Date: 2009-05-27
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Dickey Gap
Miles today: 12.1

We woke up in the morning to the constant downpour of rain. Due to the predicament of getting wet, we decided to cozy up inside our sleeping bags and fall asleep for a few more hours. It was lovely to catch up on some much-needed sleep. After some morning conversation with some old timers and a father and son from Chicago, we headed off. Scavenger and I traded iPods and he encouraged me to listen to an audiobook of a Brit speaking about Christianity and the Bible. I listened attentively for a good hour or so, but decided to switch to the more modern and, for me, much more meaningful and relevant ¢The Post-American World¢ by Fareed Zakaria. It was about how we are, indeed, winning the war on terror and the creed not that America will fall, but that other nations will rise. I came across one huge tree that had fallen just that morning, due to the heavy rain. The tree had actually snapped at the trunk and, as it was falling, had apparently taken down many other trees in the process. I saw two old boys doing some work out on the trail that morning and told them about the large tree that had fallen; they very much appreciated this communication. Getting close to Dickey¢s Gap, I stopped on a bridge that I was walking over to admire the rushing waterfall that was directly in front of me. I thought about the millions of gallons of water that flowed over the waterfall¢s edge and also the sheer force of it. Finally arriving at the gap, I had to wait on Scavenger for about 35 minutes, as I must have been cruising quite quickly and he must have been going rather slow, as his stomach had been upset for many days now. We immediately got a hitch, headed to Troutdale, where we intended to watch the Champions League Final b/t Man Utd. and Barcelona. Upon arriving at Jerry¢s Kitchen and Goods, we turned on the ESPN channel and¢¦there it was..the game! Another hiker named Laser had come to sit down with us. He was a 41-year old man from Tampa Bay, FL, who constantly had questions over the game and constantly tried to make comparisons between the Champions League and the NFL & Canadian League. I was more than happy to help answer these questions, but I did find it a little bit funny to be comparing or trying to compare the two. I think that, in the end, he understood that these were far different leagues with much different structures, or at least I like to think that he understood what I was getting at. It was a well-fought match, but the brilliance of Barca and the exquisite skill of Messi proved to be too much for the bland Manchester United squad. I was disappointed that United had lost, but I was pleased to see such wonderful passion and spirit of the game. In those 90 minutes, well over 200 million people all around the world came together to watch the game. Gaucha, Willow, and Jungli arrived soon after the game had finished. At this point, Scavenger and I headed to the Baptist Church Hostel down the road to grab a bunk. It was, again, on a donation basis and we were very happy that there were warm showers, fresh soap, and other small amenities that people in the ¢civilized¢ world take for granted. One of the members of the church had come up to the hostel to chat with some hikers and had somehow singled me out on his religious speech. He began to explain to me all about the prophecies and the fulfillments in the Bible and how no other religion had these. Due to my upbringing, religion to me is a bit foreign, but I still have great reverence to those who embrace it. I have dabbled in it a bit, but have never come to the point where I can call myself a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, etc. In the words of the great Thomas Paine that I have used throughout my collegiate career, ¢The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.¢ This, in many ways, sums up my own beliefs. In the evening, we all sat out on the porch talking away and watching the sun¢s golden rays cascade down the rolling hills in front of us. These rays were met with a darkening shadow until dusk and darkness completely took over. In the shelter, one guy worthy of note is a loud, abrasive, and somewhat obnoxious young kid ¢ probably around 23 years of age ¢ who determined himself homeless, moved to New Orleans, LA and has been living in abandoned buildings for the last six months or so. He was literally boasting about the fact that he was begging for money and how stupid tourists give him tons of money during the day. He claimed that he would not use any of this money on food and only on booze, liquor and drugs, as food was easy to get by searching dumpsters outside of restaurants and hotels. Scavenger claimed that he was a harmless young kid, but I beg to differ. If you have someone completely relying on society to make ends meet without being at least moderately driven to survive, then what is the essence of life? If each evening you constantly get drunk and do it all over again the next day, it may be ¢harmless¢ per se, but it is detrimental to society as a whole. What if you multiplied one person by 20,000 people all heading to New Orleans to do the same thing? Then, would this be harmful and strain on the culture and economy of New Orleans? I¢m certainly not a conservative, but I do believe in the essence of work and making a living, while still having ample time to enjoy life.