Date: 2015-06-02
From: Morgan Mill Stream

To: David Lesser Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: light rain

ONE THOUSAND MILE LANDMARK: CHECK.I woke up with blister lips and was DAMP. SO DAMP.Actually, I wasn't so bad. My ThermaRest nicely insulated me from the sodden bottom and sides of my tent. I used my new fleece liner in my sleeping bag and it was like a soft fluffy dream. I am pleased with the purchase, especially since it is cold and rainy again.I only had to get up to pee in the rain TWICE. Not bad. And with the weather the last two days, I am SO GLAD I have my umbrella. It doesn't match Gertrude as well as it matched blue Bertha which is a bummer... but it is so useful for pee trips and setting up in the rain.So I packed up my stuff, which had mostly kept dry, and awkwardly stuffed it all into Gertrude while in the vestibule of my tent, struggling a bit trying to hold my umbrella up with my chin, and my head, and my shoulder.And last, I packed my saturated tent, which weighed about ten times as much as usual with all of the water weight and mud, and shoved it in Gertrude in preparation for another rainy hike.We decided not to get water at the stream we camped next to. It was kind of dirty from the rush of rainwater. My dinner last night included a bit of muddy stream water, but I didn't really feel like drinking mud all day if I could avoid it.So we stopped at the next stream, a mile away. It was chilly, and we were tired and slow like we always are in the morning. Chris proposed that we stop at the next shelter, less than two and a half miles away, and have hot chocolate. An excellent plan, in my opinion. He was nice enough to boil water for me so I didn't have to dig my cook set out of the bottom of my pack. We tapped our pots together in celebration of the upcoming 1000 mile mark (only 0.1 miles past the shelter) and drank to warm up. We checked the guidebook and found that there was no good place to stop for lunch out of the rain. The only structure between our hot cocoa shelter and the shelter we were aiming to stay the night at was the PATC's Blackburn AT Center, which was like ten miles away. Too far for a convenient lunch stop. Sucky. So we ate an extra large morning snack and planned to eat a late lunch.After our hot cocoa stop, we set out again into the rain. We passed the 1000 mile mark but paused only for a brief high five before pressing on into the rain. We didn't even take pictures, since our phones were buried in our packs, safe and dry. The sooner we reached shelter, the sooner we could be dry and out of the rain. Stupid rain. It was cold. I wore my raincoat, turning into a human greenhouse, sweltering so much on the uphills of the Roller Coaster (we had the last ten miles today) that I was dripping sweat out of my sleeves. The outside of my jacket was probably drier than the inside. But on the downhills, I was freezing without it on.We stopped for a snack around lunch time, tired and worn out from the wet and the feet-tenderizing stretches of trail. Clank, headed to Harpers Ferry, passed us with a greeting and a comment about the mega M&Ms in the trail mix I was eating.We had less than eight miles to the shelter, and decided we should just head straight there so we could be done for the day, dry out, rest, have dinner, and maybe go to bed early.But once we reached the side trail, I knew I needed a break. I felt dehydrated. We only had a little more than three miles left to hike for the day. I didn't really want to leave the trail, adding miles to the day's total, but my feet were screaming "DANG IT, RED PANDA, WE NEED A FREAKING BREAK ALREADY. SIT THE HELL DOWN." So when we paused, I told Chris about my desire to change the plan.And so we descended the 0.27 (they actually put that specific distance on the sign to the side trail) to the Blackburn Center. And Funk was there! He thew a jar of caramel peanut butter to Chris, the peanut butter king. We sat and ate peanut butter and loosened our shoelaces and talked about Tall Gaiters, who Funk sheltered with last night. Apparently he was section hiking and is now off the trail. No more Tall Gaiters... I'm a little sad. He added intrigue to my hike.Funk set off for Harpers Ferry while Chris and I cooked oatmeal. We had been eating nothing but snacks all day and needed real food.The caretakers arrived and offered to make us tea, which was wonderful, because I was freezing, even with my rain jacket on. The tea helped, and they also gave me a square of delicious ginger cake. I was glad we took the time for the break. Even though we didn't get to the shelter until 6, we needed the rest. Plus we filled our water bottles there, and got to chat not only with Funk and the awesome caretakers, but some other hikers.We are sharing the shelter with a very strange and annoying man who keeps talking about the Green Party, even though we told him we aren't interested in politics. He is wearing fingerless gloves and a red union suit and is clearly more than a little nuts. He made some comment about the "red" part of my trail name having something to do with communism (I had to politely explain to him that red pandas are REAL ANIMALS). For some reason he just KEPT ON TALKING about the stupidest things even though Chris and I clearly were not interested in engaging in conversation.Chris and I are both tired and grumpy and, when going to hang our food bags on the bear pole, expressed our shared desire to knock the guy out. "We can just go back and put in our headphones and ignore him." I suggested. Still, we procrastinated about returning to the shelter, sitting on a super cool swing under a pavilion nearby for a few minutes before heading back to crawl in our bags.I am thankful that I am not stuck alone in this shelter with the crazy union suit man. I am thankful that I have made it a THOUSAND miles. Tomorrow, Harpers Ferry and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters await! Also Chris's parents, who apparently might be bringing BROWNIES.I CANNOT WAIT TO DO LAUNDRY.