High Mileage

I got in with a group of guys moving pretty fast. Bamma, B, and Left Field are their names. I met Left Field back when I was hiking with Stucco, Neutron, and Xan. It was a ton of fun to see him again. We are done with Mass and are just about done with Vermont. Dalton, MA was a neat town and we met Tom there. He offered us a place to stay, gave us ice cream, let us shower, etc, etc. He helped us slack pack up and over Graylock. It was a long day, but was nice to know we were coming back to a bed and a shower.

Some people are critical of people moving fast on the trail because "you can't enjoy the trail experience." I have found that as I move faster I just enjoy different things than when I move slow. No I can't see the little beetles or the unique spots of the different fungi or watch the trees do their dance in the wind. I do notice the nuances within my body and I notice the affects of social pulls. You learn to appreciate different things. The relief at the end of the day is so much greater after a 30+ day than it is after a 20 mile day.

Anyhow, I'm doing big miles, I'm in the Green Mountains of Vermont, excited to get to the Whites, the end is in sight.

Mass.

Well, I only had to spend one whole day in CT and I'm now in MA. So far its been great! I crossed the 1500 mile mark! Its funny how at first the 100 mile mark is so significant, so is the 200 mile mark. Then the 460. Then the 700. then half way. Then 1500. Its been a while since I was super excited to cross a certain mile marker. So with less than 700 miles to go I'm feeling stronger than ever, I feel like I've got a real good balance between hiking and having a good time, and excited for what the rest of the trail has in store for me.

Yesterday

I was hiking with Marty McFly near Salisbury, CT and the trail goes along the road for a bit. We decided to go to town for a hot lunch (it has been raining quite a bit) and try to find a place to dry our clothes. As we walked along this lady started yelling at us. We couldn't hear because of the cars so we went over to her. She asked if we were looking for the trail. We responded "no we're trying to get to town to get some food. Do you know the fastest way there?" Well she said "you could either take this road here, or [throws the keys] you could take my car." We refused, she insisted. Marty, trying to convince her to not give us her car said "we need to find a coin laundry too, it'll just take too long." This was a sorry argument it turns out because she says "I've got one of those too" She had to leave for some physical therapy, left us her car and the keys to her house. All she asked us to do was to not pet the dog. I was shocked and amazed by her trust of two hiker bums on a rainy morning.

done with NY

So today I just finished NY and I'm started with a pretty good chunk of CT already. I'm moving slow but strong. CT has been great so far. Swimming holes, frequent easy food, and hopefully a shower or two. These are the things that make life awesome! I mean aside from hiking of course...

So Cheeseburger and Six Course are back a half day now and I caught back up with Trashman and Ohibro just this evening. The past few days I've been running with Bodacious. He always talks about how slow he is, but somehow always ends up right behind me. He's an experienced hiker (at least 7000 trail miles under his belt) and has a lot of good information. He's a real humble guy from east TN that works for the PGA. Boundless is still a good way ahead, but i'm moving well again and with a little effort on both of our parts, I might see him yet.

Its been hot, but not like before. Water has been more common in northern NY southern CT which is real nice. I have to keep moving to make Katadin by mid Aug.

NYC

So I finished NJ and it was awesome! Hiking through marshlands across boardwalk. It was easy hiking and there was a lot of ice cream to be found. On the 4th of July it was super hot so i called the next ice cream shop along the trail and they told me they were closing an hour early. I packed all my stuff real fast and hiked the 6.5 miles in just under 2 hours just so i could get some. It was awesome.

Anyhow, my friend Miranda told me I should call her mom and set up a time to come get a shower and maybe a bed for a night. So on the 6th I called her mom and she insisted on picking us up. It was an hour and a half drive for David (Miranda's dad) but he came anyhow. I have met up with a couple of fellows; Cheeseburger and Six Course. We ate like kings and found out that it was going to be hotter the next day so we decided to ride the train into NYC in the morning. We saw the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Times Square, Empire State Bldg, etc. We watched Germany lose to Spain (much to Cheeseburger's dismay- he's from Germany). And saw people! It was great.

Today we did some work around the house (brought a fridge from a neighbor's house and switched trailors for their boats after figuring out how to get air in the tires) and worked on knocking down some of the bever dam nearby. As part of our plan to destroy the dam Cheeseburger suggested getting some guns. This sparked a trip to the local gun range and our sheltered German friend shot his first .22. While we were there I talked to a fellow who was shooting a 1911 .45 and asked him if my buddy could shoot it and showed him his target. He said yes. It was awesome. I got some awesome film of him. It was tons of fun. But that means 2 zeros. I never felt so good about it though!

Anyhow, its' bloody hot, but i feel good. The rest has been great and I am just amazed yet again at how much people are willing to do to help people live their dreams. Life is good.