Date: 2015-06-03
From: David Lesser Memorial Shelter

To: Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: light rain

I woke up at 4 a.m. to pee, heading out into the drizzle with my umbrella, to find that union suit guy was messing around in the pavilion with his headlamp on. What a strange dude. I have no idea what he was doing there. I have no idea what he was doing at that shelter, or even on the trail. He said he was "studying". Very weird.I tried to go right back to sleep but my right big toe was bothering me. It did the same thing the night before, waking me because of the throbbing. I suspected an ingrown toenail, or that maybe just too much sock lint had gotten crammed under my toenail from weeks of hiking. I cleaned it out a little and applied antibiotic ointment.5 a.m. came as it always does... But at least the rain had stopped. Still, it was wet and chilly. Fun stuff. I had left my tent out all night, draped over the shelter porch in the hopes that it might actually dry overnight. Ha. Haha. Hahahah. It just ended up even more soaked. Some of the mud might have washed off, though. At least there was that.I tried to pack up kind of quickly so that we could leave early to meet Chris's parents at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters. But I was soooo tired. I need like an entire day to sleep. Maybe a week. I never can get enough.I took a while to eat my brick of cold oatmeal, and the spring was like 769 miles away (not really, just 0.25, but that is freaking far enough, it felt like it took a week to go fill my water bottle). We still left the shelter before 6:30, though, speeding not only because of our desire to start (and especially end) the day's hike early, but also because we really wanted to avoid conversing with union suit guy. He is hard of hearing, so you basically have to scream in his face. I don't want to scream at 6 a.m., I just want to crawl back in my sleeping bag. I still think it's a miracle Chris didn't kill the man. Imagine the headline: Man wearing red union suit found dead in woods, impaled by trekking pole.We set off quickly, again anticipating flat, easy, fast miles. We stooped after a road crossing, exactly three miles from the shelter, for a break. We were making good time. We might actually be able to get there around 9, Chris thought.Ha.Hahahahahahah.The next miles of trail were ROCKY. My toe hurt so badly on the feet tenderizing trail Some parts were so rocky that it felt like I was constantly stubbing my toe. It was NOT fun. I wanted to cry. I felt exhausted and weak and lethargic. At second break time, I ate about six snacks and told Chris, "I'm ready to be done."The last miles always pass slowly. I estimate the miles left. I estimate the time of arrival, the minutes of hiking left. Less than three miles now. Less than an hour, I can do that. That side trail means only 1.9 miles left! So 9:35. Forty minutes. Half an hour... One more mile! 0.4 miles, according to the sign at the road. WHERE IS IT?! IT'S BEEN TEN MINUTES, WE SHOULD BE THERE. THAT SIGN LIED. WHERE THE HECK AM I?!But I always make it somehow. Red Panda never gives up! Well, at least she always reaches shelter or a campsite....So we made it to HQ! We got our pictures taken in front of the building (which is tradition!) and put in the big binder of hikers, 2015 edition. I was originally going to be number 399, but then the girl realized she had missed someone, so now I am 400, which I like much better. It is nice and round and even.It makes me wonder how many thru-hikers actually stop there, because I was number 911 to register at the bottom of Springer Mountain. I know that quite a few people on the trail didn't even register there. Some registered online or just started hiking without signing in at Amicalola.So who knows how many hikers travel the 0.2 miles off the AT to the ATC HQ. It is a neat little place, though. Harpers Ferry is an amazing little historical town. Very educational. I originally wanted Mom and Dan to meet me here to visit, but they ended up choosing a weekend so much earlier, they had to travel much farther. It works out better anyway since I am going home this weekend so I get to see them AGAIN. AND CANDACE AND TAIKI. I can't wait.Chris found his parents, who are SO NICE. They invited me to tag along with them for the day. Originally, I had been planning on doing chores and then continuing to hike out of town to the next shelter before dark. It wasn't too far... like six or seven miles. But my goddamn toe HURT, and I was worried about making it worse, so I decided a nero was in order. Besides, I really needed to dry my tent. Really. Soaked. Plus there was the benefit of mom hugs. I was telling Chris the other day how much I miss getting hugs, especially hugs from my mom. But today I got hugs from Chris's mom. Nowhere near as good as hugs from my mom, but acceptable. I can't wait for hugs from my mom.So we explored the hiker lounge at ATC HQ and I ate a dozen of Chris's mom's homemade cookies. Funk arrived and we all chatted out front. AND GUESS WHO SHOWED UP?! TALL GAITERS. I was so excited. I thought that I would never see him again! He was supposed to be finished with his section hike and on his way home. I ran inside and brought some cookies back out for him. Tall Gaiters is like an inside joke with Chris, Funk, and I now. I will miss you, Tall Gaiters!I also picked up my next mail drop at the ATC HQ, and ate the Goldfish from Trail Mentor Alexa that were inside (even though I was full of cookies). ALSO inside my big old box of grub and TP was a card from Uncle Fran and Aunt Bonnie. It is the BEST card. So perfect for my situation. It has a picture of a judgmental-looking cat on the front, and the words, "Taco knows how long its been since you washed that bra you're wearing.". The inside reads, " You disgust Taco." It definitely made me laugh, especially since the last time I did laundry was MEMORIAL DAY. I kind of want to die just thinking about it. That's like... more than seven days of bra nastiness. Forget taco, I disgust MYSELF. Thank you for the much-needed laugh, Fran and Bonnie!ALSO (my life is so great... I love mail drop days), I got two dark chocolate cookie butter candy bars. I gave one to Chris since he is the one who introduced me to the amazing things. I really like chocolate. A lot. A real lot. Hahahah. Thanks for the candy,, Aviary!The rest of the day contained chores. The outfitter was horrible. They didn't have fuel for my stove and couldn't help Chris with his broken trekking pole. I got an excellent shower and clean laundry, though. I checked the label of my rain jacket to find the wash instructions and Chris said, "You can wash that. And you SHOULD." Okay then. POINT TAKEN, I AM DISGUSTING.More chores! I dried my tent (yay!) by pitching it inside, and tried to wipe off as much of the dirt as possible. I spread out basically every item in my pack to dry a little. I sorted my food. All the usual boring chores. I HATE CHORES. CHORES CHORES CHORES. ALL RED PANDA WANTS TO DO IN TOWN IS EAT PIZZA, BATHE, AND SLEEP.l also tried to take a nap but had trouble sleeping on this uncomfortable plasticy hotel couch. I think it took Chris two seconds to fall asleep. I wish I could sleep that well. It always seems to take me forever to fall asleep.Chris seemed like he was waiting for his parents to return from Harpers Ferry before ordering dinner, but at one point just decided he was too hungry to wait longer. He asked me to help him find a place that would deliver, and started searching on his phone. I pulled over the hotel binder. "What do you want?" I asked, flipping through it. "Salad? Pizza?"One menu advertised an extra large pizza. EXTRA LARGE. We were sold. Pizza and salad were ordered.In reality it was NOT extra large. It wasn't even large. We opened the box and roared in disappointed frustration. The toppings were so skimpy, too! Not that any of that stopped us from devouring it.I also ate about fifty more homemade cookies. The same mistake I always make. I am terrified to weigh myself when I go home, especially after my M&M trail mix and overindulgence in ice cream through Shenandoah National Park. I feel sick and still so exhausted. But also warm and dry and wonderful.TIME FOR BED, AND HOPEFULLY SLEEP.I am thankful for pizza gifts and food and rest for my feet and Chris's super nice parents and the fact that I will be home in THREE DAYS. That is, if I can figure out where I will be in three days so I can tell dad where to pick me up.