Date: 2011-05-31
From: (64) A Vacation from my Vacation

To: (65) Shippensburg, PA
Miles today: 17.0

So, yesterday I had left a splendid and certainly not exhausted sounding message for my Uncle Kent that I would be passing through Pine Grove State Forest if he would like to meet me there. My Uncle, a local artist in the area and one of the most enthusiastic followers of my thru hike, messaged me back that he would. I was to meet him at 3pm, and not wanting to be late, woke at 4:30am this morning to pack up. So, there I was on my second day back on, hitting the trail before the sunrise and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. I don¢t know why. When the sun did decide to bless me with its presence, it was only to fry me like bacon in some 100 degree weather. Thanks sun, much better¢¦ I was hardly prepared for the heat and newly sore feet after all of my zeros, but I was glad to be hiking again. Overall the trail is a good life that is not too hard other than the physical exertion and occasional step in animal poo. I therefore have not found it difficult to get back onto the trail, and often feel that the trail is all that there is; my only objective! (Besides women, blueberry pancakes, and utilizing the roll-back prices at Wal-Mart). Towards the end of my miles I entered the area where I had done my practice hike (see first couple journal entries), and spent much of my time reminiscing. It seems like a lifetime ago since I had walked this same stretch. When I think back it is almost like seeing the world through someone else¢s eyes, as though my memories are not my own! I have come a long way in the three months since then.I passed the halfway point of the AT today: 1090.5 miles in two months, and I am looking forward to the second half. Continuing on, I passed many familiar sights from my practice hike. They played tricks on my mind, allowing me to believe that I was still on my practice hike and that no time had passed at all. I even started to day dream about my old job at office depot, just as I had during my practice! It is strange how after a long time away, one can enter a familiar place and forget that the past even happened (¢¦Alzheimers at my age?).When I arrived at Pine Grove my Uncle was waiting for me, and he was well supplied with subs, cookies, chips, soda, and an awesome Appalachian Trail t-shirt he had made for me with a Lemur on it to wear as a trophy upon my imminent completion of this trifle of a hike; hardly a challenge to a tough guy like me (when I die I hope that they bury me facing north towards Katahdin, with hiking poles at my side and a couple of snickers bars in my pocket). As I caught up with my uncle the rest of the hikers from last night¢s shelter arrived, including Cayenne (like the pepper), Portrait (cause he carries a 4lb camera), Buffalo (where he is from in New York), German Shepherd (he is German and carries a hiking stick like a shepherd), Thin Mint, Lizard, Moosehead, and more. Buffalo, German Shepherd, and Moosehead all decided to do Pine Grove's ¢half-gallon challenge¢, where an over enthusiastic hiker attempts to finish a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting,the reward being a wooden ice cream spoon upon completion. It is a thru hiker tradition. In this instance, all three of my heroic friends were able to meet the challenge in less than half an hour! (Buffalo even went back for a grilled cheese sandwich, having not had enough to eat) The last to finish was German shepherd who sat back and stated: ¢Yes, the Americans would be #1¢¦at eating ice cream!¢ I greatly wanted to join them, but did not yet have the ravenous thru hiker appetite after all of my days off.Later that day, I said goodbye to my uncle and went down to the park¢s lake to go swimming with the others. Portrait and Buffalo were talking about slowing down their hike so that they would finish in August, and I think that I will try slowing down some too and aim for August 1st, a solid 4 months of hiking. This in mind, I decided not to hike any more today and enjoy myself for once, which can be a challenge in itself.Knowing that it would be a shame to be so close to my college town and not stop in, I called my friend Corey Wonder, and he and his girlfriend Katrina came to pick me up. I spent the night at his house in ship hanging out with several of my fraternity brothers (also largely nick-named such as Ginger or Donnie Darko). That night I stopped by my old apartment and went inside. Coincidentally, it was the last day on the lease, and technically still mine for the next few hours (I have amazing timing for these sorts of things). It was as though the entire universe conspired together so that I might cast my gaze upon the rotting filthy hole that I used to call ¢my room¢, one last time. The rest of my day before bed was spent watching movies and hanging out with my buddies, which felt as worthwhile as any number of adventures on the trail having missed them so much.