Date: 2012-07-04
From: PA 287

To: High Point State Park HQ NJ 23
Miles today: 9.8

We packed up and checked out of the Forest Motel. Megan and I wanted to take the guys to the Firehouse Bagel Co. so that is where we headed for breakfast. It was crowded today. While eating we watched the owner struggle to put up a huge flag in the front by the old firetruck. He finally accomplished his task and it looked great. The guys drove off to their stop point to leave the car and they hiked on in the heat. They hiked faster than ever before and finished one hour and a half before they thought they would! Megan and I went looking for a new home. SOS wanted us to try to find one in Milford so that is where we headed. The first place we stopped was the one we chose...the Scottish Inn which let us check in at 10:00. Meg was tired so took a nap while I went on down the road to Walmart to replace the things that the critters at the cabin walked over. I could't stand the thought of using them again so I threw them out and started over with new things! Back to the room to put away things and knit awhile and then off to get the guys who had just arrived when we got there. They were sitting in the shade eating their sandwiches for lunch. We drove both cars back to the hotel.SOS here:Today it was hot, but as Trail Mama said above this is the fastest I have hiked 9.8 miles on the AT. Surefoot has an app that paces you every 5 minutes and tells you how far you have hiked and what your mile per hour pace is. I once ask Surefoot if we needed to slow down his response was, no, this is fun. We kept up a three mile per hour pace for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Both of our shirts were sweat soaked within 20 minutes of starting. We took 1 1/2 hours to hike the last three miles. This meant we hiked just short of 10 miles in 4 hours. This normally would be a 5 hour hike for me.We only saw 1 thru hiker Bucket in that period - I handed him a candy bar and said enjoy and were on a pace and moved on without any further word. We were only slowed down once in that time as a German speaking couple wondered how they were passing us again like yesterday since they were heading North and we were heading South. We can do this when we hike against the grain twice.It was exhilarating to hike so fast and be done so early on the 4th of July. It is tough day not to be with family on the fourth. My most memorable 4th of July was sitting on a yacht in NYC and having the best and as many as you wanted New York bagels and waiting for the Macy's fireworks display that evening with Trail Mama, Mini Mama, Joshua, Sister Diana, Mom and Margo Music. The Yacht belonged to Margo Music's sister and brother-in-law (the inventor of the surgical staple). Macy's fireworks display is like a 25 minute grand finale. As Mini Mama (daughter Megan) and son Josh would say from then on, once you have seen the NYC fire works display nothing can hold a candle to it. We ended the day after the display going by the Statue of Libery as we headed back to NJ to park the yacht.My most nostalgic memories of the 4th of July are the annual picnics in the Wolcottville City Park as a child. The family would always go there and spend the day - we would have cheese burgers dressed with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, catsup and mustard, baked beans, potato chips, celery, pickles, and more food than you can imagine. We would usually spend the day with Uncle Dick and Dolly Chapman and our cousins - Susie, Richard, Jerry, Cathy and Scott. The afternoon was usually spent with several games of baseball between Rome City and Wolcottville - the first game being the little league teams, pony league next and finally high school. After the game, music would be played over loud speakers until dark followed by a half hour fireworks display. Life was good in the late 50's - early 60's.I played in those little league games with my younger brother Rusty (Eldon James Summers, Jr.), He has alway been Rusty to me even though now he has shorten his name to Rus. We always played on baseball teams together starting with quarter pints even though Rus is 3 years younger than me. Rus is the best athlete in the family and lettered at baseball and basketball at East Noble HS in Kendallville, IN.I remember playing all the childhood games with him, my sister, my Chapman Cousins, the Ransbottom neighbor kids. We played everything from hide the flag, hide and seek, home run derby, golf etc. etc. etc. We would slide down the dam together - the spill way build up moss and was very slippery. We would slide until we would wear holes in our shorts.One of our best joint memories was swimming at Pretty Lake in Steuben County where they had two rafts and a water toboggan slide. It was a great place to swim. The joint memory is when several boys my age decided to bully me on the farthest raft from shore and tried pushing me in. What we remember is our cousins disappearing and me fending for myself. What I remember is my younger and much littlier brother coming to my rescue. I was so proud of him and always have been proud of him. I believe of the Summers' brothers he is more like our Dad - which is a great compliment because we have a great Dad. You see I say have because even though he is gone he is still our Dad. What pleased me later in life is that he found the Lord and is very much a Christian.You see we are all influnced by others in our Christian Journey - I believe my brother Rus has been most influnced by his spouse Linda. Thanks Linda.I will be hiking alone again tomorrow but hopefully not long. We contacted "Freefall who we met just before reaching Mountain Crossing in GA. He, Squatch, Lin (whose trail name of Wildflower she was given later) spent a rainy night in Trail Mama and I's Blood Mountain Cabin. Freefall left the trail when he reached Damascus VA when he starte missing his fiancee and after reaching Damascus much later than those he started with because of injuries. He had told Trail Mama and I he wanted to join us on the our thru hike for few days when we reached NY where he lived. We texted him today and he texted back and said he would arrange to join up with us tomorrow.People are always making this Appalachian Trail thru hike an unforgettable Christian journey. I thank all those who have joined me. I will miss Surefoot especially tomorrow. Good Night. Road Name of the Day: FIDDLERS ELBOW LANE Doesn't that just sound great?