Date: 2004-08-15
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to

To: Riga Lean-to
Miles today: 20.2

Though tonight I¢m tired, my day rocked! I covered real miles hiking with Wipe-out again and we¢re going to sleep in a shelter with a beautiful view of the valley eastward ahead of us. Two cool sobos, Grandma Spaghetti and Big Perm are here too along with their dog Kaya. God just keeps blessing me out here¢¦I¢m not even being bothered by bugs .         We were roused before 6 a.m. as four other hikers loudly departed the shelter in the pouring rain. I fought the urge to move until at least 6:30 before finally giving in. By 7:15, with grogginess fading, we hit the trail. The rain had stopped . We started slow and I prayed in my head. Though it had rained all last night, the sky was only overcast as we began. To start the day we walked in our own little worlds. Every few seconds we would feel the jolt of brushing up against cold wet vegetation. Refreshed from morning prayer, a relatively down-to-flat first 4 miles, and the brushes with rain; we took a small break just before Route 7.        Neither of us were ¢with it¢. I walked and dreamed of my church currently having services. I wished I was there . Soon we hit Rt. 7 and saw it merge with Rt. 112. We walked through an overgrown wet cornfield in what felt like a huge circle. In that half mile we passed the Housatonic looking particularly quaint and placid. While the walk was nice, the trail hit the road where we could still see the Rt. 7/Rt.112 split. All told, we had covered 300 feet from one trail crossing to another (by road miles). The trail itself had winded a half mile around to do this though. When Wipe-out and I saw this, we both asked ¢Why?¢ Rather than continuing to look for logic in the AT¢s design, a quite fruitless endeavor, we hiked on.         We joined a road briefly, went past a high school, and re-entered woods on the right. The woods were flanking railroad tracks. The trail was relatively flat, going only light up and down, for the next 2 miles. I was tired though¢¦& I needed to poop : ). The 2 miles after that the trail joined a perfectly flat nature walk¢¦Woohoo! At the end of the nature path we stopped for a break and signed in to the trail register at the head of the path. I signed in with the following poem:        Hiking so fast, I¢m red in the face      Hurrying, carrying, sickening pace      Going so hard, that I really feel hot      All I want to do is find a pot      Why am I running? Here is the scoop      I really, really need to go poop!        As I finished the above literary masterpiece, a kind woman walked by with 2 male toddlers. One was shy and looked away, the other ran up to me and roared : ). I could not help but smile. The woman as if we were using the shower. I wondered ¢ Is there a toilet with the shower?         Five minutes later we reached the vine-covered building that supposedly had the shower. We looked for an unlocked entrance but found none. Then I saw a shower head on the outside of the building peeking through the vines: (. This was not what I had in mind.   Wipe-out and I rested by the pseudo-shower until 11:30 a.m. We had 8.5 miles covered and 7 until Salisbury.        Where we had both been tired due to last night¢s bugs and rain we both started to wake up. As we walked we talked about crazy diets and about how we like to go to the gym. The mention of the gym and working out did something to me and Wipe-out. Without any purposeful decision to do so, we started hiking incredibly fast. It was like our bodies heart ¢gym¢ and decided to get a pump. In no time at all we covered a climb and 4 miles; yeah! The next 3 miles were downhill. We passed a big rock and I said ¢That rock looks odd.¢ Three seconds later Wipe-out said ¢I wonder what Rand¢s Thumb is?¢ (A monument marked in our Data Book we would pass). Then we knew we were idiots and the random one Standing Rock was Rand¢s Thumb. By 2 a.m. we covered a steep downhill to the road into Salisbury. I nearly tripped and fell about 13 times¢¦but we had made it 15.5 miles to town by 2 p.m.         Last time I was in Salisbury I stayed with a sweet woman, Maria, who let me leave a box there. I had planned on staying again but I¢m broke. I went to her house and grabbed my stuff. I put my food in my food bag, but realized my bump box was there. My bump box is a box I send to myself with extra clothes, toiletries, souvenirs, books, and the like for when I am in towns. Much of the box is heavy, which is why I do not carry it. Sadly however, since the Post Office is closed on Sunday, I put my entire bounce box into a glad bag and put it into my pack. There are few things less fun than adding 7 pounds to your pack. After finding out the library was closed, I went to join Wipe-out at the grocery store.        As I waited for Wipe-out I used the last of my change for a can of coke. I have 3 dollars: ) and I have only enough food for 3 days. I was trying to plan and I realized I need more than 3 bucks to send my heavy bump-box ahead: (. The resolution: Wipe-out (who rocks) offered to buy the 100 minute phone card Sue sent me. That 10 dollars gives me enough to send my bump box tomorrow. Over the next 3 days Wipe-out and I will cover 66 miles. That way 3 days of food will get me where I need to go. As we left Salisbury at 4:30 p.m., I felt pumped at having a plan to face my problems. Even though it is tough to be broke out here it adds a fun piece to my adventure.         As we re-entered the trail a 2002 thru-hiker, Mountain-man, pulled up in his car (nearly hitting us) and asked to video-tape us. After a short interview and a few kind stories we hiked on. Our one thought ¢ if you are a past thru-hiker who is looking for current ones¢¦BRING FOOD! Still, Mountain-man was nice. As we left town we covered an easy 0.7 miles to the base of a mountain. Ahead of us laid a 1,700 foot mountain. We sucked it up and pushed on.         Two miles and 45 minutes later Wipe-out and I had taken out our first real climb in a while. Sweating, but victorious, we took a break. As we rested I heart what sounded like a dog bell in the distance. A few minutes later a woman walked up and explained it is her ¢bear bell¢. As we talked, she asked me what I would be doing when I finished hiking. I told her I was not sure and she told me that I should joint ¢a community¢. I did not know whether or not to be offended. After the quirky woman hiked on we finished one more easy miles to Riga Lean-to.        Today marks 154 days, exactly 5 months, for me on the trail. The 4 of us here are sharing stories and laughing hysterically. It¢s a great night. I will end with 5 thoughts:1.        I think I trip more than a girl named ¢Wipe-out¢.2.        Whenever I put on a pack cover, it doesn¢t rain; if I leave it off it rains.3.        The hurricane whether never came ¢ I wonder if it is still coming?4.        Why build shelters with tin roofs? The rain sounds like a snare drum. 5.        In Salisbury ¢ I pooped.GOODNIGHT, BEATBOX   ttt