Date: 2011-06-01
From: (65) Shippensburg, PA

To: (66) Pine Grove (Tammy's House)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today I got a ride back to Pine Grove State Forest with Corey Wonder (nick-named ¢Wonder Bread¢) and his girlfriend Katrina. I thanked them for their superb hospitality as they left to go to work.Sitting around the tables by the Pine Grove General Store as they had been the day before, were Portrait, German Sheppard, Cayenne, and Buffalo. They had all officially declared to slow down as much as possible to experience a new kind of trail (enjoying themselves instead of hiking 14 hours a day¢¦like me¢¦), and so they were taking a zero day. Being the notoriously fast hiker that I am, I had no intention of zeroing with them, but I did sit down with them to have some Mac n¢ cheese for lunch. By the time I had finished eating the others had gone down to the lake to swim, but I was still hungry. I sat for a time and thought about the half gallon ice cream challenge. Yes it was a lot, and yes I had eaten the macaroni, and yes I am lactose intolerant and it would be incredibly stupid of me to eat that much dairy¢¦but since when have I ever failed to meet a challenge? This in mind, and never one to pass up the chance to make a fool of myself, I bought a half gallon of chocolate ice cream and walked down to the lake to eat it.I found the others at a picnic table, and announced my intentions. With Portrait pointing his 4lb camera at me and the others shaking their heads, I started my watch and dug into the frozen deliciousness. A few minutes in I realized that I had made a huge mistake. Growing full at an alarming rate, I gulped down spoonful after chocolaty spoonful of the junk. Halfway done I began to feel sick. My tolerance for dairy was nowhere near the capacity of my friends (Buffalo had gone back for a grilled cheese sandwich after finishing his), and I started to regret my choice. Clutching my sides in agony, I wished for sweet death to come and save me. The ice cream eventually melted enough that I could drink it, so I tilted the box and finished off the last of the frozen hell. It had taken me an hour and fifteen minutes (three times as long as the others), several breaks, and a lot of face making, but I had met the challenge.Writhing in agony on the ground, I thought to myself. Some days are harder than others, but having gotten through the half gallon challenge there is no doubt in my mind that I will make it to Maine, because this is quite possibly the worst things will ever be. Stretching out spread eagle, and waiting for the nausea to pass, I regretted nothing. In the Smokies there was a tornado storm. I fought against hypothermia and hiked on. In Tennessee I injured my ankle. I wrapped it and kept going. In the Shenandoah I ran into a bear and her cubs. I charged her and scared her away. But having been slammed, dominated, completely and utterly side swiped by a food invented for children¢s birthday parties, I could not continue. I would zero because I ate too much ice cream. By the afternoon I was feeling slightly less incapacitated, so I went for a swim with Buffalo and German shepherd. We swam out to the middle of the lake, where we met a lady named Tammy. While treading water, we told Tammy about our hike and she invited all 5 of our group to come to her place to stay the night and said she would even buy us burgers for supper! Imagine meeting somebody in the middle of a lake and getting invited back to their house! I love trail magic!Tammy left before us, so that evening we hitched a ride from a woman we met in the parking lot to Tammy¢s house, a note worthy event because we had fit the 5 of us and out packs into the car like Tetris blocks and could not move an inch. Once at Tammy¢s house, we performed our clown act a second time and crammed into her car to go get burgers from a store. The store had a long handicap ramp which I called ¢a man made switch back¢. There was no sign saying that clothes were necessary, so Buffalo went in and shopped shirtless. Back at Tammy¢s house we spent the night grilling, eating, talking, playing a huge game of Chinese Checkers (Cayenne won after I got bored and started blocking everyone else in), and listening to Tammy¢s records.Today ended up being a wonderful time. It is not easy for me to go slow like this and accept a zero, but the others have a point: hiking the AT slowly is a completely different hike. When I am not putting in huge miles I have time to enjoy other things. There is a saying: ¢all this hiking is ruining my trail experience¢. I feel that there is truth in this, so perhaps I will slow down some and see what happens.