Date: 2004-07-12
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter, VT
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

today i aborted my zero day and rescheduled it to three days from now in manchester center. i moved it because bennington is very spread out and i could get more from my day in manchester where thru hiker services are closer together.here's how the day went:fireball said he'd give me a ride into town if i caught him at rt. 9 where he's meeting his wife. he's an early bird and started down trail at 6:30. i was in no hurry so i started at 7:30. my pace is faster, so i should catch him within today's 12 miles to the road.at lunch i missed him by 20 minutes, so i knew i was gaining on him. zack was having lunch at the shelter mid-way to my destination. he offered me some of his sliced salami and a mayonnaise packet. i will not turn down extra calories and put the salami and mayo on a bagel. Mmmm. i've lost a good amount of my subcutaneous fat and need to continue eating everything in sight so i don't wither away... i caught fireball as he approached the road. he and hot chocolate (his wife) gave me a ride to he p.o., where i forwarded my bounce box to manchester center. we then went to burger king to have our 2nd lunch and... fireball paid for my meal. sweet! next stop was the market where i got my resupply food and checked my pocketmail - got an email from swiss miss... she's home now.fireball dropped me at the trail and i did the 1.5 mile climb by 4:30. for weeks i've been in the hiker void, not seeing many thrus at all. today there are 10 hikers at the shelter. they just keep rolling in. not everyone here is an AT thru hiker. when i crossed the MA/VT line, the AT and the Long Trail share the same trail, so i'm now seeing hikers from both. now 10 at a shelter site ain't bad unless the forecast is for wrath-of-god rain. and that is tonight's forecast. so we're putting 10 hikers in a space for 8. it's not bad, but there's still some daylight left... and some floor space left.that was the day. i've been having some thoughts left over from Blandford kicking around as i hike.on one of our days off, swiss and i sat around and read, while hutch, sharon, and dawn went to an independence day party. we enjoyed the quiet of the summer home and leafed through hiking and spiritual books. one of the books i looked through was a book of quotes. the one below caught my attention. i have read books on the Maharshi before, but this is the first time i've seen this quote.a man wondering in the sun, retires to the shade of a tree and enjoys the cool atmosphere there. but after a time he is tempted to go out into the hot sun. Again finding the heat unbearable, he returns to the shade.incessantly he thus moves to and fro, from he shade into the sun and from the sun into the shade. such a man, we say, is ignorant.A wise man would not quit the shade.--Sri Ramana Maharshiit made me think: is sitting here in blandford like the wise man sitting in the shade? the trail is a tougher life in some respects than sitting in a warm, bug-free home. can the trail be "the hot sun" the Maharshi is speaking about? i guess it depends on one's experiences on the trail and their reaction to them. to some it may be the hot sun and to others the trail may be the cool shade. the important part of the message is to recognize where you are and know what you're choosing. go for the shade. today's thrus, all nobos: wildman, spot, little chicken, and pita-man.LT hikers: teflon, the juice, moose, doug, and jeff.