Date: 2011-06-01
From: Iron Master's Mansion Hostel

To: Tammy's House
Miles today: 0.0

(In which I celebrate the second half of my hike with a new pace and my first zero)Today is the first day of the rest of my hike.Having hiked the first half of the trail in just under two months, I've decided that I would like a different trail experience for the second half. Several times so far I've had the intention to slow down, but have always found myself pulled back into the fast lane by the ever returning sense of hiking urgency. Though I've enjoyed the trail at this pace, and think that I would enjoy the second half at the same pace as well, I already know what that experience is like.Because simply having the vague intention to slow down hasn't worked, I am making a new challenge for myself: finishing the trail in the second half of August or later, no earlier than August 16th. Finishing at the end of August would require taking three months on the second half of the trail, fifty percent longer than the first half. Since I've tried to slow down so many times before, I realize how ambitious this goal may be, but hope that by making it public I will have a specific target to achieve.Buffalo, who started just a few days before me and has been traveling at the same pace, has been having the same thoughts of slowing down, and crossing the halfway point and getting a sore ankle on his four state challenge have convinced him to give it a shot as well. We start calling him "Buffaslow" to commemorate the new pace, and I try to come up with a name for my new slow identity, but nothing obvious comes to mind.* * *Buffalo, German Shepherd, Cayenne and I all return to the lake to hang out, and spend the morning sitting in the shade, talking, laughing, and watching the beach. Lemur shows up carrying a half gallon of chocolate ice cream, having decided to try the half gallon challenge after all, even though he just ate a large breakfast. We all cheer Lemur on as he tackles the ice cream, but with an already full stomach, he makes slow progress. After thirty minutes he's finished just over half of the container and lays face down on his z-rest sleeping pad to try to avoid throwing up. A thirty minute rest quells his nausea just enough that he can drink the remaining pint, give a weak thumbs up and collapse back on his mat.While Buffalo, German Shepherd and Lemur are out in the lake swimming, a middle aged woman strikes up a conversation with the dashing, shirtless hikers and ends up offering us all a place to stay for the night at her house four miles up the road, though she doesn't think she can drive us all. We discuss the offer back at the shade of the picnic table. Cayenne and I are all for it, though we haven't yet met the woman, eager for the opportunity to spend time with one of the locals. German Shepherd says that he's thinking of hiking back out on the trail rather than walk the four miles off trail, and Buffalo says that he's thinking of hiking out also. I manage to convince Buffalo to follow through on the Buffaslow plan, being open to new experiences and give the stranger's hospitality a shot, and once he caves then German Shepherd and Lemur decide to come too.We have the address of the house, but need to stop at the ranger station for directions. While Lemur goes in to ask, Cayenne meets Jen, a wilderness guide instructor who happens to be in the parking lot and offers us all a ride. We all squeeze together with our packs inside the Nissan Maxima. Buffalo, German Shepherd, Lemur and I all cram into the back seat with all of our packs except German Shepherd's, the largest, which we strap to the roof rack. We giggle at the absurdity of being packed so tightly as we drive down the road, and tell each other our stories of being similarly crammed in the back of Bob People's pickup truck.At our destination we tumble out of the car and meet our host Tammy, who was just about to drive out to find and start shuttling us. Tammy is a gracious host, and shows us around her house, guest cabin, large screened-in pavilion and renovated garage. We set down our packs and sit down on the large couch in one of Tammy's two living rooms. After Tammy learns that most of us are looking for some beer, she offers to drive us down to the beer distributor and give us a tour of the nearby town of Carlisle along the way. It turns out that all of us fit in Tammy's car, with its three front seats, and we all get to see more of small town America from her car than any of us have on the whole trip so far.Back at Tammy's we make dinner -- Tammy prepares the meat, Buffalo and German Shepherd grill it, I make a grilled cheese, and I bake brownies for desert. With almost all of our clothes in Tammy's washer, most of the guys go shirtless. Sitting in a stranger's home in minimal clothing, it feels like the normal barriers and expectations of social interactions have disappeared, and that our hiking and Tammy's trail magic have created the opportunity for a rare connection between people who would not normally get to spend time together. We eat, we look through Tammy's photographs and listen to her stories, we play chinese checkers and eat brownies. Tammy puts an LP on her turntable and we talk, we laugh, we dance and we lounge, and I think it's fair to say that we all have one of the best nights of the trail.