Date: 2015-08-06
From: Imp Shelter

To: White Mountains Lodge and Hostel
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

It is amazing how much pizza I can eat. I don't know how it's even possible. Somehow, though, it is. That's not okay. It's kind of gross. It's also kind of freaking amazing. Boy do I love pizza. I am definitely going to be sick lately, haha.I think that I must consume more than like 90% of people on the trail. It's amazing that I am not a huge ball of lard rolling downhill. Hooray for the trail metabolism!I am eating pizza. It is great. My stomach is so full. I may have to take a nap afterwards so that I can process all of this food. I might not even eat dinner (BUT THERE IS A WALMART SHUTTLE AT 6, WHICH MEANS... SNACKS!). Snacks are better than dinner anyway.This morning, I packed up and set off early. Silent Force wasn't far behind me.It was so cold that I wore my pants and long-sleeved shirt for 20 minutes before peeling them off in the middle of the trail (it was so early and I was speedy, I wasn't worried about anyone seeing my bare bottom) and dragging myself back into my dirty t-shirt and shorts. The trail was a little tough this morning. Not terrible, but not wonderful. The day began going down, then up. The up sucked. The down was slippery.As I hiked up Mt. Moriah, I kept popping in and out of the treeline. Clouds surrounded me. At one point, I got an amazing view into the vast world beyond, straight out into the open air, full of clouds. Nothing to see. It was still impressive. It was cold, and windy, and wet, though. The breeze was frigid and the clouds thick and dark as I shuffled along the ledge. Gertrude got soaked from passing among wet trees. Leaves and needles dumped their watery loads all over us as we brushed our way by.There were some nice steep ledge climbs again. My calf muscles strained with the effort of keeping my center of balance aligned, with keeping my Merrells from slipping as I stabbed uselessly at the rock with my poles (sometimes they are very helpful, sometimes they aren't at all).My legs are sore after the last few days. Last night, I woke up stiff and sore with my full bladder and hobbled out of the shelter to pee. It's good to have a break day today. I need sleep. Lots of sleep.The journey lately has been very physically demanding, and mentally I have been struggling to maintain my determination while climbing these freaking mountains. Some days I just want to fling my trekking poles down the ledge so I have the satisfaction of hearing them clatter to their doom. Then, I would scream, "SCREW THE TRAIL. SCREW THE MOUNTAINS, I AM DONE." Then I would sit there, pouting like a petulant child, until I rotted into a bulky pile of hiker bones.Of course I would never actually do that. But sometimes I want to. Usually the feeling dissolves when I hit a nice flat stretch of trail.I stopped for a snack at a stream, and investigated my guidebook pages. I was dismayed to learn that I wasn't as far as I thought. It seemed like i had been making such good progress! According to AWOL, however, the stream was still more than four miles from route 2, the location of the hostel (which is right on the trail). I hiked on in sadness.Soon after my snack, my bowels started to decide to cause trouble. OH NO. I didn't want to dig a hole! It was wet and soggy and I also just didn't want to dig a hole. The shelter was 2 miles away. Could I make it in time?! I can never make it in time, but it's always worth trying.So on I went, checking my watch and estimating when I might arrive. And I checked my watch. And I checked my watch.Then, out of nowhere in front of me, a structure started to appear between the trees. It couldn't be! COULD IT?! THE SHELTER. HALLELUJAH! I wasn't wrong after all! I was closer than my book led me to believe! Yayyy!! I dumped my pack, pulled out my TP, and headed off to find the privy. I got lost and ended up on the AT again before I found it, uphill, away from the river which ambled along the trail for a while (and which the trail crossed over a couple of times). After I freed my bowels of their stupid contents (always causing me trouble with poor timing!), I headed back to retrieve Gertrude. Silent Force was hiking behind the shelter, and waved as I slathered my hands in hand sanitizer. "That trail wasn't so bad!" He called. And it really hadn't been. The beginning was steep, but nowhere near as bad as many of the mountains we've been climbing lately. The two miles before the shelter weren't bad at all. And the last 2 to the hostel? Smooth sailing. The trail was smooth and gentle. The sun started peeking through the trees. My pace picked up and my clothes started to dry, and my spirits lifted.It was only 8 miles to get here ("here" is hostel heaven, I am typing on a real computer instead of my cruddy smartphone, which means I can write SO FAST). Despite my slow 2 mph pace, I managed to arrive around 10 a.m. (I set out at 6). This meant I was clean and showered by 11. Pizza was ordered shortly afterwards. I still have hours left in the day. It's a good feeling.The hostel is very nice. It came highly recommended by many people, including Forward and some annoying southbound guy who I met at Mizpah Hut. He was going to leave the crumpled newspaper he had used to dry out his shoes behind, on the bench in the hut, until I held it out to him and asked, "Is this yours?"It is not okay to leave trash behind, especially in huts. The poor hut croos have to hike out all of that trash on their backs. Not fair to make them carry thru-hiker trash when they have plenty of other trash to carry. Yesterday, Diesel had done work to eat some lunch leftovers at Carter Hut. He didn't finish everything he put on his plate, though, which meant that it would have to be packed down. Annie, the croo kitchen worker, told him, "We don't accept trash from thru-hikers." but it was too late. Diesel apologized, but the trash was still there. It seems bizarre that a thru-hiker would NOT finish a plate of food.I know people are concerned about weight, but shame on some of these hikers! Trash is NOT that heavy. And it doesn't matter anyway. They are perfectly capable of carrying it. Of course, I can't judge too harshly... I accidentally litter all the time... like my stupid guidebook pages I lost the other day.The first time I heard about the hostel, however, was from Chris. He was wearing one of their shirts the first time I met him, in Hot Springs. One of the guys who works here had given him the shirt to wear back in Georgia, turning him into a hiking billboard. Kind of clever.It is a very nice hostel. It is clean, and welcoming, and the staff is nice. The bathrooms are clean, with soap, shampoo, and conditioner provided. I might even take a second shower tonight. They even do your laundry for you (and give you loaner clothes to wear... I am sporting an incredibly nice pair of Asianesque pajamas, which are quite comfortable). And tomorrow morning, they will have BREAKFAST. Hooray! I was given a leftover chocolate chip muffin from today's breakfast shortly after my arrival. You know how much I love chocolate. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way to Red Panda's heart is with copious amounts of pizza and chocolate. I wish that I could watch Netflix on my cheap phone. It is too cheap. I can watch TV in the TV room with the other hikers, but chances are they might be watching something that won't interest me. I can read my book, though, which might actually be better.A couple of thoughts on the trail lately:One thing I hate about the trail is that it's hard to keep track of things. In real life, I had this habit of making lists. Lists and lists and lists. Candace even gave me a little book once, which I used all the time to write lists in. I took it everywhere with me. I wrote lists of things to buy, things to do, things to remember, and things to look up. I also emailed myself all the time to remember things. Jim and I always used to say,"Remind me to Google suchandsuch later." Then we would ask each other, "What else were we going to look up?"On the trail, there is no good way! I am always wet with sweat or rain or dew or slug juice (I reached up on a rock outcropping the other day to hoist myself up and got a handful of slug... so pleasant!). So writing a list on paper is not a good option. There's nowhere good to keep paper and pen, anyway. It's hard to keep track of things, hard not to lose things. I could use my phone, but that is a huge drain of battery. Also, the touch screen is nearly impossible to operate when it's wet or damp. Plus, it's just a pain in the chubby pizza buns to keep pulling out a pad and paper or phone to record things.So even though I think of chores I need to do, things I want to journal about, people I want to contact, things I want to buy, and items I want to ask mom to add to my next mail drop, I can never remember them when I stop. So right now, even though I have wifi and can ask mom to send ear plugs and a new toothbrush, I KNOW there is something else I am forgetting.Browsing trail journals and talking to friends has been sad lately. Po' Boy is off the trail?! Doc and Forward have split up?! What is going on?! It seems like everything is falling apart and becoming messy and disorganized as everyone moves towards Maine. At least I know that Coco, Magnus, The Aussies, and Chris are still on the trail. I am sandwiched in the middle, so hopefully I will be able to see some of them again before Katahdin.I was planning on taking the shuttle to Walmart, to buy extra snacks to last me to my next mail drop (since stopping here for a nero stretched out my plan and I needed a little more food), HOWEVER, I have just discovered that they sell Ben and Jerry's here. Really, I only wanted to go to Walmart to buy pretzel M&Ms, to fulfill my chocolate craving.However, with the addition of a pint of ice cream, and the blueberry bagels, Pop Tarts, and chips that I was able to pilfer from the box of things left behind by other hikers, I can fill my food bag without having to make a trip out. It is also more cost effective. I would doubtless be tempted by several delicious things at Walmart and spend more than the $5 it cost me to purchase a pint here. I DON'T EVEN CARE IF I GET FAT ANYMORE (I may retract that statement later, but humor me). I am living the hiker dream: pizza and ice cream (I RHYMED!).Anyway, I no longer need to go to Walmart. I can have RELAXATION TIME as I fatten up some more. Wonderful! I can read my book and update my journal and lay in bed and wash my pot and spork and dry out all of my wet gear (EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS WET). 6 is too late for a shuttle, anyway. By 6 I am ready to do nothing. Even though I'm not on the trail, I still hope to be in bed early tonight to catch up on sleep (almost definitely won't happen, but I can try...).It is early afternoon and I am off to go and read, or something else wonderful. Hooray!I am thankful for pizza and ice cream (thank you, pizza fairy!) and a bed (hopefully I won't regret this one... here's to hoping I get a good sleep in). I am thankful for the sun and the mountains, for happiness and wonder and the wide world around me. Still more to explore! Just under 300 miles left! The next and last state is only a few days away. Bring it on, Maine!