Date: 2006-06-11
From: Toms Run Shelters

To: Pine Grove Furnace Hostel
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I was very glad for once that I didn't have to leave early in the morning. Myfoot hurts the most at night and in the morning so I didn't get much sleep. Iwasn't sure exactly where Tortoise and Crake might be so I could of ended upzeroing at the shelters waiting for them. So I just sat around, wrote someemails, finished the book I'd been reading, took a bath in the stream as well aswashed my clothes. At about 11:30 two new hikers: Fortune Cookie and Bloody Mess show with amessage from Toroise- "Don't go anywhere." They had seen her just a few milesback so she should be along any minute. We both whooped and hollered as she camein- even after just a few days it was good to see each other again. Unfortunatly none of them had seen Crake for days- it looked like it would justbe the two of us. Tortoise had been moving fast to catch up so she stopped for abreak and a snack. We told tales of our adventures while apart. I was in the middle of one storywhen Toroise looks up and says "You gotta be sh***ing me." Who comes saunderingaround the corner but our good friend Crake! He had been doing big miles just sohe could cross the Mid-point with us! Together again, we set off down the nicely graded trail- two of us on hurt feetbut all excited about crossing the magical halfway point. (I really think, hadTortoise and my foot been ok, we probably would of linked arms and skipped downthe trail singing some version of "We're off to see the Wizard." We were only 2.6 from the halfway point, so we stopped at every stream, roadcrossing or old building to check our guidebooks and make sure we didn't passit. I should point out, that while there is a signpost in Pine Grove FurnaceState Park that marks the halfway point, the actual length of the Trail changesevery year, so for the class of 2006 the mid-point was just after a streambefore the park. Since there woud be no sign we were a little worried that we would pass it orcelebrate too soon. So I opted to hike ahead at my normal pace to gauge where itwas located. (I oftentimes will do this to keep myself amused while hikingalone- pick a destination a few miles ahead- then see if I can get there in acertain amount of time by keeping a certain pace.) So- even though it wasprobably stupid since it hurt my foot- I hiked at a 3 mph pace from the streamthat was a half mile before the point. I let myself hike for 11 minutes since Islowed down on an uphill. Just as I round a corner and think "It's just a fewfeet ahead" I find a rock covered in stones and sticks placed by other hikers."WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!" I scream. With an answering call coming from Tortoise andCrake about two minutes behind.I take a little video of them crossing the halfway point, then we sit and talkfor a bit. Halfway.. it's a strange feeling. Toroise expected to feel dejectedwhen she reached here. All this hiking so far and we're only halfway? Except-she doesn't feel that way, each of us tries to describe what we're feeling andcan't. We wonder whether or not we're trying to put meaning into something weshouldn't. After all- it is just another rock in the woods. No we decided- thereis meaning here- even if we aren't yet able to understand it. Something morethan "We're halfway done with walking." I admit I felt a little scared- this ismy second thruhike attempt, which has been an overwhelming success over thefirst, but I still have a lot of hiking to do. All the trials and tribulationsI've faced until now have gotten me halfway, what lies ahead? I look at my twofriends- Crake, building a little shrine, and Tortoise, looking like she'scontemplating the same things I am, and something happens. The fear changes to excitement. What does lie ahead of us? We've come all this way. Through rain, sleet, snow, thunder and lighting. We've seen deer, bear, and miceby the hundreds. We climbed thousands upon thousands of feet up and down withheavy packs. Met new friends, shared good times and bad with them: hunger,loneliness, overwhelming happiness and crushing sadness. We've eaten ourselves"retarded" as Miss Parkay would say. Laughed at the stupidest jokes, and cheeredas X-Men three came onscreen. And all for what? This strange dream we all shareof living in the woods? Challenging ourselves day in and day out? To be able,one day, with determination and more than a little luck, to stand upon that lastmountain, called by the Natives "The Greatest Mountain" and touch that fabledsign we all see in our dreams? We're here all that and so much more. "We came for salvation we came for family we came for all thats good thats how we'll walk away we came to break the bad we came to cheer the sad we came to leave behind the world a better way."-The Avett Brothers- The Salvation SongLong days and pleasant nights to all reading this.