Date: 2006-09-24
From: Tom Leonard Lean-To

To: Hemlocks Lean-To
Miles today: 14.4

This morning as I was getting up and and preparing to make breakfast, Dorito popped in. I was sruprised as I had read that we was going into Sheffied 10 miles south of here. Turned out, he went only 4 miles yesterday and stayed at the "silent" retreat center. He hiked on ahead of me, but now I know I have someone I can almost catch and hopefully hike with for a while.So as I am leaving camp and thinking about what today's journal entry will be like, I imagine it starting out something like, "Another damp & dreary uneventful day of hiking..." Then I think, "Wow, not only do my journals lack humor (as a dear loved one mentioned to me one day) but now they are just plain boring." But, as the day progressed, I think I may have come up with some interestng vignets for you to read.First, I truly believe that the trail sometimes comes to life and attacks hikers for fun. This morning hiking up East Mtn, the trail attacked me numerous times. I deliberately step over fallen tree limbs and sticks only to have them reach up and grab my ankles trying to trip me. Its like Disney's movie, "The Sorceror's Apprentice" I think its called, when the brooms come alive and dance around Mickey. This must have happened about 10 times within the first hour of hiking. Luckily, my legs have gotten stronger and I have learned how to balance myself with this huge pack, so there were no face plants today.The trail has lots of ledges today and the wind is gusty, thunderstorms moving in, and I am reminded of ME's ledges in the wilderness. I am extra careful to not fall - one scar on my chin is plenty!I come to my first road crossing of the day and decide to relieve myself while still obstructed from view. Now I have become pretty proficient at peeing in the woods with my pack on. As you know, I hike in a skirt which means that I just slide my undershorts to the side and let the stream flow. Well, today there were some directional errors and pee went all over my shorts and leg. So since my extra clothes are buried deep at the bottom of my pack, a first happened today...I went commando! Thank goodness for Body Glide because even though I have lost 30 pounds not everything about my body diminished beyond belief. No chafing and, don't worry mom, no beavers were exposed in today's hike!Around lunchtime, after passing by acres of corn fields, I arrive at the Corn Crib, a fruit and veggie stand that has some hiker services. Dorito is there and we chat a bit before he heads off to the next shelter. I grab a Cream Soda, my favorite drink in town, and a pint of ice cream, a first for me. After hiking miles on end, hikers are known for craving ice cream, Ben & Jerry's preferred. I have not had that craving. But today, I decided that ice cream is what I wanted. So I ate my first pint of Berkshire Farms Ginger Ice Cream, in one sitting. I was a little surprised that I ate the whole thing, then later, hiking, I was a little sorry that I ate the whole thing as my tummy did a few flips. Everything stayed down though. Another hiker tradition is when arriving in PA near the half way point on the trail, there is a store that runs a contest: the Half Gallon Challenge, to see if a thru-hiker can consume an entire half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. Some hikers even time themselves to see who can do it the fatest. I get to thinking about this as I am hiking and decide I might need to start eating more ice cream in preparation for my own half gallon challenge. Less than 400 miles til I am half way through the trail!Now of course, as I leave the Crib it begins to rain. Its been threatening all day. I don't mind hiking in the rain when I don't have to climb rocks, but it does seem to be coming down pretty hard so I decide to put on my rain jacket. Of course, as soon as I do, it stops raining. This must be the Murphy's Law of hiking!Eventually, the sun come out. I however, am wishing that it was still raining now as the rain keeps the mosquitoes away. A bad combination is to walk through fields beside a swamp after eating lots of sugar after a rain storm. The mosquitoes swarmed me!Thankfully, the trail changes directions and heads upward towards Jug End. Lo and behold I run into Dorito again. He had taken a break to rest his sore feet and also taken a wrong turn which is why I was able to catch him. We climb up Jug End together and hike toward the shelter. The sky has cleared and we get some nice views. It is getting late and we have to hike the last mile in the dark to the shelter. Yuk! Someone has left the fire ring full of wood, so he builds a fire and I go get some water. We eat dinner and then tell stories until we drift off to sleep having stayed up well past hiker midnight.