Date: 2009-07-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 253.0

Dear readers,It has been an exciting week, full of state lines, rain, and mosquitos. The one dry day we've had in what feels like weeks was when I wrote my last entry from the Vernon hostel. It was hot and sunny. Thrilled to be able to dry out my shoes for the first time in who knows when, I left them outside in the sun. I forgot about them and the next morning it poured for a brief ten minutes. Pissed, I once again put on soggy shoes before I had even left town. Lesson learned.The trail has been a muddy mess. Afternoon thunderstorms plague us daily. If it's not raining, it's humid (so nothing dries) and the mosquitos are out in full force. My shoes are never dry. Luckily, shelters haven't been full so I've been able to set up my tent inside the shelter to avoid the worry of mosquitos. The benefit of having a free-standing tent! Having an extra set of clothes to change into at camp has been priceless these past few weeks. Ultra-light backpackers might turn their nose up at having "extras" but putting on a dry t-shirt and shorts at camp after a day of hiking in the rain is pure heaven. I am also thankful for 4 pairs of socks (I added one when my parents came) so that I have a dry pair for camp and 3 to hike in. Every day the socks get wet since they go directly into wet shoes and I HATE putting on wet socks in the morning. And dirty wet socks smell ATROCIOUS. Doesn't this all sound so fun?Mosquitos:37, Wags: 2The war is on. I killed two in my tent the other night. I plan on picking up some 98% DEET at REI this weekend because I'm not convinced my 30% is doing the trick. It's scary when 98-100% DEET becomes the norm- which seems to the be case for thru-hikers. At first, I cared about putting harsh chemicals on my body, but my desire to beat the mosquitos has taken precedence. While hiking, I frequently find myself reminiscing about the childhood book "Why Mosquitos Buzz in Peoples Ears" because that is the WORST. I think I will invent some ear nets made out of netting with little elastic circles to put around your ear. Summer ear muffs! I like it! Every now and then Gangsta hears me explode with a "GET AWAY YOU $#!*% MOSQUITOS" as I cover my head in frustration. Don't ask me how I have bites on the sole of my foot right now.New York was beautiful! Who knew there was so much elevation change!? Nobody talks about the trail through NJ/NY. It sometimes seemed like AT no-man's-land. The boring middle section before the cool stuff in the north. Well, aside from the mud, I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite there being way more climbing than I anticipated. My hips and butt were sore for the first time since Georgia! Good prep for the Whites... We encountered some fabulous trail magic the day before Bear Mountain State Park last week. John and Susan had 8 thru-hikers back to their house for a delicious dinner, laundry, and showers. It was a fun crew consisting of Saint, WindUp, Loon, Hot Sauce, Double Vision, Jukebox Hero, Gangsta and me. Their hospitality was incredible and while the other 6 spent the night and had a wonderful breakfast, Gangsta and I grudgingly departed at 7:30pm with full bellies for a fun night time adventure. We had to be at Bear Mt. State Park by lunch the next day to meet a friend of G's, and that was 17 miles away. We pulled into camp shortly after 10 to find three guys probably in their late twenties out for the night from Brooklyn. They EACH had their own 2 person tent set up inside the 8 person shelter so they took up the entire thing. We spent the next 20 minutes looking for a flat spot to pitch our tents. We were irritated to say the least. They seemed surprised to see two females show up so late at night and asked us if we had been hiking. The smartass side of me wanted to say we took the train to the shelter, but I refrained. They were also having a hard time getting a fire going and my cocky bow-drilling self wanted to get it going for them, but it was late and we needed to get to bed, so I let it go. Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain State Park were beautiful! Who knew there was such pretty wilderness so close to NYC. I don't feel quite as bad for those who live in that concrete jungle. We hiked by a sign that said NYC 34 miles and it felt pretty crazy, knowing we started in GA. I now refer to Bear Mountain SP as the "land of recognition". Gangsta and I encountered four people who recognized us from TJ that day. It's always fun to run into people who have been following our journals and is certainly a boost to our ego. Sometimes its weird to run into people who know all about me, but I guess that comes with the territory of keeping an account of my experiences on TJ. So far, it's been nothing but a positive experience and it's always fun to meet some of my followers. Bear Mountain also kind of reminded me of Disney World, but that's a relative term. There were HORDES of people (it was a Sunday). Actually, there was more diversity in one glance at Bear Mountain than I have seen on the entire trail, so maybe I should compare it to Epcot Center. It's awesome to see so many people from the city getting outside, although it's funny to think Bear Mountain is "getting away from it all" for them, but at least there's green. Yes, I was walking on the AT, following white blazes, through a zoo while eating Dippin' Dots, surrounded by thousands of people. The Appalachian Trail- a true wilderness experience. This brings me to the Trailside zoo. I have heard that it can be emotionally difficult for a thru-hiker to walk through the zoo after being so accustomed to seeing the animals in their wild habitats, and it's true, it was. All of the animals were in cages the size of a small bedroom, and were lying there bored out of their minds, as if sedated, oblivious to the tourists staring and pointing at them through the fence. It was sad. I know the bald eagle has a wing injury and could not survive on it's own in the wild, but I don't know about the other animals. A few days prior we had seen a fox playfully darting in a field. Before me was a fox lying like a dog on a rug... was it even alive? And the bears... oh man, dont' even get me started. They were in a big concrete pen with a couple bouncy balls and a babypool-esque pond. I have seen 8 bears on the AT thus far, each of them more lively and happier than any of these and all they have are trees and room to roam! Apparently material possessions, such as bouncy balls, don't make one happy. It was depressing to say the least.It's been a long week for Gangsta and I. We were pulling a lot of 20 mile days, or getting to camp well past dark due to daytime off-trail adventures. We are at mile 1,455 and passed the 2/3 mark yesterday! It's so exciting - I can't believe how far north we've come! When looking at the long map, we don't have very much left ahead of us. In less than two weeks time, we'll be in Vermont. Thoughts of Katahdin are slowly beginning to creep into the forefront of my mind more and more frequently. I try to push them away, but it's hard. It feels so close... yet so far. We still have around 700 more miles left, anything can happen. In the grand scheme of things 700 doesn't seem like much when you've done 1400+. I completely support the notion of imagining accomplishing your goal, but only to a point. I've imagined what summiting Katahdin will feel and be like thousands of times but I'm trying to focus on the present and take it one day at a time.I know that as I near Maine, enjoying the journey will become a greater challenge for me as my sights will only be set on Katahdin and nothing else. It will be hard to refrain from kicking it into high gear once I hit the Maine border. I know this about myself. As soon as my end goal is within reach I go all out. I went in for a week on my off-shift before my last shift at Sage Walk, working 5/6 weeks in the field. My fastest mile in my half-marathon was the last one. I guess I don't really like to dillydally when dreams are within reach. This being said, I also know that at the same time, I won't want this experience to come to an end. My life on trail has been well-defined, clearly marked with white blazes and a definitive goal. After this it will become, metaphorically speaking, a very undefined path, with multiple routes to take, marked by question marks, and leading to an unkown destination. Sheesh, here I am talking about Maine already, and yet I've still got 500 miles left ahead of me. See, I'm getting ahead of myself. Focus on the present, Amy.The present is fabulous! I am double zeroing with my aunt and uncle in Hartford, CT! It is AWESOME. Gangsta is here as well and will be spending the second half with her father and stepmom tomorrow. We have plans to see a movie, my aunt has delicious food on hand (per my requests!), they have DVR so we have multiple episodes of The Office and Sex and the City recorded and ready to watch at our leisure, and a trip to REI is this afternoon! WOOHOO! I am pretty excited about it. Pennsylvania DESTROYED the soles of my second pair of shoes, so it'll get new ones, as well as a buff headband (I got jealous of Loons, that she lost, Hot Sauce's, and Plunger's!) and maybe try on some cute summer clothes simply because I'm in withdrawl from sun dresses, skirts, and tanktops. Not like I am gonna buy any, but, it never hurts to try on and have a mental list of clothes I will want to treat myself to when I'm done! My Aunt Nancy picked us up from Kent, CT yesterday, and I must say, Kent was the least friendly trail town I think I've encountered thus far. I'm not one for bashing on trailjournals but I was glad we weren't in that town for more than a few hours. The only hotel in town was over $100, the laundry mat obviously hates hikers and had signs posted everywhere with strict rules and regulations for hikers written in condescending tones, the man at the PO was an a**hole to Gangsta, and the outfitter simply caters to wealthy yuppy trendy people and doesn't really have anything a backpacker would need. (However, they did have some REALLY cute Patagonia and Horny Toad clothes) Yes, Gangsta and I were SO thankful to be getting picked up and whisked away for two and a half days of glorious R and R with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim in Hartford. We're not sure where all of our hiking buddies will be when we return to the trail on Sunday. Almost all will surely be ahead but maybe we'll catch up when many zero in MA. We've enjoyed our time with Cricket, Plunger, Mr. Right, Loon, Hot Sauce, Cuppa Joe, Paulman, the Kid, and Highlander the past week, though!We arrived at their house yesterday evening, as always, it was pouring rain outside. I had just taken an amazing shower and was standing by the window in the bathroom wrapped up in a plush bathsheet. I had forgotten the Blazars have HUGE bathtowels! Talk about a simple pleasure... it was awesome. Anyway, yes, wrapped in a ginormous bathtowel, all clean, with smooth legs (I shaved 45 miles too early for my every-500-mile rule. I couldn't pass up the use of their great bathroom) staring out the window at the pouring rain coming down, aware that the only water I would be dealing with would be from that of a shower or jacuzzi, and the only thing hiking related I'd be doing all weekend was a trip to REI. It was bliss. Happy Trails,WagsPS- Gangsta and I saw another bear yesterday (my grand total is now 8), 6 miles before Kent. The rain must have muffled our noise since it was only about 40 yards away when it saw us and ran. I was hiking in front of Gangsta and didn't even bat an eyelash. Okay, maybe a little, but I didn't do a 180*. Progress.