Date: 2005-06-23
From: Anna's House (Washington, DC)

To: Bruce's House (Hamilton, VA)
Miles today: 0.0

11:06pm - I Ain't Ever SatisfiedIt finally rained again yesterday morning just as we started hiking. It only lasted for an hour or two, but it felt nice. It had been nearly two weeks since the last rain; I was beginning to forget how it felt.We started on the stretch of the AT known as the roller coaster, a 13 mile section consisting of 11 500 foot hills one after another. We were only doing seven of them, though. Snickers Gap, our intended destination, still left the promise of more fun for a future date.Lunch was taken atop Buzzard Hill with Jackaroo, a professional hiker from Japan. He's writing articles from the trail for an outdoor magazine and maintaining several blogs for his sponsors. When he reaches camp, he said he spends a few hours writing. And here I thought that the trail sometimes feels like a job - for him, it is. I actually met Jackaroo just after Erwin, but I'd never had the chance to really talk with him at length.We hung out at the next shelter for a bit with Bassline and the Garland kids, before continuing on to Bear's Den Hostel. It was a fantastic place to hang out for an afternoon. There certainly was an abundance of hikers present - Clearwater, Socks, Sleeveless, and the Gypsy sisters. We were eventually joined by Jackaroo, the Garland 5, Bassline, Cricket, and Litmus. Even though we weren't staying, they offered to let Matt and me have dinner at the hostel for free. We gladly took them up on their offer, scratching our plan to continue to Snickers Gap, a mere 0.6 miles onward. Homemade meatloaf, potatoes, peas, bread and biscuits were too tempting, and it certainly didn't disappoint. It was fantastic - thanks, Queen Diva!After we did the dishes, Sharyn showed up. Matt and I bid the hikers farewell and climbed in. We were DC bound. We'd had a good trip together. Sadie, though, was especially anxious to get home. Her enthusiastic greeting of Sharyn was perhaps unrivalled in its raw honesty.I hadn't expected to return to DC at all this trip, and it felt strange yet familiar as we drove past familiar landmarks. I've been joking that the last week and a half has been my vacation from thru-hiking. On the ride to DC it no longer felt like a joke. I spent the night on the floor at Anna's, mere blocks from where I used to live.This morning I checked email, made some phone calls, and headed to Cleveland Park for lunch. I found that the Pizzeria Uno's has been supplanted by a California Tortilla franchise. Lunch was settled and washed down with a milkshake from an ice cream parlor that's either also new or merely overlooked before. Either way, it was probably the best milkshake I've had on the trail. However, does a DC establishment count? I wasn't really hiking today, after all.I metroed to Courthouse and was picked up by Rob. We swung by the Diehls since they're moving to Colorado tomorrow. Again, I didn't expect to get a chance to see Sarah before she left but things somehow worked out. After an hour or so of visiting we headed out to Leesburg to meet up with Bruce.The afternoon was largely consumed by a business meeting as we worked on the script for this year's Blades and Booze movie. It was a grueling process but quite necessary. It wasn't always a pretty sight, either - Rob and Bruce nearly came to blows at one point, only to be interrupted by Colleen's timely arrival. Still, in the end we all agreed that we were happy with the direction of the project. I don't want to give anything away prematurely but this may be the best B&B movie yet. You all will be in for a real treat when it is posted online this October.Afterwards, Bruce and Rob made up over venison burgers as we shared a fine meal with Colleen's family. The evening was capped off with a resupply run, homemade strawberry ice cream, and a movie, Mean Girls. All in all, it's been a great day. I've been able to see people I miss terribly and spend an evening hanging out with friends. It's almost like a window into what my life could have been for the last three months. But as fun and satisfying as everything was, I'm ready to hike again.