Date: 2003-08-09
From: Blackburn Center

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: haze

Start: Blackburn CenterDestination: Harper's FerryMuch to my dismay and Mudbutt's she is still too sick to even get out of bed. I have to hike today though. Papermaker is here to celebrate with me and to take pictures as I hike that thousandth mile! One thing I am still learning about the weather up here. It takes the sun until noon to get up over the mountains, so you can't tell what the weather will be like until then. Since Papermaker pulled my car up from Florida, we will be able to leave it at the ATC Center and hike to it, then go back and get our truck later. It is somewhat overcast when we start out this morning. I have taken my tent and my food bag out of my pack to hike today. It feels good to be back on the trail again. One would think that by this time a person would be bored with the routine of simply walking everyday for hours. There are not very many great views on this part of the trail. And the few that are here are hidden behind a thick haze. We reach the David Lessor Shelter and stop for a snack and a short break sitting in the swing that is here. The shelter is one of the nicer ones with a large deck and built in benches.T here is a separate covered cooking area with a picnic table. According to the register the 1,000 mile mark is 1.5 miles from here. Supposedly there are two different places where someone has taken small rocks and spelled out the numbers. I come to a place that looks like the were rocks arranged, but a heavy rain has washed some of them away. I hike on for a few more minutes and come to another place that has lots of small rocks in a flat area where there are no other rocks. Yes,those areas do exist, but they are few and far between. I call to Papermaker and tell him to come back. This will be my 1,000 mile mark. I can just feel it. I arranged the small stones once again, then stand up and look at them for awhile. I contemplate what this means to me. How green I was so many months ago. How much I have matured since then. The extra pounds of baggage I have thrown off of my back. How much I have learned and how much I have grown. I step over the rocks as Papermaker takes my picture. He hands me his cell phone and I call New Mexico, where the Seay Family Reunion is taking place. (I was off a week on the date). I get to talk to my cousins there as they toss the phone from one person to another. They miss me as much as I miss them. We are all still trying to make up for years lost by my parents separation when I was a child. They tell me how proud they are of me and also how crazy I am!! I sit down in the middle of the trail and take off one of my shoes. I remove my sock and bring my foot up to my lips. Yep, I can still get it up that far! I kiss my foot and am thankful for the health I have had to even be here. Suprisingly, I do not cry or get emotional. I am just in a daze. I have hiked 1,000 miles!! This is the pyschological halfway point of the trail. The actual halfway milage point is 130 miles into Pa. Am I ready to hike on? You betcha!! I was worried about this halfway point. Would I feel like continuing? Would I be burned out? Probably yes if I had any other hiking partner than what I have. Mudbutt is the icing on the cake for a partner. We can laugh at so many little things and share the wonder of the trail. We have hiked together for so long that now we can usually anticipate what each other will say about anything. She is the color in my sunflowers, a bright smiling face. I am so disappointed that she could not be here with me today. The rest of the hike was plesant and passed quickly. At one point I had to pull Papermaker down from the side of he trail. He had found the site of an old dump, and being the bottle collector that he is, he was going to dig to find a bottle or two. I explained to him that this was not the best place to be digging for anything! Back at the motel, my partner was feeling up to a celebration dinner with us. Ruby Tuesday's here we come. I celebrated by ordering the huge strawberry dessert they have. This was after I had dinner and a appetizer!! It was a great ending to a great day.