Date: 2003-07-13
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to

To: Belter's Campsite 
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

I didn't sleep too well last night. I don't know why, exactly. The mosquitos were biting, but not too terribly bad. I didn't put on DEET, but just used my silk liner over my head and shoulders to keep them away. My hip was aching, and I couldn't get comfortable. It reminds me of the first several weeks on the trail, when both hips ached at night. Maybe tonight will be better. I didn't get up until around 8, and was glad to have been able to lay around until then. We hit the trail a little after 9.I felt better hiking today than yesterday. By far! The aches were back to the usual, but nothing that worried me, like yesterday. Yesterday, I wasn't just unhappy for a while... I was upset. And when I get upset, I want to cry. Late yesterday, while hiking, I wanted to cry. I was tired, and sore, and wondered if my body could handle 700+ more miles. Today, I had a good time, and enjoyed the hiking. It's amazing the difference one day can make!We saw Walkabout again today. He said he started hiking at 5:30 this morning! Now that's getting a jump on the day! I found out he lives in Gainesville, and used to live in Ft. Myers. Small world! All day, Hotdog and I leapfrogged Walkabout, even though he had hiked 7 more miles that we had today. We talked him into coming to this campsite, as it is at the 700 miles to go point. He made it here because he said it would be nice to know that there are less than 700 miles to go when he got going in the morning. I'm not sure if I'll see him again or not, as he tends to hike more hours and therefore more miles than us.Under 700 miles to go! Wow! I know the time will fly by. Some days can't go by quick enough (yesterday) and other days I don't want to end (today). It's amazing how much my attitude can differ between days. Most days have been wonderful, but I do have an occasional bad day. This is hard. It is difficult to carry extra weight and hike up and down mountains. The body gets tired. But it is still the best thing I've ever done. I have absolutely no regrets about doing this. None. At all.More incredible views today! I think this was one of the clearest days we've had in a long time. It seemed like I could see forever. Hotdog and I sat at a view (which used to be a hang glide launch) for over half an hour. I knew we were only 2 miles from our destination, and had plenty of daylight left. The view was over many mountains, and in the valley below was Lime Rock auto race track. No one was racing today, but that might have spoiled the peacefulness of the view anyway. The two lawnmowers were enough in the background to avoid being bothersome. I could have sat at that overlook for many more hours, but I was getting hungry.We met up with Fidodido and Dirty Bird today, and they are at this campsite with us. They are fun to be around, despite my first impression of them the day we met them north of Duncannon. Also at this campsite is a group of camp kids, out for a 9-day hike. The camp is for diabetic youths and there is a nurse with them, teaching them how to live with their diabetes. What a wonderful thing to show them that they can do "normal" activities.I still get surprised at the diverse people I've met since my hike began. If they weren't sharing in this hobby, and I'd met them in 'real' life, I might not even speak to them. That's another thing I've learned out here, that I hope stays with me forever: people might share a similar passion as me, and I will only know that if I talk to them. I hope to be more openminded, and more outgoing with people.