Date: 2011-06-13
From: Eagles Nest Shelter 

To: Noam's Parents' House
Miles today: 8.9

(In which I say goodbye to The Weekenders and hello to Noam)Early in the day we get the chance to briefly meet Bombadil, a fast Swedish thru-hiker who started in April. He's the first Swedish thru-hiker I've met and so I'm not entirely surprised when he informs me that he's attempting to be the second successful Swedish thru-hiker ever. I would like to have more time to spend chatting with him, but instead I get a taste of the slow and normal hikers' perspective of the fasties, who are seen for a brief moment and are then gone forever.This is the last of the Weekenders' three days of hiking, and though they are a little sore in the morning, I think that we have chosen a good number of days and miles for the trip. The terrain gets a bit rockier, slowing us down as we try not to fall off or trip over them, and I am glad for the Weekenders' sake that they did not come to a more northern section of PA where the rocks are supposed to be even more extreme.We end the day of hiking at Port Clinton, and since Thomas has left a car at this end with extra food, we sit on the side of a bridge enjoying watermelon, cookies, chips and juice, and sharing them with the hikers and locals who pass by. We are joined by my close friend and old roommate Noam, whom I have not seen since he moved to Paris nearly two years ago. When the Weekenders have to leave to drive back to Pittsburgh I am sad to see them go, but happy that I now have another friend to catch up with.Noam is visiting the States for a few weeks with Amparo, his new Argentinean fiance. Since he has to drive back to his parents' house tonight, I decide to ride back to Princeton with him to get more time to talk with him and to meet Amparo. On the way to Princeton we drive out of our way to try to stop at the one Eat 'n Park that Google Maps lists within a two hour drive, wanting a little slice of Pittsburgh nostalgia, only to find that the diner closed years ago. We stop instead at a small local diner in Lancaster County, and along with some french toast and bacon I get my second piece of shoefly pie in the past week.At Noam's parents' house I finally get to meet Amparo, Noam's fiance. She is uncommonly beautiful and genuinely friendly and she, Noam, his parents and I all have entertaining conversations that include the use of English, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Google Translate as we attempt to converse about such matters as ticks and Lyme disease. When we get to the subject of food Amparo shakes her head to hear of my eating and drinking habits (or lack thereof). "Good food, good wine, good sex, these things I could not live without," she says emphatically. "One out of three's not bad," I say, shrugging, but then consider my trail life and think that even this is overstating matters.Late at night when everybody else has gone to bed Noam and I stay up, talking. Of all the people I've ever met, Noam is one of the few who, given sufficient time, can understand and help me articulate even the subtlest ideas and abstractions that float around in my head. Talking with him again I recall just how much I value this degree of communication.We talk about how our lives have changed in the last two years, and I describe to him how I think that I've changed from a more goal driven approach to life to a more open ended opportunity seeking one. We discuss the various merits of these two outlooks with respect to happiness, stress, flexibility and traditional notions of professional success, and afterwards I feel like I understand my own thoughts much better than I did when we started, and have the pleasant feeling of connection that comes from mutual recognition. When Noam finally goes to bed too, I stay up writing and thinking about how important this type of deep understanding is to me, and how rare and precious it is to find.