Date: 2004-06-11
From: Little Irish Creek

To: Hog Camp Gap
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Ah, what a great night for sleeping. As hoped, we were up and out at a decent hour. If indeed April Showers was intending to delay her departure this morning we didn't want to keep her waiting long. The next town stop is Montebello, 22 miles up the trail. That's too much for one day, so we've planned 12 today, 10 tomorrow. April Showers pulled an 18-miler yesterday, so if she waited for us we were hoping she wouldn't mind a shorter day today. Either way we all end up in Montebello tomorrow. I'd rather spend more hours out here than rush into town and sit there the rest of the day! All we need to do is pick up our maildrop and perhaps stop at a grocery store. We are pleased to learn Pacemaker indeed was able to get our message to April Showers last night. Unfortunately, we found a note for us in the shelter register saying she had moved on and would see us in Montebello.Ursa Minor and I stayed on course and did our near 13 miles today. Enroute we paused occasionally to tend to our feet. One stop we lingered long enough to have trail magic drive right up to us. Out came a cooler chockfull of homemade goodies: cupcakes, miniature banana-nut bread loaves, brownies, and huge pieces of chocolate-nut torte. Our break lingered long enough for us to devour many calories worth of sweets and chocolate. With the sugar boost, we skinnied up the next climb with much less effort. Thanks, Pacemaker's Mom. Lying here in our tents tonight at 9:30 we're both smiling with the recall of such tasty, albeit sinful, delights.This has been a great day. We met some new hikers: Pacemaker and his family and friends who have joined him for a week or so, Scarf from Denmark, living temporarily in NYC, Pimple, Spiceman, Stillwater and Party Girl. Actually, we met Party Girl before, but I mention her again as I had a very helpful conversation with her yesterday at Punchbowl Shelter. She has just recently returned to the trail after a full 29 days off because of foot injury. She acknowledged she had hiked too fast, punched out too many daily miles and consequently compromised her thru-hike. Now she's returned, wiser, doing 10 to 12 miles per day. stopping to enjoy every view, taking plenty of breaks and thus enjoying herself one hundred times more. She's seeing more, she's in no pain, and she's having more fun.In the shelter registers I¢m reading of more and more hikers leaving the trail because they pushed too hard and hurt themselves. CeeBee left the trail and an uncompleted thru-hike last year because of a stress fracture in her leg. And the list goes on. OK, OK, I got the message! I've forgotten it's the journey, not the goal. My mind and emotions have been a mighty boggled mess just lately and I've been full of all sorts of fears. I finally did my own calculations and concluded that 80-85 miles per week or 12-13 miles per day gets me to Katahdin in time to summit, unless an early snowstorm closes the mountain prior to October 15th. Long story short: I'm regaining control, peace of mind, and ready to start the healing process emotionally and physically. This process was hastened by another revelation. April Showers was telling Trail Angel Del a couple days ago that we were 1-1/2 days behind schedule. When I asked her what schedule (because I certainly don't have one, except get to Katahdin by October 15th) she indicated she was behind in catching up with Bob (a fellow hiker who started a section hike June 4th a little ways up the trail) and in danger of not summitting Katahdin September 15th. Whoa!! That was news to me. No wonder she needs to average 15-mile days. Now the tapestry has totally changed. Firstly, I've never intended to summit before the end of September or early October: secondly, I don't even want to -- why would I turn a six-month sabbatical into five and one half? Matter of fact, if I look in danger of ending too early, I'll slow my pace drastically to assure I don't! As relieved as I am that I need not keep to a 15-mile-per-day average, increasing the danger of greater and more serious injury, I'm very dismayed and disappointed that April Showers will need to move forward. She's going to need to make tracks, not only catching up with some friends ahead, but also passing them. I only hope I haven't held her back and jeopardized her intended goal of summitting September 15th. We'll catch up with her tomorrow night and I'll need to apologize if I in some way have compromised her hike and then send her on with my best wishes. She's a strong hiker with tons of experience and a determined focus; she'll make it.And now back to our little campsite where we've just survived a very quick-moving thunderstorm. The soft pine needle floor didn't hold my front tent stake when the wind gusts started so I was stuck for nearly 20 minutes, sitting in my tent holding the front peak up with all my gear piled in the middle. Finally there was enough of a lull I could get out and restake it. A pair of socks wiped up the small amount of moisture that made its way inside. The temperature must have dropped 10 to 15 degrees in that short amount of time.It's 10:30 p.m. and all I hear is the dripping of rain off the trees onto my tent, a few birds singing their goodnight songs, and the occasional jet flying overhead. I'm dry, I'm warm, I'm fed, and until I put another 10 miles on these feet tomorrow, I'm pain-free. Slow and easy goes it -- I WILL walk all the way to Maine in one season. I WILL complete my thru-hike. I WILL hike my own hike. And I WILL regain my joy and peaceful mindset.