Date: 2010-06-17
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Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

"Monkey off my Back"The clock is starting to tick loudly. A little over a week and I will be heading up to Hanover. Hard to believe that it is almost time to hike. Where does the time go? I just realized that I will be starting just about the same time that I finished up last year - about 1 week off. That is pretty cool in a way.Part of the main reason that I began my thru hike back in 2007 was to sort of try to accomplish something important before my 45th birthday as a way to sort of memorialize my mother's life. She passed away a little over a month shy of her 46th birthday. One of the things that I have been carrying on my hike since day one is a little stuffed gorilla that someone gave to her while she was hospitalized. The monkey as I call him has been hanging on to the front of my pack for 1700+ miles. Well, I decided it was finally time to get the monkey off my back. Figuratively and literally. I am pretty sure that I have heard the monkey complain along the way that he is always the last to see a particular view. So, I have decided that the monkey will take the last part of the journey riding with a front row seat. He is now attached to my hiking pole. He will have a much better view of the trail and I will be able to keep my eye on him and the goal of finishing. In less than 450 miles I will finally be able to complete the journey I started back in 2007. Didn't make my 45th birthday, but with Gods help I will make it by my 48th.I had a great trip down to visit the Southern Support Staff. It was way cool travelling down Interstate 81 and seeing all of the places that I had hiked through. I wished I had had more time because I would have liked to pull off and do some trail magic. It just didn't work out. I did get to go visit some trail friends in Georgia though. Tagless and Tag-along live about an hour away from the family. So, I took a trip up to see them. It was really a great visit. They are so welcoming. I visited for quite a few hours. I also got some trail advice from them which I am hoping to implement for this hike.It was really great to visit the family also. I have finished planning my next section out. As it stands know, it looks like it will be about 6 weeks to finish. I am supposed to be back in the Berkshires for a bridal shower, but it doesn't look too promising at this point. But, you never know. I am excited yet also apprehensive about this section. I have heard so many great things about NH & ME, but also that it is very difficult. I am not concerned about the difficult part so much as I am about the doing the difficult parts alone. Physically, I have spend months and months getting ready. But, my foot is still a problem and I have been having a problem with my right leg. I have been hiking with my pack carrying from 25-30 lbs. While hiking it begins to hurt by the time I am finished, but at night it aches down to the bone. I have been stretching and went to see a friend who is a massage therapist. It seems to help, but until I am really out there I won't know.My buddy, Seeker, stopped to visit while she was off the trail last week. I had lent her some equipment that I needed back, so she graciously got it back to me. She looked like she had lost a lot of weight. She is battling issues with her feet. She headed back to Harpers earlier this week. Good Luck Seeker, I hope your feet hold out.