Date: 2015-06-09
From: Home

To: Toms Run Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Saddest morning. I did not get enough twin hugs before Candace and Taiki departed to catch the train into New York City. You can never have enough twin hugs. She cried more than I did. but when I was walking the trail this afternoon, and it really hit me that I probably won't see her for at least another year, and that she might live in Japan FOREVER and we might be separated 99.9% of our lives. And then I REALLY cried. Trail therapy time.And after I said goodbye to my sister and future brother, I had to say goodbye to mom and Dan. HORRIBLE MORNING. Waddles came to say goodbye, too, climbing up the screened back door to get our attention.Mom and I headed out into the morning rain and I gently placed Gertrude into the backseat of my car. "I'll be home soon!" I reminded her. Connecticut isn't so far away now. A few more weeks and I will be close enough so mom and Dan can drive down on the weekend and have pizza with me. The thing is, they love me enough that they would actually do that, drive two hours to eat dinner with me. I am the luckiest panda on the trail.I picked up my dad, who gave me homemade oatmeal raisin cookies. Seriously, luckiest person on the trail. I didn't tell him that my food bag is already full of M&Ms and that I need to go on a diet of less sugar and more protein... I just took those cookies and lamented the inevitable... I will be Roly Poly Panda instead of Red Panda by the time I reach Katahdin.I really am going to try to consume less sugar, though. I will still eat M&Ms every single day, without a doubt. However, I will try to exercise a little more restraint and enjoy them in moderation. Besides, I also have Japanese cookies, Lindt chocolate from dad, and Dove chocolate-covered cranberries from Dan (if you haven't tried these, you should... be warned that they are super addictive though). Oh, and homemade cookies.Do you now understand my dilemma?! I am SWIMMING in candy! I can't escape it! How can I have so much and not eat it?I really do need to be careful, though. I need to fit in that dress! I have decided that I will be opting out of the half-gallon challenge. Traditionally, when you reach the Pine Grove General Store, you eat a half gallon of ice cream to celebrate traversing half of the trail. The store is about 7.4 miles north of this year's halfway point. The "challenge" is to eat the entire half gallon in an hour. Not much of a challenge, if you ask me.I don't think my thighs could take a half gallon of ice cream. I have so many other delicious treats in my 654 pound food bag that I can feast on instead, anyway.Okay, back to today's timeline... I picked up dad plus cookies around 6 and we hit the road. It took just over six hours to get back to the trail. Dad and I talked for a while and then he read his book (I miss having time to read! Basically all of my free time at night goes to journal time). Around 10 o'clock, he decided to take a nap. He snored a little at one point. I WAS SO JEALOUS. I WANT TO TAKE A NAP! The air conditioning is broken, so I was hot and tired and struggling to stay awake. No nap for me, though. I just got to drive and drive and drive.I do like driving, actually, so it wasn't really THAT bad. My car is fun to drive (dad apparently thinks the same thing, according to the text he sent me tonight). Plus the time went by surprisingly fast. It was really nice to spend some quality time with my dad, too, even though by the time we arrived at the park I was ready to yell "HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE, DAD!" because he keeps telling me, "If I were hiking, I'd use foot powder every night.", and I keep telling him that I don't want to.Seriously, though, my dad is the best. He took two whole days to pick me up and bring me back to the trail. He bought me my awesome umbrella. The man made me HOMEMADE cookies. I couldn't ask for a better daddy.It has been weird to drive after spending so much time hiking. I had to get used to the friction point of the clutch of my car again when we went shopping yesterday. And a car is such an efficient method of travel! I do enjoy loudly singing to a blasting stereo, which I find cathartic, but I think the trail is better for introspection and therapy.We had sandwiches for lunch before hugs and parting ways in the parking lot. Dad kept trying to spot white blazes through the trees and kept asking me where the trail went. I had no idea. I just knew where I had to go yo get back where I left off. I had no clue about where it went north from there. Turns out I had to walk back like 100 yards from where I had parked. Go figure.Getting back on the trail sucks. Yellow Bird and I commiserated about this today. I ran into her collecting water when I stopped to do the same. She had taken a few days off to rest because of her shin pain problems. We agreed that the first miles back on the trail after taking a break SUCK. You start to think, "Why am I doing this, again?"But after a few miles, your body warms up. Your feet remember the trail. The time starts to slip by instead of dragging. You notice the beauty of the trail around you more, appreciating the breeze through the trees and the scent of pine on the wind. You melt back into the hiking pace and the magic comes back.That's how it was for me today. I started out uphill, my calves and shins tight and sore like they always are after zeros and neros (though not as bad as the last few times... maybe it was good that my legs got at least a little movement from driving to warm them up).I also passed a turkey today with a bunch of little baby turkeys! It would have been a more touching encounter if momma turkey wasn't coming at me in attack mode. That's right. I almost got attacked by a TURKEY today. It came at me, wings out and everything. I have no idea what it thought it was going to do to me. Peck me? Scratch me? I could totally take on that turkey. I did admire its courage, though. Still, I didn't really WANT to. I brandished a trekking pole and yelled at it as I continued up the trail. It backed off as I got farther away. Another interesting wildlife encounter to add to my list.The trail was sooo pretty today. Mountain Laurel is blooming everywhere. It is gorgeous. The weather today was gorgeous, too! It was a perfect day to pass the halfway point. The signpost was almost easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. I was alone when I reached it... no hiking companion to take my picture today. So I pulled my panda off of my pack to add to my picture as proof of my presence.Halfway. Can you believe it? 1094.6 miles. Crazy. The landmarks just keep on flying by. It seems like just yesterday I was climbing up Albert Mountain to the 100 mile mark. Crazy how fast the time goes and how easy the M&Ms turn to butt fat.I reached my destination shelter just around 6 o'clock... not a bad ending time. And I arrived to so many familiar faces! Chris, Coco, and Magnus were sitting and eating dinner with Obi-Wan. I plunked down next to Chris and shared the leftover fruits and vegetables from Sunday's picnic that I had hauled around all day. "I can't believe all of you guys are here!" I said happily. They may not be as good as my twin, but I was still happy to be in the company of friends tonight. We were missing Funk, though. Who knows where he is now. I don't know if he ended up taking time off to spend with family near Caledonia or not.I also shared some of my maple sugar candy, which daddy bought me at Cracker Barrel on the way home on Saturday. I love maple sugar candy. I knew Chris would appreciate it, too, as a fellow New Englander. Coco and Magnus had NEVER EATEN MAPLE SUGAR CANDY. Makes me wonder what amazingly delicious things I have been missing out on...Qui-Gon (who I passed sitting beside the trail earlier in the day) and Yellow Bird arrived later. Two section hikers are also present here tonight. It was a night of catching up and conversation in front of the shelter before everyone dispersed to their respective tents/hammocks.I was kind of anxious that I might run into Columbo (okay, SUPER anxious) on the trail today, because I know he is in this neck of the woods (Get it?! We're in the woods! Hahaha. I am laughing. I am also like dead tired and going crazy, though.). But drama has been avoided for at least another day. I have been reading his trail journal occasionally, and found an article about his hike test we day his hometown newspaper (thanks, Google!) It is very cute.Now I get to sleep! I am glad to be back on the trail but also so sad, because Candace is sending me pictures from New York and I miss her. I MISS YOU. I have to remember to buy a lottery ticket.I am thankful for my wonderful daddy, for long drives and oatmeal cookies. I am thankful for technology to keep in touch with my sister. I am thankful for 1094.6 wonderful miles of adventure and wonderful memories (though I am terrified, at the same time, by the speed at which the end is approaching). I am thankful to be around friends tonight. I am a sad enough panda after leaving my family behind. If I was all alone tonight, I would probably just be rolling around my tent, bawling.Also, I want to say that I am thankful for all of the supportive guestbook comments. I wish I had the time and battery to respond to all of them. I am psyched that so many people are sharing my adventure (also really glad that there is a chance I am not a huge bitchy hiking panda). When I started, I really didn't expect to journal regularly. I thought it would be annoying. Sometimes it is, but I also love it because it helps me remember and process everything I experience in a day. Most of all, I want to be able to go back in five years and actually remember the details of my hike.It is also just fun to share the adventure. I had a lot of fun talking to Carol and Eddie at the picnic the other day. Talking to people about my adventure is fun... there is always another crazy story to tell (also, I am thankful for the pizza money they gave me!! THANKS, YOU GUYS!).I know that some people don't or can't hike... and I am glad I can share the experience with you (my experience, at least). I hope you can enjoy some trail therapy, too.