Date: 2013-08-08
To: St Mary's Hiker Hostel, Cheshire, MA
Miles today: 18.4

The rain fell all night last night. I could hear it hitting the plastic sheet draped across the ceiling. The droplets would consolidate and then fall to the carpet with a heavy thump. Luckily, I woke up perfectly moisture-free except for sweat. It was hot. I got up at 6:00 am, ready to get moving and get out of there. But first there was the morning "business" to attend to. I knew that toilet didn't work, which posed a problem. I don't generally make it a habit of defecating in stranger's flowerbeds, but I didn't really have much of a choice this morning. I crept around the edge of the house and found the most remote corner of the lot. I dug a hole like a cat and crouched down hoping that the passing cars wouldn't see me and stop in to warn the owner that the hikers were shitting in their bushes again. Yeah, it was time to get out of there. I skipped the morning bowl of granola and just shoved handfuls of GORP into my mouth as I hoofed it back to the trail head. Luckily, the previous day's rocks and roots and PUDS seemed to disappear. I trucked away, sniffing the cool moist balsam filled air. My left foot was hurting pretty bad; it still hasn't recovered from Pennsylvania. I'm not sure it ever will. The scenery was kind of blah, so I stayed in my head. I thought a lot about Tom. I played out all the different possible reunion scenarios in my head. I ended up crying at the end of just about every one. The spiders were busy last night, and cleared out the spider webs with my face. I hate that feeling. The bugs are out in force today. For some reason, they all seemed to be aimed at my left ear. I had to dig out at least 8. Finally, I put on my head net. Before I realized it, I was in Dalton. I had made terrific time. I walked up to Tom Lombardi's without realizing that's where I was at. I saw some familiar faces on the porch- Hipsy Gypsy, Oak, Snot-rocket, and Walk Hard. We exchanged stories of adventures and misadventures. Snot-rocket had also ended up at the Cookie Lady's house and got to mow an acre of blueberry patch. He was covered in blueberry mush by the end of it, but she was out of cookies. Bummer. I headed to a sandwich joint and ate lunch and got a sandwich to go. I finished my resupply at a convenience store. A customer asked me about my hike. It turns out, he's thru-hiked a few years before. I headed out of town and back up into the woods. I passed a few SOBOers, and they gave me messages to pass on to some of their buddies behind them. The trail climbed steadily, but it was an easy climb. I came upon a group of hikers-Shady, Cat Lady, Splash and Bojangles. I thought one of them was playing music off their IPhone, then I realized it was Cat Lady. Someone had surprised Splash with a ukelele (He still doesn't know who it was), and Cat Lady was playing and singing for everyone's enjoyment. It was beautiful. She has the voice of an angel. Shady stood up and gave me a hug and whispered some sad news in my ear. He thought I'd understand in a way that the others might not. Then he pulled out a bottle of Jim Beam and offered me a swig (I'd shared my bottle of scotch with him back in Falls Village, CT). I accepted. And then something crazy happened. All my aches and pains went away. I'd also eaten 400 mg of ibuprofen at lunch, but whatever the reason, I felt much better. I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about Shady and his friend, and about Tom. Just when you think you have something figured out the universe throws you a curve ball. I walked into Cheshire a little before 5:00 pm. I checked out the map to find out where the hostel was at, and I was just about to charge into the Methodist Church when the next door neighbor popped his head out of the door. The Catholic Church was a few houses down; the map was wrong. I wondered how many hikers had tugged at their doors. He also told me that there was a funeral going on, so be sure to go around back. I thanked him for the heads up. The fellowship hall was full of people, so I was hesitant to go in. Luckily, the caterer came out and told me where the "hiker rooms" were. Catnap, Pressure-D, Green Blaze, Twigs and Guru were already there. I also met Rock-Dancer, a previous thru-hiker and two-time section hiker. It was his birthday, and he invited a few of us out to a restaurant to celebrate. I took a bath in the sink in the bathroom and washed out some clothes. My pack and dirty shirt have rubbed a patch on my right shoulder completely raw. After I got cleaned up, we walked down to the Bass Water Grill for a lovely dinner. It involved a glass of white wine, sauted scallops and tiramisu. Rock-Dancer told us all about the Whites (I'm pretty scared of them), and he gave us some good pointers. I tried to call Tom when I got back to the hostel, but there was no answer. I texted with Pathfinder. She and Blackhawk are a few days behind. I also found out that Redspecs is off the trail with an injury. That makes me sad. There's also a rumor that its supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'm not sure how early I'll get out. We shall see. So now I'm sleeping on the floor of the cafeteria/fellowship hall. I'm happy to be here. To have a solid, dry roof over my head and a functioning, flushing toilet only a few dozen feet away. Thank you, AT.