were out here (thank you NatGeo AT documentary), but never dreamed I'd see one. Even though my hamstrings, glutes, and lower back were on fire, seeing one of my favorite animals out here in the wild made the long hike worth it. So long as everyday ends with a similar thought, I expect to make it to Katahdin with a smile on my face!

Does a bear shit in the woods?

Once again I was awoken by a loud, wet, fart. This was immediately followed by the sound of a shocked and confused Chris. I did my best to not let my imagination run wild, and just went back to sleep. He told me the next morning that he startled himself with his gas, but didn't shit himself. Good news for all involved.
We didn't get started until 10:30am. Not the best start to a rough day. We began with a short, but incredibly steep ascent. Once summited, we entered the aptly named Rock Maze. This was a half mile ridge line up, over, twisting around a wild stone jungle. At this, Chris was genuinely feeling the challenge of a strenuous hike.
We dropped down to a road with a stream beside it, and Chris jumped into the pool of water there, desperate to cool off. By then it was already 2pm and we had only come 2 miles, so time was against us. With 6 miles remaining ahead, Chris and I decided to walk into Boiling Springs via the road, because that was going to be the end of his hike. He definitely didn't seem to be enjoying it at all by the end. Ironically his reason for leaving was the same as everyone who stops in their first week of attempting a thru-hike: "It wasn't what I was expecting".
Taking the road dropped the trip from 6 miles down to 4.5, with the hope of a hitch. We did get a bit of a push, as a local hiker shuttled us forward about a mile and a half, but otherwise we were hiking on hard pavement under a harsh sun. By the time we finally reached the Inn, Chris was stumbling and light-headed. Still, we made it up to the room, and flopped on our beds. Mission accomplished.
We enjoyed a bit of the Olympics while eating a delivered pizza. We also enjoyed showers, and relaxing in A/C. It all becomes so precious, so fast. After pizza, we went down to the bar to enjoy a boatload of free food (meats & cheeses, chicken satay, quiches, and eventually sushi), before ordering large dinners (italian on flatbread with fries, and steak & pasta). Our same bartender from the last stay at the Allenberry was serving us, and gave us free beer for being late with our orders (they weren't that late).
We then returned to the room, watched more tv, and eventually both dug into our food stores. If nothing else, on the final night Chris found his hiker appetite.

If you're gonna spew, spew into this

Strangely enough, last nights sleep was the best I've had since I got off the trail. I only woke up once during the night, because I heard what I thought was a bear defecating outside of my tent. It was just Chris farting though, to my great relief. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.
Before setting out, Chris adjusted his pack to raise the hip belt. The result was an external metal frame that doesn't press against his back. That small adjustment helped him immensely.
We had 3.5 miles to hike to the next shelter, which held the first available water source and a place to break for an early lunch. We made it in good time, and Chris celebrated by laying down in the shade of the shelter for an hour. He snacked, I ate in earnest, and we pressed on.
It was only another 1.8 to a road with a General Store / Deli. There I had a full lunch, while Chris attempted to eat for a hiker. We upped our food supplies, and walked back to the trailhead.
This was the part of the days hike that included a long ascent, and the Chris-guts were none too happy about that. About a mile into the climb I heard him starting to dry-wretch while he hiked. It wasn't long before the floodgates opened. He stood there, leaning on a tree, tossing up large pieces of hamburger sub, backpack on, like a hiker. With his cherry popped, I welcome him to the illustrious club of trail-puckers. It's not a very small club.
We lugged ourselves the rest of the way, bringing the days total miles hiked to 8.8, and set up camp. Water was filtered, dinners eaten, and bear bags hung. We discussed body odor. I believe I smell like a moldy towel, while Chris believes he smells like a wet dog. If it's possible to have more fun than this while miserable, I don't know how.
We have an optimistic goal of 8 miles for tomorrow, which would bring us to Boiling Springs. Since I was in that town before I know the quality of the Inn there, and we intend on taking advantage. So if we can make it 8 miles, our day will end with a shower, laundry, and comfortable beds. If not it'll end at a shelter before town, and we'll just go to Boiling Springs to resupply. Either way, I'm getting a soda while there.

Back to my filthy evil, I guess

After an extended vacation from my vacation, I'm back on the path of the beam. During my week and a half of not hiking I got a lot done. I finally saw Moonrise Kingdom (fantastic), The Dark Knight Rises (great), and my cousin Shannon getting married (joyous). There was also time spent with family and a couple of friends, and plenty of entertainment downloaded to my phone in anticipation of my return to the trail.
Chris gave me a ride back, with the plan of hiking with me until the 3rd of August. We left NJ around 11am on our journey to the AT museum and site of the half gallon challenge. It felt like so long ago, until the moment we pulled up. Then no time had passed at all.
We ate a small lunch, and found some extended parking to stash his Jeep before finally setting foot onto the trail. The plan was to hike 7.5 miles to the first shelter, but didn't start hiking until about 3pm. By 6pm we had come 3.8 miles and found a small nondescript campsite. As Chris was pretty beat, and a storm was very quickly blowing in, we decided to make camp with haste.
It was a very short day, but I'm just happy to be back out here. I lost one hiking partner, and gained a temporary one. That helps to make this seem like a whole new hike. We missed the rain last night, each huddled in our respective tents, but now have to push further today to make it into town. The need for food and water always helps to motivate. The sun is coming up in earnest now, so it's time to drag down the bear bags, stuff away my tent, and start being a hiker again. Damn, it feels good.
One last thing, since it's been a while since I've written one of these, I have to say thank you. Of course thank you Mom and Vince for picking Mr. Fantastic (now known as Tim) and me up from the trail. That was amazing, especially on short notice. Also thank you Vicky, Bill, and Melanie for your generous and needed donations. Without your help there would have been a strong chance that I couldn't have made it back out here. So thank you in advance for all the pain and fatigue you've granted me!
Now, back to hiking.